After an intense fortnight of non-stop matches, the YoHealth Malta Premier League heads into a well-deserved international break with some major talking points as the race for a Top Six berth has taken a new twist.
Floriana and Valletta will be he happiest teams so far as they are currently occupying the top two placings, with just one point separating the neighbouring rivals, who look a solid bet to secure a Top Six berth.
Behind them, there are five teams, Ħamrun Spartans, Hibernians, Sliema Wanderers Marsaxlokk, and Birkirkara, who are separated by just two points and are fighting for the remaining four spots.
The Times of Malta SportsDesk looks at three major talking points at the end of MatchDay 8:
Champions Ħamrun Spartans run out of gas
Ħamrun Spartans saw their unbeaten record in this season’s Premier League come to an end on Sunday following a damaging 2-0 defeat to Sliema Wanderers at the Tony Bezzina Stadium.
It was a day to forget for Giacomo Modica’s team, who were coming into the fixture after playing six matches in the space of two weeks.
The Spartans players looked jaded as most of their energy levels were taken during their brave showing against Poland’s Jagiellonia, which was played just three days before.
Despite finding themselves behind early in the first half and having Bosnian forward Semar Smajlagic shown a straight red card, Ħamrun did put up a stirring fight against the Wanderers and created the better chances during the first half.
But in the end, they still came up short; two uncharacteristic defensive errors condemned them to their first league loss of the season.
The hectic league schedule in September provided no solace to all the teams in the division and the Spartans are set to suffer its toll even further due to their UEFA Conference League schedule that will leave them little time to recover before returning to domestic action in the next three months.
Only time will tell if this congestion in fixtures will prove fatal for the Spartans’ hopes of a top-two finish, but surely coach Modica has a major challenge to keep his squad fit and fresh in the next weeks, where they need to combine their domestic fixtures with their European exertions.
Can Abdilla turn Gżira United’s fortunes?
Darren Abdilla enjoyed a perfect return on the bench of Gżira United as the Maroons picked up their first win of the season after a thrilling 4-3 win over Mosta.
Securing the three points was a must for the Maroons after enduring a disappointing start to the season.
However, while the win over Mosta provides a much-needed boost for Gżira United, the next 10 days of international break will be crucial for Abdilla in trying to provide much-needed tactical adjustments to transform Gżira United into a more solid outfit.
It is clear that with just three matches to go until the end of the first phase of the Opening Round, the Maroons are fully focused on avoiding the last two places in the Bottom Six.
But to achieve that, they have a tough job on their hands as they will battle with some tough opponents.
The biggest issue to solve for Abdilla is to try and shore up the team’s defence as the Maroons have so far shipped in 15 goals, the second-worst record in the division.
Their fixtures schedule provides them with three crucial fixtures when the championship resumes, as they face newly-promoted Tarxien Rainbows, second-placed Valletta, and relegation rivals Naxxar, and winning at least two of their fixtures could provide a much-needed cushion before the start of the Bottom Six.
Injury woes leave Hibs in tough spot
The first phase of the Opening round has provided two facets of Hibernians.
Branko Nisevic’s Paolites were off to an impressive start as they managed to hold onto top spot after the opening six fixtures of the season, with impressive wins over Gżira United, Birkirkara, and Tarxien Rainbows.
However, as the weeks passed, Hibs’ challenge weakened due to a growing list of injured players that has left coach Branko Nisevic with up to ten players out of the equation.
Nisevic’s inability to rotate his squad in key moments of the match due to limited personnel has inevitably hurt the Paolites, who in the last two weeks suffered back-to-back defeats to Ħamrun Spartans (2-0) and Floriana (1-0), which has inevitably put their hopes of Top Six berth under serious threat.
The Hibs coach will surely now keep his fingers crossed that he can at least try to recover a couple of key players during the international break, before taking on three crucial fixtures against Valletta, Sliema Wanderers, and Marsaxlokk.
In such difficult juncture, Nisevic will be banking on the leadership qualities of some of the veteran players in the squad to rally their team-mates and show all their resilience as they can ill-afford to miss out on a Top Six berth.
