Swieqi United, Raiders Lija to meet in women’s league highlight game

Another round of fixtures and another crunch match on the line as the 2022/2023 Assikura Women’s League continues to offer competitive matches week after week.

Matchday 6 of this campaign sees championship leaders Swieqi United take on Raiders Lija in the highlight clash of the week.

Both teams are in high spirits for this game after securing crucial victories in their most recent outings.

Led by Judith Kuipers, Swieqi scored three goals without reply against Hibernians to move to 11 points and join Birkirkara at the top.

The Owls boast the best attacking record with 27 goals and they conceded just one – in their opener, meaning they have kept a clean sheet in their last four straight outings.

Shona Zammit, Fernanda Peinado and Jade Flask scored Swieqi’s goals against the Paolites, with Flask now joining Tatiana Dabney as the club’s top scorer so far.

Dabney, the American winger who embarked in Maltese football during the summer, was absent from last week’s game after picking up a knock against Mġarr United in the previous game.

Raiders, on their part, were 10 minutes away from halting Birkirkara’s unbeaten run before Alishia Sultana grabbed a leveller to deny Denis Guerra’s side.

Guerra’s youth team have started their campaign strongly with three victories in five matches as they are currently on 10 points, trailing both Swieqi and Birkirkara by just one goal.

While they scored 12 goals, they conceded just four so far – less than a goal per game, having made five league appearances.

Reigning champions Birkirkara, who are joint-leaders with Swieqi in this campaign, will be looking to bounce back from their Raiders Lija’s draw as they face San Ġwann.

Alishia Sultana scored her third goal of the season after netting the draw against Raiders Lija last week, as she is now on three goals. Following that draw, Birkirkara extended their unbeaten run in the league to 74 games.

Jose Borg’s side have won three and drawn two in their five league games so far, with 13 goals scored and two conceded.

Against Raiders, the Stripes had Italian midfielder Gaia Milan and Canadian forward Sofia Iaderosa missing.

Elsewhere, Mġarr United return in action after serving a bye last week when they take on Mtarfa.

Michael Mangion’s Greens have picked up seven points in five outings so far and will be determined to reach double figures to keep track of the teams in the upper half of the table.

Mġarr have scored 10 goals in five games, conceding just four goals.

Mtarfa, on their part, are at the back of a dramatic win over San Ġwann with two late goals handing them their first win of the season.

THIS WEEK’S FIXTURES

TUESDAY

San Ġwann vs Birkirkara – Centenary Stadium, 20.00

WEDNESDAY

Raiders Lija vs Swieqi United – Centenary Stadium, 20.00

Mġarr United vs Mtarfa – Mġarr Ground, 20.30

MD7 bye: Hibernians.

Photo: Birkirkara FC