Sliema Wanderers will commence their adventure this season today at the Ta’ Qali national Stadium where they will be facing Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol at 8pm.

The Blues prepared well for this test and are boosted by their Euro Cup victory last week, after a handsome 3-0 win over Birkirkara and a 2-2 draw with Hibernians.

Those were two very positive performances which showed that the Sliema side this season is perhaps stronger than it was last season.

Coach Edward Aquilina was very happy with his side’s positive and very encouraging start to the season. “We are well prepared and we played our best football for a long time last week against Birkirkara and Hibernians. The arrival of Daniel Bogdanovic has proved to be another asset to the side and, although not available for today’s match, we are also boosted by the return from injury of central defender Darren Debono, who started training again yesterday.”

Aquilina said he would not underestimate his Moldovan opponents. “We know they have a host of foreigners among their ranks, even a Brazilian. It is a pity that I did not have the chance to watch them in action before today’s match. I am expecting a tough match for my boys, but we will play our own game and, though playing cautiously, we will also be hoping to get out of the ordeal with a positive result,” he said.

Aquilina has confirmed last Friday’s starting line-up against Hibernians for this evening’s match, barring any last minute hiccups. That means the following 11 will start the match against Sheriff:

Murphy Akanji, Joe Brincat, Mauro DiLello, Brian Said, Noel Turner, Daniel Bogdanovic, Danilo Doncic, Jeffrey Chetcuti, Ivan Woods, Orosco Anonam, Stefan Giglio.

It is obvious that in front of Akanji, there will be Orosco Anonam, Brian Said, Jeffrey Chetcuti and Mauro DiLello. In midfield, Sliema are well served by Joe Brincat, Noel Turner, Danilo Doncic and Stefan Giglio, while Ivan Woods and Daniel Bogdanovic will be the two strikers.