HENRY BRINCAT

Another interesting weekend is on the card between today and tomorrow but today’s Sliema-Birkirkara clash certainly takes pride of place.

This match between the two big rivals is important for both sides. They are both chasing leaders Valletta, though they have today’s match in hand, even over third placed Hibernians. At present, Valletta lead on 32 points, Sliema follow on 32, Hibs are on 29 while Birkirkara are in a distant fourth place on 25 points.

A victory for Sliema will see them toppling the citizens from their perch, but a victory for Birkirkara will bring the four contestants closer together guaranteeing one of the closest championship battles in recent years, at least at the start of the second phase, that is, the Championship Pool.

The situation shows that Birkirkara are under pressure to win the three points if they wish to maintain their interest in the championship battle, especially in the second phase.

The Stripes have not been very impressive in their recent matches, but the spate of injuries which has hit the club in recent months could be attributed to their partial downfall.

The Stripes still have Nigerian striker Haruna Doda among the doubtful starters who also include Chucks Nwoko, Mark Anthony Bonnici and Lino Galea.

During the week they were all fighting to get back in shape as quickly as possible, but while Doda and Bonnici are expected to be in the starting line-up, Nwoko and Galea’s presence remains very much in doubt.

On their part, Sliema also have the ‘foreigner’ problem as Orosco Anonam is still considered a foreign player despite having obtained his Maltese nationality a few weeks ago.

In this sense, Blues coach Edward Aquilina may be forced to sideline new Slovakian striker Lubos Pernis in favour of Orosco Anonam, thus allowing Nigerian goalie Murphy Akanji to return between the sticks for this important match. According to MFA rules, a club may use only three foreigners at any time during a match. That means in the case of Sliema, if the one on the bench is used as a substitute, he has to go in at the expense of one of the other foreigners.

The Blues will still have players like Kris Laferla, Claude Mattocks and Rupert Mangion missing. They have not yet recovered from their injuries.

Sliema, however, are expected to be strengthened considerably with the return to the side of international midfielder Stefan Giglio who has been sidelined through injury for the past five weeks or so, while defender Jeffrey Chetcuti is also expected to be in the starting line-up.

With Giglio in midfield, Sliema might be tempted to play Joe Brincat the back in Laferla’s place. That should still see a strengthened Sliema team.

And this is not to mention that partnering Doncic up front, now there is also former Pieta and Malta striker Ivan Woods who has already proved to be a great asset to the side by scoring the winner in the match against St Patrick last week.

Today’s match is the first of four direct clashes remaining till the end of the first phase. The others are Sliema-Hibs, Valletta-Birkirkara and Hibernians-Valletta.

The other match in today’s programme is the clash between Lija Athletic and Marsaxlokk.

The southern seasiders cannot afford to miss any of the three points at stake if they are to finish among the top six to contest the Championship Pool in the second phase of the competition.

This is obviously their moment as after today’s ‘easy’ match, they go on to meet bottom club St Patrick, before entertaining direct rivals Msida in the final first phase match.

Lija stumbled seriously last week when they were beaten by fellow companions in distress St Patrick. They now know that they will definitely be playing in the Relegation Pool.