The first round of the U*Bet FA Trophy gets underway this weekend with four matches at the Centenary Stadium.

Ten first division clubs and six Premier clubs will be in action in matches being held this week and next week before the Premier League resumes on 24 November after the break for the international matches on 17 and 21 November.

Today, St George’s will be facing Pieta Hotspurs in the first match, while in the other that follows, Valletta take on St Patrick. Tomorrow, Mqabba and Vittoriosa face each other in the opener, which will be followed by the clash between Mosta and Hamrun.

These matches are a good opportunity for the Premier League clubs to get back in trim after the rather long recess due to the re-seeding of the turf at the national stadium.

Valletta, especially, will be looking forward to advance to the next round. And not only. They wish to revive their confidence with a good win in preparation for their forthcoming League fixtures.

Against St Patrick, today, they should not find any difficulty in winning. The Saints, in fact, might not be able to offer some decent opposition having lost all their opening three matches in the first division.

Pieta Hotspurs might face a difficult tie against St George’s who, under coach Michael Woods, are seeking a quick return to Premier League football.

However, Pieta are passing through a good moment of late, culminating in a 6-1 win over Mqabba in the Premier League.

Tomorrow, Mqabba have a good chance of regaining some lost prestige after their defeat at the hands of Pieta. Despite occupying bottom place in the Premier League, they should still be considered favourites to beat Vittoriosa and advance to the next round.

Much more difficult will be Hamrun’s task against first division leaders Mosta in tomorrow’s second encounter.

However, the Spartans have had a very satisfying start to this year’s Premier League and have high hopes of ending among the top six.