With the euphoria after the national team’s excellent 2-1 win over Hungary receding a bit, it will be the Bank of Valletta Premier League which will take pride of place at the weekend.

With six rounds already gone, the standings show Marsaxlokk and Hibernians leading on 15 points apiece, followed by Msida on 13, Sliema 11, Birkirkara 10, Valletta and Floriana 8, St George’s 2,Marsa and Pieta H. one each.

This weekend, the competition enters into an exciting stage with three big matches and another direct clash from the bottom end of the table.

The programme starts today with the match between Valletta and Sliema at 4pm followed by the Pieta H.-Marsa bottom-of-the-table clash. Tomorrow, at 3pm, Msida face St George’s and that will be followed by the much more important top-of-the-table encounter between Hibernians and Marsaxlokk.

The programme will be concluded on Monday evening when Floriana face Birkirkara at 7.30pm.

No doubt, the highlight of the programme is the Hibernians-Marsaxlokk encounter with the winner taking all – the three points and the league’s sole leadership.

Both teams are in their best form at present. Both missed out on their first encounter with Marsaxlokk losing to Birkirkara and Hibernians going down against Floriana, but they followed that up with five consecutive wins which have seen them rocketing to the top in convincing style.

With Brian Talbot at the helm, and with so many players in the national squad, Marsaxlokk must be considered as a safe bet to be a top challenger for the honours this season. They are improving with every match and the English coach will be glad to have heard from Dusan Fitzel that the national team players will be at the clubs’ disposal till the end of the month, at least.

The same applies for Hibs coach Robert Gatt who also has a good number of players in the national squad. The Paolites are eager to win this match which will be the first one against their former coach of the 1990s.

Today’s opener between Valletta and Sliema and Monday’s Birkirkara-Floriana encounters will also be keenly contested matches for obvious reasons.

On one hand, Sliema and Birkirkara must keep up the pace with the leaders, while Valletta and Floriana will be eager to return to the top part of the standings.

Msida St Joseph, the revelation of the season, seem set to maintain their impressive run as they now face lowly St George’s. The Msida saints are favoured for the three points which will be more than useful in their quest to remain among the leaders.

Today’s Pieta-Marsa clash is an opportunity for both teams to try and obtain their first win of the season. They are both occupying the bottom placing with just one point each from six matches.