Bruno Magpies face biggest test at they take on St Joseph in the new top-of-the-league clash

Following the respective victories by the top three teams in the league last weekend, the league now enters a hot weekend in which the top three spots could see changes depending on the results.
Bruno Magpies, leading by a solitary point over St Joseph and just three points ahead of third-placed Lincoln Red Imps, face what could be one of their toughest tests as they take on St Joseph. Having already drawn against Lincoln Red Imps last week in a scoreless match, Bruno Magpies have inflicted the first damage on themselves and one of the title contenders by dropping two crucial points, which could have worked as a six-pointer instead.
With St Joseph having played just five matches, one less than Bruno Magpies, and having beaten Lincoln Red Imps, the blue and whites enter the match as the hot favorites, even though they are presently in second place. A win for St Joseph would send them two points clear of Bruno Magpies at a crucial juncture when the league once again takes a break for international matches. A win for Bruno Magpies would be a valuable contributor to boosting the Magpies’ pretensions for the league title, leaving them four points clear of St Joseph, while keeping the gap with Lincoln Red Imps intact, even if the latter were to win their match.
Lincoln Red Imps have a tough match ahead on Saturday when they face Mons Calpe. The latter has already dealt a major blow to one of this season’s title contenders, Manchester 62, by beating them 2-1. This sent Manchester 62’s hopes reeling downhill at a time when they had been looking like one of the strong sides in the league.
On Saturday, another interesting match will see Glacis United play College 1975. Both surprise teams in midtable, who were not expected to compete for the top six places, will face each other this weekend. Tied on nine points, with College 1975 still to play one match, they will go into the match as the favorites. However, Glacis United has surprised with some of their results, having beaten Mons Calpe in their first match of the season. Then, facing defeat against Manchester 62, they bounced back, beating Europa Point 3-1 before facing another defeat, this time at the hands of Lincoln Red Imps. They then went on to beat Lions convincingly 3-1.
The biggest surprise came this past week when Glacis United failed to capitalize on their initial chances and were defeated by Europa 3-2, with the latter grabbing their first three points of the season.
Manchester 62, who have failed to impress following the hype over their strengthened squad this summer, will be looking to add to Lions Gibraltar’s woes. A further drop in points against Lions by Manchester 62 would be considered a disaster for their chances to be in the fight for a place in European football. Lions are yet to gain any points in the league.
The last match of the weekend will see both Europa Point and Europa, both of whom gained their first three points last week, facing each other. While Europa, once considered one of the top contenders to battle for the title, has yet to show that they are anywhere near that type of form. The match should be an interesting encounter that could provide an indicator of whether the green and blacks can lift themselves up from the bottom half of the table.
A defeat to Europa Point would be one of the first times for this to happen, something Europa fans have not been accustomed to seeing during Gibraltar’s ten years in UEFA.

(Images from the Lincoln Red Imps convincing victory against Manchester 62 last weekend which saw the red and blacks winning 5-0. This leave Manchester 62 falling seven points behind third placed Lincoln Red Imps and in the bottom half of the league table. Manchester 62 made huge changes to their squad this summer and were forecast as one of the potential title contenders but yet have to show the form. Pics by Christian Correa)