The Bank of Valletta Premier League continues this weekend with the fourth round of matches.

After yesterday’s top clash between Birkirkara and Valletta, another four matches are being played between today and tomorrow.

In the opening match today, Sliema Wanderers will be seeking a second consecutive win as they face bottom placed Vittoriosa Stars, still searching for their first point and victory in the Premier League. In the second match, Qormi will be facing Tarxien Rainbows in what should be one of three very keen encounters this weekend.

The others are scheduled for tomorrow afternoon when Hamrun Spartans face Floriana in the first match, and that will be followed by the Marsaxlokk-Hibernians ‘southern’ derby.

It promises to be a very interesting weekend for Maltese football enthusiasts. And it is evident that the standings will start taking shape even if we ares still in the very early stages of the competition.

As already said, Sliema seem to have a good chance of obtaining a second consecutive win and maintain their positive trend. In fact, after a dismal opening – a heavy 4-1 defeat at the hands of Birkirkara – the Blues registered a goalless draw against Marsaxlokk and then went on to beat Hamrun 3-1.

With the Stars passing through a difficult moment, it is evident that the Blues must be considered firm favourites to collect the three points.

Vittoriosa have had a very difficult start to the Premier League campaign and unless they start winning the points that matter, they will continue to find the going tough.

The side includes some interesting players, but they have had no good luck at all so far. I am sure that if they can start getting some positive results, confidence will get back into the side and they will fare much better than at present.

In the second match, Qormi and Tarxien should feature in a very keen match in which neither side is favourite to win the three points.

At present, Tarxien lie one point ahead of Qormi in the standings, but judging from their latest showings, and after recent happenings, then everything points out to a very interesting match.

Qormi were quite unlucky to lose their match against Valletta after having played their best match so far since Stephen Azzopardi took charge of the side.

On the other hand, Tarxien beat Vittoriosa 1-0 for their first win of the season and since then, they have been boosted with the news that their Brazilian striker, Daniel Mariano Bueno, is once again available after receiving his clearance.

Everyone will certainly remember the great talents of this Brazilian striker who had finished among the top strikers in the Premier League two season ago, before his move to Polish football.

Tomorrow, Hamrun and Floriana will be seeking a return to victory as they face each other in the first encounter of the afternoon.

The Spartans were also quite unlucky to lose against Sliema in their last match, while Floriana failed to live up to expectations as they were defeated by Marsaxlokk.

The two sides are eager to return to winning form – Hamrun’s intentions are to remain close to the leaders, while Floriana want to move out of the bottom zone of the table.

In the second match tomorrow, Premier League newcomers Marsaxlokk take on Hibernians.

Marsaxlokk are occupying fourth place on five points, while Hibernians are right behind them on four.

The Paolites will also be eager to return to winning form after they were deprived of a point by Birkirkara who scored a late winner in their last game.

The Paolites have been one of the best outfits so far but they will have to be on full alert against Marsaxlokk who have confirmed they have a strong defence which will not be easily perforated.

The southern seasiders are no surprise despite just being promoted. Patrick Curmi’s boys are simply confirming early season predictions that they have enough talent to challenge for a top place this season.