This weekend there are no Premier League matches being played. Instead, it will be the turn of the U*Bet Trophy where the second round matches will be played between this afternoon and tomorrow morning.

The winners of this weekend’s clashes will advance to the quarter-finals where they will be joining the four seeded teams ?Marsaxlokk, Sliema W., Birkirkara and Hibernians ?who finished in that order in last year’s Premier League competition.

There is, in fact, a big chance that the quarter-finalists will all be hailing from the Premier Division, barring a surprise.

It will be either Hamrun or Pieta this afternoon while Valletta, Mqabba and Floriana should prove to be too strong for first division sides Tarxien, Dingli and Senglea respectively.

The top match will certainly be the Hamrun-Pieta derby, usually a keenly fought match. It should be no exception this afternoon, even if the Spartans are boosted by their berth in the Top Six of the forthcoming Championship Pool.

The Hotspurs may have other ideas, however, as they intend to use the match in preparation for their tough encounters in the Relegation Pool, where they will have to be at their very best to bridge the gap between them and the two teams above them, Hibernians and Msida St Joseph.

Premier leaders Valletta should not be over stretched to beat First Division leaders Tarxien Rainbows, considering the gap that exists between Premier and first division football in Malta.

However, no team can take anything for granted and the citizens will do well not to take their opponents lightly, at least until they make sure of victory.

Mqabba will be facing mid-table placed Dingli tomorrow and new coach Bobby Giorev will be hoping to add a second victory since he took over after last week’s good 2-1 win over Msida St Joseph.

And Floriana should also have no worries when facing second placed Senglea in the final match tomorrow. The Greens will be expected to register an easy win in preparation for their Championship Pool clashes.