Round two of the 21/22 BOV Premier Division kicks off tomorrow afternoon at the Tony Bezzina Stadium, in what promises to be a weekend full of action with some classic encounters ahead. The Valletta versus Hamrun Spartans is undoubtedly the biggest fixture of the weekend, with Hibernians, Birkirkara and Floriana having some tricky games. Unfortunately, the Sliema Wanderers versus Balzan clash has been postponed to a later date, due to reasons related to Covid-19.
Santa Lucia v Floriana – 11.12.2021 (14.00 hrs) – Tony Bezzina StadiumThe second round of the First Phase gets underway with an interesting encounter between Santa Lucia and Floriana. The Greens are coming from a brilliant performance against Hibernians, although they had to settle to a goalless draw. The Greens sit now in fifth position. On the other hand, struggling Santa Lucia saved the result to a 3-3 draw against Balzan. They went ahead with a goal from Vito Plut but Balzan tightened the game with goals that put them ahead twice, until Alan da Silva Souza, equalized in the dying minutes to earn a valuable point in their quest of avoiding relegation. Santa Lucia welcome back Andre Prates Rodrigues and Jurgen Pisani back from suspension, the latter in time to face his former colleagues. Floriana might name an unchanged team. It will be only the sixth time in history that both clubs meet in an official senior match. Interestingly, Floriana only beat Santa Lucia once during the five matches played between them so far (2-1, MPL 07.12.2019). The first-round clash ended in a two all draw, with Leo Bahia scoring twice for Santa Lucia, while the Floriana goals were scored by Kristian Keqi and Daniel Agius. Valletta v Hamrun Spartans – 11.12.2021 (16.00 hrs) – National StadiumThis is the stand-out fixture of Match Day 12 between two old arch-rivals. Valletta hope to repeat their success of the first round when they defeated Hamrun Spartans 2-1. But the Spartans seem to have sparked into life again, controlling matches, are more proactive and approach the game with a more collective mentality, winning four matches in their last five outings. But this is a do-or-die encounter for them as they cannot afford to drop anymore points. Should they beat Valletta they will jump into third place and keep their hopes alive for the title as they are seven points behind leaders Hibernians. Valletta will be without the suspended Ivan Curjuric while Hamrun still miss Jorge Ailton ‘Dodo’ through injury. Last season, Hamrun beat Valletta 3-0, while the season before, the match was also played only once in the Premier Division, when Valletta recorded a 1-0 win. Sirens v Gudja United – 12.12.2021 (14.00 hrs) – National StadiumGudja United will be aiming to build on the 3-0 victory over Mosta when they lock horns with Sirens in a battle to avoid the Play-Out group (last six teams). Gudja were highly impressive and deservedly took all the three points in a comfortable win. At the moment their morale is high as they seek revenge after Sirens’ 1-0 triumph in the first round. After a mixed start to the season, Sirens do not show any consistency and lost four matches out of their last six outings although they reacted well against Birkirkara (3-2) and Floriana (2-1). But after a 3-1 defeat against Gzira United, they slipped just below the mid-table places. The only absentee in this match is Gudja’s Canadian midfielder, Louis Beland, after being red-carded against Mosta. Sirens have not lost against Gudja in their last five outings against them, therefore, Gudja have never beaten Sirens in the Premier Division so far. Birkirkara v Mosta – 12.12.2021 (16.00 hrs) – Tony Bezzina StadiumThis is an opportunity for Birkirkara to bounce back on track after they only picked five points in the last five matches. An improvement is expected against Mosta, a team whose form has subsided considerably. The Stripes need to get back the momentum they started with at the beginning of the season with three successive wins against Mosta (3-0), Hamrun Spartans (2-1) and Balzan (2-1). They also need to find the right balance to stay in contention of a top-four finish … as they conceded (6) more goals than they netted (5).On the other hand, nothing less than a victory would keep Mosta’s hopes alive to stand a chance for survival. Their form in the last six matches has been below par, picking only six points out of a possible 18, which left them fighting against relegation, while their aim was clearly a Top Six birth after the regular season. The pressure is on them as they sit in 11th place, but a win could turn things around for them. Mosta will be strengthened by the return of duo Sunday Akinbule and Tyrone Farrugia, while Birkirkara still have Kurt Zammit missing, who is nursing an injury, while Federico Falcone will be out for the next six weeks as well.The encounter can be considered as a classic, as both teams already met for the first time 71 years ago, during season 1950/51 in the 2nd Division. It will be the 66th clash in history between them. The 1st round match was target for Birkirkara with a 3-0 win, goals by Jeferson Macedo ‘Perdigao’, Leandro Aguirre and Federico Falcone. Hibernians v Gzira United – 12.12.2021 (18.00 hrs) – National StadiumHibernians take on seventh-placed Gzira United and will be looking to stretch their advantage at the top of the Premier League, hoping Valletta and Hamrun Spartans would drop points in their direct encounter. The Paolites were held to a goalless draw by Floriana but were fortunate not to lose after a dominant Greens’ performance. They will face a tricky test against the Maroons, who seem to be recapturing their form after back-to-back wins against Gudja United (3-2) and Sirens (3-1). They seek revenge for the 3-1 defeat in the first round as they bid to stay in touch with the top four. The Maroons are aware of this important difficult game but also a moment to exploit the situation and inflict the first defeat of the season upon Hibernians. Hibernians will have to do without the suspended Wilfried Domoraud while Gzira United, who are still plagued with three long term injury cases of Steve Borg, Ricardo Correa and Thiaguinho, might field an unchanged team. Looking at the history of this match, Hibernians won all their last four outings against the Maroons, with Gzira’s last win in the Premier Division is dating back from 23 September 2018 (3-2).