The match between the Bank of Valletta’s premier league leading two teams, Birkirkara and Valletta, next Sunday, is attracting a lot of interest among local football followers.

Yesterday morning both coaches, Paul Zammit of Birkirkara and Andre Paus of Valletta, addressed the press a few days ahead of Sunday’s titanic match. At present Birkirkara lead the standings, two points ahead of Valletta. This means that Birkirkara will reopen a five- point gap if they win. In case of a draw, Birkirkara will remain leaders with two points at the end of the first round, but if Valletta win, then the citizens will become the new Premier League leaders, one point ahead of the Stripes. Both coaches agreed that de- spite everything – especially a Birkirkara win - the championship will not be closed after Sunday’s match.

Birkirkara coach Paul Zammit said that even this season, the Championship Pool has shown so far that every match is a final. “I have been saying all along that the best of Maltese football comes out in the Championship Pool where only six teams are playing. One can easily note the higher level of football being displayed at this stage, compared to that produced by the teams in the first phase. “All matches are finals. We have to battle hard to win the points because every team is fighting for the points. This will also be the case on Sunday and then also in the remaining five matches in the second round. “Sunday’s game is a top clash, but I do not think it will be decisive. Past results have showed that the league standings can change week in week out.

Sometimes, Valletta dropped some points. And we took advantage, but then came last Sunday it was our turn to drop points in the match against Hibernians. And now it was Valletta who took ad- vantage as the gap went down to only two points. But after all, we are still the leaders,” he said. Zammit said that his side has been prepared for the pressure since the start of the season. “After winning the title last year, we expected such pressure from the start of the season. But I prepared my players for it and they came out with that splendid un- beaten run in the first phase. It was not easy for my players to maintain that unbeaten run for such a long period. That shows the strength of our squad. We have established and experienced players as well as very promising youngsters – they all have to grow with such pressure as every team will be doing its best to beat us. I have full confidence in this squad,” he re- marked.

Zammit added that Ryan Scicluna will be ruled out through suspension while he will be waiting till the very end to see whether the injured Haruna Shola Shodiya and Rowen Muscat will be fit enough to join the squad. “Muscat seems to have a good chance of returning to he squad as he has been intensifying his training but Shola is still doubtful and we will have to wait till the very end to know whether his condition will permit him to play,” he said. Valletta’s Dutch coach Andre Paus also believes that any result next Sunday will not decide the competition. “It is definitely a top game, but the competition will not be decided on Sunday, whatever the result. There will still be five more matches to be played and any other team is able to steal points from the two front runners as we have seen in the first round,” he said.

Paus said that his side was per- forming well of late but con- ceded they will have to be at their very best to be able to over- come the Stripes. “Birkirkara have a very strong squad. They are one of the best and most dif- ficult to beat teams in Malta. But at this level, there is little difference between the clubs and we will definitely be going down to get the three points at stake. We are looking forward with optimism. We certainly hope to win, but it will not be easy,” he ad- mitted. Asked whether he was satisfied with the team’s performances since his arrival in Malta, Paus said he believed there was still more room for improvement. “We have to adapt ourselves to the circumstances. Every game is difficult. Every team wants to beat the two top teams. As to Sunday’s match, my players are aware it is very important,” he said.

 And added: “Against Gzira in the FA Trophy semi final in mid- week, we wanted a win to get to the final. We did just that even if Gzira offered stiff resistance. Now we also want to go further by winning that prize. What was important was that we won without any player getting in- jured. “In fact, all players will possibly be at my disposal on Sunday in the hope that we will win and start the second round at the top of the table.”