Clubs are already training in Malta, favorites are Tirol and Liberec
- Jan 10, 2023
- 3 min read
On Monday morning, a charter flew from Brno to Malta with four football clubs and thirty Czech and Slovak journalists. The Czech republic is represented by Slovan Liberec and Trinity Zlín, while Slovakia is represented by Spartak Trnava and Trenčín. Other participants, the Austrian WSG Tirol and the German SV Sandhausen, arrived in the Malta on their own axis. Already on wednesday, the tournament will offer opening matches Liberec - Tirol (11:00) and Trnava - Zlín (16:00).
The footballers stayed at the Salini hotel resort with a beautiful view of Salina Bay in the north of the island. For greater comfort, each club has its own hotel floor. In the training area of the Ta Qali National Stadium, the clubs started training on Monday afternoon in pleasant spring temperatures. In Malta, the clubs will not only have hard training, but above all, quality matches of the Tipsport Malta Cup tournament. They will compete in two groups of three in a round-robin format and then play matches for placement. The entire training camp has the best cast in its history to date. In the past, four teams fought for the crystal cup from the Rückl glass factory in Czech republic, this year for the first time six teams. Who will win the fragile trophy in the end? We will find out on Thursday, January 19. The final day will offer not only a battle for victory, but also duels for the overall 3rd and 5th place in the tournament.
Duel of favorites for the start Austrian Tirol will play for the third final in a row. How do the bookmakers of the Tipsport bookmaker see the chances of individual teams to win the tournament? A year ago in Malta, Sigma Olomouc was happy with the final victory over Tirol, but Sigma is not participating in the tournament this year. Thus, the bookmakers place the currently fifth team of the top Austrian league in the role of favorite at odds of 4.7:1. Ambitious Czech club Slovan Liberec also have the same odds of winning the tournament with odds of 4.7:1, and it is Liberec and Tirol that will compete at the start of the tournament. This match will tell a lot.
The second Bundesliga SV Sandhausen, which is representing German football in the tournament for the first time, has slightly worse odds for an overall win in the tournament of 5.2:1. "We are very curious about the performance of the 2nd German Bundesliga team, it should be a football quality for our tournament, despite the fact that they did not do well in the competition and are still last," says Helmut Amhof from the organizing agency. Slovakian Trnava has the same rate, but it did well in the Slovak league in the fall and is not without a chance for the title. Next in the order of odds for the winner of the tournament are footballers Zlína (6:1) and Trenčín (7.5:1). Trenčín has had an unsuccessful half of the season, which corresponds to 9th place out of 12 participants in the Slovak league.
Zlín wants out of the crisis TThe club nicknamed cobblers (after the legendary shoe company Baťa, which was founded in the city) is to be moved from the relegation rungs by experienced former national team coach Pavel Vrba, who also has stints in Pilsen, Sparta, Žilina and Ludogorca Razgrad in his portfolio. Coach Vrba wants to use three high-quality matches on excellent lawns as a preparation for the early start of the 1st Czech League. In his words, the training will focus more on technical matters and tactics than on hard physical preparation. For coach Pavel Vrba's wards, the concentration in Malta is also a pleasant diversion - in previous years, they trained exclusively in domestic conditions.
Tipsport Malta Cup Winner Odds
FC Slovan Liberec | 4.70 |
WSG Tirol | 4.70 |
SV Sandhausen | 5.20 |
FC Spartak Trnava | 5.20 |
FC Trinity Zlín | 6.00 |
AS Trenčín | 7.50 |
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