Qormi look to end disastrous slump

Mark Miller and his side Qormi will look to end their disastrous streak when they take on Mosta on Saturday at the Victor Tedesco stadium.

Qormi have greatly underperformed this season having been expected to at least push for a top six finish at the start of the campaign and with their crop of players in their team their position in the table is even more astonishing.

Mosta had been performing to an acceptable standard for some parts of the season, but results have begun to tail off since the beginning of December, resulting in the reshuffling of their foreign players among those the departure of forward Bojan Kaljevic who opted to join Balzan.

Qormi, under the guidance of temporary Coach Mark Miller are showing signs of improvement particularly in their 2-2 against Floriana, but have since reverted to showing relegation form losing consecutive matches against Hibernians and Valletta respectively.

Mark Miller will have a tough job in restoring some much needed belief in his players, who have failed to win in their last 12 matches.

Their opponents Mosta have picked up just two points from their last four matches and will be keen to record a victory over Qormi to avoid dropping in the lower ends of the table

Qormi Coach Mark Miller will be preparing for the game knowing he has a full list of players available for selection with the exception of Ryan Micallef who is ruled out through suspension.

The previous two encounters sees both teams registering a win over the other with Qormi beating Mosta 4-0 in the first round and Mosta winning 3-1 in the second

(Saturday, 2pm, Victor Tedesco Stadium)

Birkirkara Vs Sliema (4.15pm)

Sliema take on Birkirkara in the second match at the Tedesco Stadium on Saturday looking to bring to an end their recent slump and poor form against second placed Birkirkara.

The Wanderers have this season failed to beat Birkirkara in their previous two matches, losing 1-0 in their first match and registering a 1-1 draw in the second round.

The management at Sliema may have changed over the summer with the arrival of an Italian regime failing to leave any impact and having to revert back to the services of former Coach Stephen Azzopardi.

In fact it is a season where results were merely impressive for the blues, and where inconsistent and below par performances has reigned throughout the campaign.

The Wanderers currently sit in sixth on 18 points having missed the opportunity to close the gap on Balzan and Floriana after failing to win their match against Pieta last week.

Birkirkara themselves have also been plagued by inconsistency particularly in the first part of the season, with disappointing results against lower oppositions leaving them trailing leaders Hibernians since the start of the season.  However Paul Zammit’s men look to have found their feet winning their last two matches and having not lost a game since November 22 when they lost 4-3 to Pieta.

Both Coaches are not expected to make any radical changes in their formations despite Stephen Azzopardi needing to replace the suspended Djumo Bocar.

Paul Zammit will most likely retain the same starting eleven which defeated Mosta 3-0 last week.

(Saturday, 4.15, Victor Tedesco Stadium)