by Mtarfa and San Gwann will meet today for an early evening kick-off (18:30) at the Victor Tedesco Stadium. The preview deals with the fixture schedule change, and the effect of squad depth and physicality on match expectations.
Regrouping From Losses & Match Fixture Changes
Mtarfa and San Gwann head into the match on the back of losses to Mgarr United and Birkirkara, respectively. Both games dealt the sides with tough scorelines, with limited opportunity to attack.
San Gwann’s Julian Camilleri underlined the strength of the Stripes but also improvements from his side since the first encounter between the two. He said, “Birkirkara is one of the best teams and in fact they have already won a trophy this year. The first match against them was disappointing with limited positives. However, last week we saw more possession, we managed to attack more and we won more balls defensively too. The scoreline was reduced and I was very happy to see the players fighting until the end to try to get a goal.”
Today’s match was originally scheduled to take place at 20:30, but was moved up to 18:30 earlier in the week. Asked about the effect it has on the preparations Julian Camilleri responded, “Tactically it does not affect anything but the timing is not adequate for those working full days. There’s the general chaos from being at work, to dealing with traffic to try to get to the game in time. It doesn’t only affect us.” Efforts by The Sporting Fan to obtain a clarification for the change in schedule were unsuccessful at the time of writing.
Selections & Key Battles
Despite the difference in points this season, one expects the match to be a hard-fought one. One contrast between the two sides is their aggressiveness in tackles, with San Gwann being a much more physical side.
Mtarfa have also been plagued by a number of injuries which has resulted in depleted numbers. San Gwann have too had their fair share of injuries, but have managed to consistently field a strong enough first eleven, while having a good bench to make changes in the match. Questioned about the importance of squad depth in this regard, Julian Camilleri said, “As I said before, this year we have a big squad with different abilities. This has been very useful but we’ve still had moments where it was difficult because of injuries. However, in my opinion the larger squad size has helped to be able to rotate players according to the match.”
The two sides are currently separated by seven points. Mtarfa will go into the match searching for their first points. Meanwhile, Julian Camilleri is looking to complete the double in search of maintaining the distance to Lija Athletic, “Each match is different and you cannot take any matches for-granted. However, I think we should be comfortable and go to the pitch seeking the three points.”
Efforts to obtain responses from Mtarfa’s coach remained unanswered at the time of writing.
The clash will be played at the Victor Tedesco Stadium, with an early evening kick-off scheduled at 18:30.
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