The long wait is over and competitive (league) football will finally be back with four matches being played between tomorrow and Monday.

It is an opening round which offers two very attractive encounters. Tomorrow, after the clash between newly promoted Mqabba and Hamrun Spartans, prospective title challengers Hibernians and Birkirkara clash in the first top match of the season.

On Monday, Sliema Wanderers, a huge title prospect this season, will be facing Msida St Joseph, while the match that follows is the big match of this weekend. It is the city and suburban derby between Valletta and Floriana which will undoubtedly attract a large crowd to Ta’ Qali.

Taking a glimpse at these fixtures, I might dare to say that our Premier League could not have had a better start as this season’s competition promises to be tight, both at the top and also at the bottom.

In the first round (18 matches), the teams will be fighting for a place, either in the Championship Pool (Top Six) or in the Relegation Pool (remaining four).

Valletta and Sliema have been very active on the transfer market consolidating their ranks with some top class players. They are, in fact, expected to be Marsaxlokk’s main challengers this season, even if Birkirkara and Hibernians cannot be ignored.

The southern seasiders, who won their first title last season, have lost three precious members of last year’s squad. They are Luke Dimech, Andre Schembri and Daniel Bogdanovic, even if the latter is now expected to remain in Malta after several attempts to move abroad proved futile.

English coach Brian Talbot has the job of defending the title he won so convincingly with that side, but the ‘Lampuki’ boys have to overcome the early season poor form.

Valletta and Sliema have also started the season on a quiet note, missing out on a number of friendly matches where they were somewhat disappointing. But it is still early in the season and they will be expected to grow in stature shortly.

Sliema, for example, have lost friendly matches to Birkirkara, Pieta and Hamrun S. They have signed top class players Ian Azzopardi, Roderick Briffa and Etienne Barbara to complement their squad, not to mention foreign midfielder Milovanovic. They have also landed the talented Matthew Bartolo from Hibernians but have lost midfielder Stefan Giglio, who has gone back to his first love Valletta.

On their part, Valletta should be much more competitive this season. The arrival of Victor Sciriha as their new president has brought along not just Giglio from Sliema, but also several other players, including Heiner Backhaus from Germany, the return of free-scoring Argentine striker Sebastian Monesterolo and international defender Kenneth Scicluna.

Birkirkara and Hibernians can be considered as the underdogs in the chase for the title, but they cannot certainly be ignored. The Stripes have parted company with some of their top players in the off-season. These included William Camenzuli, Roderick Briffa and Etienne Barbara as well as last season’s foreign players. Of course, they have brought in others, including the return of Bulgarian defender Emil Yantchev. Their best signature was, perhaps, Under-21 international Paul Fenech, who together with Sliema’s Matthew Bartolo, another U-21 international, must be considered as Malta’s brightest prospects.

The Paolites have, more or less, retained the same squad as that of last season. Coach Robert Gatt has at his disposal a very promising Argentine striker, Julio Alcorse, who has had a bright start to the season helping the side win the Euro Cup and the Super Cup. Otherwise, terrible twin strikers Terence Scerri and Andrew Cohen have remained loyal to the club and should provide more satisfactions to the club’s fans.

Floriana FC have also more or less retained the same squad of last season, except for the foreigners and the coach. Former Valletta and Sliema star striker Danilo Doncic is now at the helm and his foreigners include two co-nationals. One of them, Darko Krsteski, has a big amount of top class experience having also played for Red Star Belgrade. The Greens underwent a training camp in Belgrade a few weeks ago during which they played some friendly matches in which the players showed they were improving.

Msida St Joseph have also lost some players from last season’s line-up, among them Omar Borg and Paul Fenech as well as Ibrahim Babatunde. It will certainly not be an easy task for the Saints to maintain the same ranking as last season when they figured so prominently in the first part of the season which saw them claiming a berth in the Top Six quite easily.

Pieta Hotspurs will seek to improve over last season’s disappointments. Coach Carmel Busuttil will be working with more or less the same squad as that of last season, but he is aware of the limitations among his ranks. Their expectations should include a challenge for the sixth berth in the Championship Pool.

For the two promoted teams, Hamrun Spartans and Mqabba, it will not be easy, even if the Spartans have effected some positive movements in the transfer market.

Marco Gerada’s boys include former Birkirkara Nigerian stalwart Precious Monye as well as Nigerian striker Alfred Effiong among their ranks and these could help the side to make a strong challenge for a place among the Top Six.

Mqabba have more or less retained the majority of the players who played for them and earned them promotion the last season. Their aim is clear try to avoid a quick return to the first division in season 2008-09.