With Canada Life Premier League leaders St Mary’s enjoying a weekend off, there could be a new team at the top of the table by Saturday teatime.

The Saints’ nearest challengers are currently Rushen United who face a tough trip to the Bowl where they face sixth-placed Corinthians who have at least two games in hand over all the sides above them.

Games between these two sides are usually close, entertaining affairs and, with both teams boasting three wins in their last four games, this one could easily go either way. This match kicks off at 230pm at the national stadium.

St George’s could go level on points with defending champions St Mary’s should they return to winning ways this weekend, but also face a potentially tricky task at home to surprise package Laxey at Glencrutchery Road.

Both sides were on the wrong end of results last time out, with Geordies losing 5-3 away at Peel while the Miners went down 7-3 at home to St Mary’s. Therefore, both teams will be desperate to bounce back and, while St George’s will start as favourites to claim victory, Laxey are more than capable of making life difficult for Chris Bass Sr’s men.

At the other end of the Premier League table there are two potentially season-defining matches in the battle to stave off relegation.

Bottom-of-the-table Pulrose United will be hoping to claim their first points of the season when they welcome Douglas Royal to Springfield Road, a game which they would have targeted at the start of the campaign.

Royal, though, got off the mark with a fine 3-2 win at Douglas Athletic recently so will be eager to make it a quickfire double in Pully.

The other game sees Marown make the journey north to take on Ramsey at Ballacloan. The teams sit next to each other in 10th and 11th respectively with Marown two points clear but having played a game more, therefore there’s a lot riding on this relegation clash.

Having defeated Geordies impressively last time out, Peel will be hoping to continue where they left off when they travel to the capital to take on Douglas Athletic at Springfield Road.

While the Pinks produced a spirited performance away at Rushen last Saturday, Peel should be too strong and claim all three points.