The Bank of Valletta Premier League will get under way this evening at the National Stadium, Ta’ Qali, where the opening two matches will be staged.

It continues with another two matches tomorrow and a further two on Sunday, thus all the 12 clubs will have played their opening match by the weekend.

This will be the first Premier League with 12 clubs and every one of them is eager for the start of the competition as some seek success and others try to avoid the drop at the end of the season.

There will be a first phase with each team playing against each other twice. Then there will be the Championship Pool with the top six clubs at the end of Phase One, and the Relegation Pool with the bottom six clubs at the end of Phase One. Despite the complaints in the past, the points system will remain the same. These will be halved at the end of Phase One.

All the 12 clubs have made their utmost to strengthen their squads for the forthcoming campaign starting from champions Valletta to the three newly promoted clubs, that is, Balzan Youths, Mosta FC and Mqabba.

Valletta remain the team to beat. They are once again my great favourites to win a second consecutive title. They have certainly made the most notable signing among local players – striker Michael Mifsud, but Birkirkara also made what seems to be a valuable acquisition in the form of international midfielder Gareth Sciberras who joined them from Marsaxlokk.

The major moves were made among the foreign players with a host of Brazilians – apart from the usual Nigerians – expected to leave their mark on Maltese football.

We still have to wait to see who has managed to sign the best players available on the market.

In any case, competition starts this evening with the first two matches. At 6.30pm, Birkirkara take on Qormi FC, while in the match that follows, Sliema W. will be facing Hibernians.

One certainly cannot make predictions at this stage. But from what has been seen in the pre-season matches played by the clubs, it is evident that we should be in for some keen matches throughout the season.

For Birkirkara this evening, it will be the first Premier League start for coach Patrick Curmi who has replaced Paul Zammit at the helm. The Stripes have also been active on the transfer market. Apart from Sciberras, they also engaged four new foreigners, though one of them, goalkeeper Jorge Mora, is returning to the side after a two-year absence.

Stephen Azzopardi, Qormi coach, will be facing one of his former clubs who he had led to several successes. The club’s main aim is certainly to finish among the top six and avoid last season’s anxious moments.

The second match this evening is the encounter between two of the most disappointing teams of the past season, that is, Sliema W. and Hibernians.

These two great clubs ended playing in the Relegation Pool and that was bitter disappointment for their numerous fans.

This season, the Blues seem to be a revived team and in the leadup to tonight’s opener, Danilo Doncic’s side seems to have gained in confidence even doing well in friendly matches during their training camp in Bulgaria last month.

The same can be said of Hibernians, even if they failed to win their own friendly tournament a few weeks ago.

The Paolites now have four Brazilians among their ranks and their fans are expecting them to lift the side to better standards. Their best acquisition, perhaps, was their success in keeping Andrew Cohen among their ranks, despite being tempted to leave and join other sources.

The matches to be played tomorrow and on Sunday will be previewed in tomorrow’s issue.