Focus on European spots and relegation battle on last Match Day

Gudja United v Floriana – 05.05.2022 (19.00 hrs) – National Stadium (Top Six)
The last match day of the 2021/22 BOV Premier Division will kick off tonight with an encounter which will not influence the table. Floriana have already sealed second place while the Gudja United sit in sixth place of the Top Six and are trailing number five Gzira United by six points.
However, both sides will look for a win to finish the campaign on a positive note. After posing a serious threat as title contenders, Floriana have failed to live up to expectations. The Greens have not scored a goal in any of there Top Six matches, earned three consecutive goalless draws while their last league win is dating back from 6th March, a 3-0 win over Sirens.
On the other hand, Gudja have reached their main goal and booked their place in the top division for next season. Thane Micallef’s team have enjoyed playing football with the elite teams of Maltese football, even beating Hamrun Spartans in the Top Six series and will go all out for another positive display against Floriana tonight.
Floriana will miss Matias Garcia and Christian Rutjens through suspension but Diego Paiber will return for Gianluca Atzori’s men.
Earlier this season, the Greens defeated Gudja on both occasions; 1-0 and 2-0. In fact, Gudja only managed to beat the Irish once in their previous nine encounters, which was a 2-1 MPL victory two years ago. Floriana won the other eight.

Mosta v Sirens – 05.05.2022 (19.00 hrs) – Tony Bezzina Stadium (Play Out)
Only pride is at stake this evening with the encounter between neighbours Mosta and Sirens, who both assured their safety during previous rounds. The match could be a nice opportunity for both coaches to rotate a few of their players and perhaps even introduce some more youngsters to get a taste of some experience in the top division.
While Mosta defeated Valletta 3-2 last weekend, Sirens succumbed to a 3-2 defeat against Balzan, who boosted their hopes against relegation. Therefore, both seek for a win, aiming to end the campaign positively. Both coaches have no suspension worries.
After the first clash this season ended in a 1-1 draw, Sirens defeated Mosta 3-2 in the second meeting. The last time Mosta beat Sirens is decades ago. On 6th June 1993, Mosta won the 2nd & 3rd Division Knock Out Cup by defeating Sirens 3-1. Since that meeting, both teams met six times, resulting in three Sirens wins and three draws.

Valletta v Santa Lucia – 06.05.2022 (19.00 hrs) – National Stadium (Play Out)
Things get more serious on Friday night with relegation strugglers Santa Lucia facing Valletta. There is no room for complacency for the team of Giovanni Tedesco, who need nothing more than the three points to keep their survival hopes alive. Should they fail to beat Valletta, they could end up in the Challenge League, depending on the outcome of the other match played at the same time, Balzan versus Sliema Wanderers.
Santa Lucia and Balzan are on level points in the red zone and a win for both would mean a Decider.
Without any doubt, Santa Lucia need to reorganize themselves after they suffered an unnecessary 2-1 defeat against the already doomed Sliema Wanderers, a result which seriously dented their survival hopes after a series of positive results.
As for Valletta, the team of Danilo Donic are aiming to end this inconsistent season with a win, also with an eye on the FA Trophy semi-final next week Tuesday, when they face Santa Lucia once more.
The only absentee is Valletta’s defender Enmy Pena Beltre. On the other hand, Santa Lucia will welcome defender Jurgen Pisani from suspension.
In the previous encounters, both sides won a game each, Valletta 5-3 in the 1st round and Santa Lucia 2-1 in the 2nd round.

Sliema Wanderers v Balzan – 06.05.2022 (19.00 hrs) – Tony Bezzina Stadium (Play Out)
This match will be an emotional farewell from Sliema Wanderers to the Premier League, as next season they will ply their trade in the Challenge League. The former giants of Maltese football are rooted rock bottom of the MPL table but will go all out to gain a positive result on Friday night. The Wanderers face Balzan, who on their part need a win to force a possible decisive match against Santa Lucia, or perhaps could even safeguard their Premier Division status, depending on Santa Lucia’s result against Valletta.
Balzan need to respect their opponents tomorrow and should take nothing for granted as, although they won their 1st round match 1-0, Sliema beat Balzan 1-0 in their 2nd round match last January.
Balzan will surely miss the influential Uros Ljubomirac, suspended, but Sean Cipriott returns. On the other hand, Jean Carlos Cloth Goncalves returns for the Wanderers who have Omar Elouni missing out through suspension. In their previous 32 historical encounters, Balzan beat Sliema on 14 occasions while the Blues beat Balzan 11 times, with the remaining seven matches ending in a draw. However, looking at the last ten matches, Balzan should be favourites with seven wins against two for the Wanderers.

Birkirkara v Hamrun Spartans – 07.05.2022 (16.00 hrs) – National Stadium (Top Six)
This is the stand-out fixture of the last matchday of the campaign where Birkirkara and Hamrun Spartans will cross swords for a third-place berth. The Spartans are leading the Stripes by one point and draw would be enough to book their place in the UEFA Conference League competition. Therefore, this is a must-win scenario for Birkirkara to seal third place. If this encounter finishes in a draw and Gzira United beat Hibernians, then the Maroons will go head to head with the Spartans in a decisive match for third place, should Floriana or Hibernians not win the FA Trophy.
Both teams need to return to winning ways after Birkirkara suffered a 3-1 defeat against Hibernians last Sunday while on Saturday, Hamrun shared the spoils in a goalless draw against Floriana. Branko Nisevic’ team were only seconds away from a victory when in stoppage time they were awarded a penalty but Franklin Sasere’s attempt from the spot was parried by goalkeeper Giorgi Kitanov.
The only absentee is Birkirkara’s Yannick Yankam through suspension.
In the previous two MPL clashes this season, Birkirkara defeated Hamrun 2-1 while the other one ended in a goalless draw.

Gzira United v Hibernians – 07.05.2022 (16.00 hrs) – Tony Bezzina Stadium (Top Six)
The 2021/22 BOV Premier Division will come to a close when Gzira United will face Hibernians, who will be crowned Premier League champions for the 13th time in their illustrious history and will be in a festive mood to celebrate the title triumph at their own ground. The Maroons are still aiming for a third spot which could mean a European spot this summer. In reality, their chances are limited as they need to defeat the Malta champions and hope that the crucial encounter between Birkirkara and Hamrun Spartans will finish in a draw. This could be sufficient for Gzira to play in a decisive match against the Spartans as a result after both sides finishing in third place. But these permutations are very slim and all results need to go Gzira’s way to safe their season.
What a wonderful season this has been for Hibernians, who sealed their title with one match spare and, on their 100th anniversary, are also still in the running to win the FA Trophy and therefore the double. They have done this only once so far, in season 1981/82, when they were undefeated in the league and Trophy.
Stefano Sanderra’s team will be without the suspended Ferdinando Apap and Brian Thaylor but Bjorn Kristensen might make some minutes after nursing a long-term injury. Gzira, this time, have no problems of missing players.
In both direct meetings this season, the Paolites emerged victorious with identical 3-1 wins. In fact, during the 33 encounters in history, between the two, Gzira came out victors on seven occasions only, the last time being the 3-2 MPL win in September 2018.