It couldn’t have been a more difficult start at the helm of a team for coach Stephen Azzopardi.

Last Thursday he was named as new Floriana FC coach after coming to an agreement with his previous club Qormi to leave.

In his first official match with the Greens this afternoon, he will be facing none other than Floriana’s arch rivals Valletta in the city and suburban derby clash at the national stadium.

This match is always a fiery encounter but today’s match has certainly attracted more interest due to Azzopardi’s new appointment at Floriana.

But it is not the only match on the card. Also today, Mosta have a good chance to get back on the winning trail when facing lowly Rabat Ajax. Tomorrow, also at Ta’ Qali national stadium, it will be Qormi-Melita while Tarxien Rainbows will be facing Hibernians in another important derby clash.

At present, Valletta lead the standings on 19 points, followed by Birkirkara 15, Hibernians 15, Sliema 13, Mosta 12 and Tarxien 10. The lower six teams are led by Floriana on nine, Balzan, Hamrun and Qormi have 7 points, Rabat 2 and Melita only one point.

It is evident that Floriana are in need of a boost to move further up the table if they are to keep their hopes of earning a Top Six berth in the Championship Pool.

In the last two matches, the Greens only obtained one point, having lost 3-1 against Mosta and drawn against Qormi 2-2.

But they must be aware of the huge task ahead of them this afternoon. Valletta are not only sole leaders and defending champions, but they are still unbeaten even if in their last match against Birkirkara, they dropped their first points of the season in a 1-1 draw.

All points out to a keenly contested match between two great local sporting rivals.

In the other derby, Hibernians will be seeking to forget all about the 4-0 defeat against Sliema in their last encounter.

They will be boosted by the return of Clayton Failla among their ranks after the Malta player had his suspension related to doping reduced by one month.

On their part, Tarxien did quite well in disposing of high-flying Mosta 2-0 in their last encounter, but they need to show consistency if they are to provide the Paolites with a decent challenge.

In the other matches, Mosta and Qormi seem to be better equipped to register wins against Rabat and Melita respectively.

Jesmond Zerafa

Qormi will be under the charge of new coach Jesmond Zerafa. He is returning after his two year spell with Valletta and after having started this season as a spectator.

Zerafa had been quite successful in the past few years, first with Qormi – he led them back to Premier Division football – and later at Valletta where he led the side to several honours and prestigious results at European level.

His assistant will remain Joe Brincat, who was appointed only a few weeks ago.