by Leaders Birkirkara will take on fourth-placed Mgarr United in tonight’s fixture at the Victor Tedesco Stadium (20:30). Birkirkara’s coach Jose’ Borg is expecting a toughened Mgarr United. Words from the Greens’ camp suggest plenty of soul-searching has gone into the past week in aim of delivering a response following last week’s disappointing display against Swieqi United.
On The Back Of Very Different Results
The two sides come into the clash following two very different matches. Birkirkara enjoyed a much better performance against Valletta, whom they beat by 4-0. On the other hand, Mgarr United suffered their heaviest defeat in their 5-1 loss against Swieqi United.
Birkirkara’s Jose’ Borg heaped praise on his team for an improved showing against Valletta, “I’m very happy with the team’s performance (against Valletta), especially in the first half. I rotated some players to deal with injuries and fatigue and we still showed a good style of play. I think the result reflected this and certainly it was a better showing than the first round.”
There were noticeably a few changes in Birkirkara’s defensive line again against Valletta, with Valentina Rapa and Ann-Marie Said both not making appearances, while Charlene Zammit appears to still be nursing minutes with appearances from the bench. Despite this, the Stripes still managed to keep a clean sheet, thanks to the work of Stephania Farrugia and Janice Xuereb alongside Caitlin Rogers, Ileana Farrugia and Mariah Cardona. In attack the team also welcomed back Edith Garcia Falero from injury.
Jose’ Borg was reluctant to explain details for each change but focused on the importance of squad depth in the upcoming phase, “I made some replacements due to injuries, sickness and also to cover some tactical issues. It was a good opportunity to field some different players and to have them ready to play as we go into these tough games which we will be facing week-in week-out.” The Stripes have continued adding to their depth through the signing of Japanese defender Nanako Kobayashi, which they announced earlier today.
Looking at the upcoming encounter, Jose’ Borg rejected the idea that the defeat against Swieqi United makes Mgarr United easy pickings for the league leaders. He said, “Mgarr suffered a very big defeat against Swieqi but I do not think that this is going to be the norm. I think it was a one-off game where a lot of good things happened to Swieqi, but I think Mgarr still had a solid performance where they could’ve scored various chances. I don’t think it’s going to reflect on our game or that the result is going to be replicated. I think it’s going to be a very tough game.”
Certainly, Mgarr United’s performance against Swieqi United will be one that raised many questions in the dressing room. Responses from the Greens’ camp suggest that changes are afoot as the side seeks to make amends for their performance last week, “Every match presents its own unique narrative, and it’s crucial to extract learning experiences from each encounter. There were certain aspects of the game against Swieqi United that we have meticulously analyzed and addressed during our training sessions this week.”
Probes into whether last week’s performance indicates a need for strengthening were rejected by the Greens’ management, “I firmly believe in the capability and versatility of our current squad and our younger players. I am confident that with the talent and dedication we possess, we can approach each upcoming game with a strategy that yields positive results.”
Straight Into The Fire
This week marks the final week before the teams are split into two sections in the league. In the case of Birkirkara and Mgarr United there will be no time to take it easy with the two sides to be embroiled in tough encounters from this week onwards, including facing each other twice in the span of a week.
Asked whether he believes playing a top-four contender is an advantage to get into a certain intensity, Birkirkara’s Jose’ Borg suggested that his squad is locked in for the challenge ahead. He said, “I prepared my squad that going forward from the match against Valletta it’s all going to be difficult games, even simply finishing round 2 in our case, before the split. I can see from training that the players are mentally prepared that we’re going to have three months where we will be playing ten top clashes.”
The coach laid out his team’s championship mentality, “We have thirty points to win. If we win all our direct encounters, potentially, we can win the league in the earlier stages which would be an advantage for us. However, obviously losing games will put us in a very difficult position because the league table will be changing each week.”
In the case of Mgarr United, last week’s encounter against Swieqi United was the first of 11 consecutive matches against top-four contenders. Asked a similar question, the responses received from the Mgarr camp also indicate that they are ready to get into the thick of things, including by taking last week’s defeat in their stride, “The perspective we adopt in this scenario is pivotal. Personally, I view it as a strategic advantage. Competing against a top-tier team sets a high-intensity benchmark for our players, which I believe is conducive to the rhythm and approach we aim to maintain throughout the remaining matches.”
All eyes will be on tonight’s kick-off, with the teams ready to start dishing out the tricks up their sleeves. The match begins at 20:30 at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.
Lead Image: MFPA
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