With the title almost safely wrapped up in Valletta’s hands, the main interest in the proceedings revolves around the other two issues – the battle for the second place and the relegation issue.

At present, with five more matches to go (a full Championship Pool second round), three, and possibly four, teams, are still highly involved in the battle for second place which means a berth in next season’s Europa League. And at the bottom end of the classification, Vittoriosa Stars are fighting tooth and nail to remain among the elite, even if all the odds are heavily stacked against them.

With two more matches to go for each club in the Relegation Pool, the Stars still trail Qormi by five points. This situation means that Vittoriosa have to beat Qormi this afternoon and then beat Sliema in their final encounter, also hoping that Qormi will eventually also lose their final clash against Hibernians.

It is undoubtedly a very delicate situation for the Stars, but not an impossible one. But they will have to win the three points today to keep their hopes alive. Otherwise they will be returning to First Division football next season. In fact, not even a draw will suffice for them to retain their status.

After their victory against Hibernians last week, their enthusiasm and morale has been rekindled and they will be expected to go all out this afternoon to beat their yellow and black rivals.

But Qormi will certainly have other thoughts. Despite their heavy defeat against Sliema last week – they played with a heavily depleted formation – they are still firm favourites to avoid relegation at the expense of the Stars.

On paper they seem to be much better equipped than the Stars and I expect them to also do everything within their possibilities to at least draw today’s clash and avoid any sort of surprise.

In the other relegation match, Hibs and Sliema face each other in a meaningless match as both sides are now assured of avoiding relegation.

The other two matches – from the Championship Pool – should be highly interesting. They both involve the four teams engaged in the battle for the second place.

At present, Floriana lead the race on 23 points, one ahead of Marsaxlokk and two above Birkirkara. Tarxien are in fourth place on 18 points.

Today, in the second match on the programme, second placed Floriana come up against Marsaxlokk.

Both teams played quite well last week to destroy Birkirkara and Hamrun respectively in a convincing manner.

I am expecting a veritable battle this afternoon as both teams are determined to get back into Europe, even if Floriana still have a chance to do so via the FA Trophy.

In the other match tomorrow, Birkirkara will be facing Tarxien Rainbows whose chances will diminish considerably if they lose once again this weekend.

The Stripes were demolished 5-1 by Floriana last week and need to show more commitment and determination if they are to maintain their challenge for a place in Europe via the runner-up placing.

If Tarxien win, they will maintain their hopes as well, especially in the case of a draw between Floriana and Marsaxlokk this afternoon.