The opening matches in the closing round of the 360 Sports Malta Premier get underway today with all the teams starting afresh on zero points.
Round two kicks-off with Zabbar St Partick up against Sliema Wanderers followed by Melita against Hibernians and then Mosta versus Gzira Utd.
For Maltese football, this is a first running of the new league format and some are still trying to get to grips with the system.
In the Opening Round – Phase 1, all twelve teams will play each other and therefore play a total of eleven matches. In Phase 2, teams will be split into two sections – the Top 6 and the Bottom 6 where in each section teams will play five matches in all.
The ranking at the end of the Opening Round will be noted but points will then be reset to zero for the Closing Round.
In the Closing Round – Phase 1, all twelve teams will play each other once again and therefore play a total of eleven matches. In Phase 2, teams will be split once again into two sections – the Top 6 and the Bottom 6 where in each section teams will play five matches in all.
Championship Permutations
The first scenario is that the same team wins both rounds. In that case, the team is automatically declared champion and qualifies for the UEFA Champions League.
If two different teams place second in the two rounds, both will qualify for the UEFA Conference League.
