Despite being at such an early stage, the local Bank of Valletta Premier League has already found a sort of rhythm with some interesting matches expected this weekend, judging from what was seen in the first round last week.

The main match on the programme this weekend seems to be today’s Valletta-Sliema clash, preceded by the Tarxien-Birkirkara encounter. Also today, there is the central derby between Balzan and Naxxar while champions Hibernians will be facing Floriana.

Tomorrow, Pembroke seek a second win as they face fellow newcomers St Andrews while Mosta will also be hoping to win again as they face the beleaguered Qormi.

Judging from last week’s performances, it is already evident that Birkirkara, Valletta and Hibernians will certainly be challenging for the title, even if the champions missed out on two precious points following a 1-1 draw with Balzan.

The three teams seem to be the strongest and, no doubt, they are in possession of the best elements in local football.

But it is still too early and one cannot make a fair assessment of the other teams who are bound to improve as the season gathers momentum.

For example, the two old rivals of Maltese football, Sliema and Floriana, started the season on a bad note, both losing their opening encounters. But this does not mean that they cannot recover, even if their opponents this round will be Valletta and Hibernians respectively.

Sliema will have to play without goalkeeper Zammit against Valletta – he is suspended after being shown a red card in the match against Tarxien.

Coach Stephen Azzopardi may be able to field veteran striker Michael Mifsud and midfielder Scerri to give more impetus to the side after their disappointing performance last Friday. They both missed last week’s clash against Tarxien.

On their part, Floriana will also be facing a very tough nut to crack in Hibernians.

The champions will be eager to notch their first victory of the season after having conceded a late goal to Balzan, through which they lost two points. The Paolites were caught unawares by Balzan near the end of that match and coach Branko Nisevic will urge his players to never allow that to happen again.

Valletta registered an easy 3-0 win against newcomers St Andrews last week, but they had to wait till just before the end of the first half to start turning their obvious superiority into goals. From then on, there was no question as to where the points were going.

The citizens should continue improving in their forthcoming matches.

Birkirkara and Tarxien won their opening clashes as well with the Stripes getting an easy three points from a 4-0 win against Naxxar, while Tarxien scored twice in the second half to beat the Wanderers.

In that match, Tarxien showed that they have improved considerably over last season when they had also surprised the Stripes.

This time, however, Birkirkara also seem to have strengthened their ranks and are being considered among the firm favourites to win this year’s title.

A good match is anticipated with Tarxien giving the more fancied Stripes a good run for their money.

Oliver Spiteri’s Balzan will also be eyeing a first victory against hapless Naxxar Lions. The former did well to snatch a point from their top clash with Hibernians last week. Now they hope to go one better by gaining all the three points.

For Naxxar, it will be another uphill struggle, unless they show considerable improvement from their first match. Most of all, they have to strengthen their defence if they are hoping to get positive results.

Tomorrow, Pembroke will be hoping to repeat their performance in the victory against Qormi as they face fellow newcomers St Andrews, but the latter will also be hoping to earn their first point/s of the season, knowing that to do that, this presents itself as one of their best chances to collect points.

The same may be said of the Mosta-Qormi encounter – the second on the card tomorrow – with Mosta having to be considered as firm favourites for a win, considering Qormi’s troubles and limitations this season.