 All right, well we're staying with football here on the Sportsmax zone and only three match weeks remain in the regular season of the rare nephew Jamaica Premier League and there is very little to separate the teams as we close in on confirming the qualifiers for the playoffs. Mount Pleasant have a five-point lead atop the table with 50 points but right below them is a four-team deadlock as Tivoli Gardens, Portmore United, Arnott Gardens and Cavalier all have 45 points and are separated only by goal difference and it's the same from sixth to eighth. With Waterhouse, Montego Bay United and Don Beholden all on 34 points, Waterhouse clinging to the sixth and the last playoff spot due to a superior goal difference. Well with that being said these match week 24 fixtures have a lot riding on them. So on Sunday we'll have Portmore United up against Bay United that match will be live on Sportsmax. Mount Pleasant they play Arnott Gardens also live on your home of champions Treasure Beach they will be seeing Cavalier, Waterhouse up against Don Beholden and Montego Bay United they play Mullines United. Now moving to Monday, Humberlion up against Limehall Academy that match you can catch the action on Sportsmax too and Tivoli Gardens versus Harbourview live on Sportsmax too. Well with us to preview these pivotal clashes is our in-house football analyst Lige Williams. Lige well you're on set with us now and we're down to the wire it's business time let's talk about what to expect which is the most important upcoming fixture for that sixth spot. I think it has to be the two teams that are deadlocked on 34 points that are coming up against each other Waterhouse and Don Beholden I think that's going to be a really really important game for both teams. Waterhouse are coming off a really impressive win they got some goals finally something that they haven't been doing well and the 142 there were some defensive lapses that's not what we're used to from Waterhouse for the past couple of weeks but they got the victory and most importantly they have a really really superior goal difference to the rest of the team so I think that would fill them with confidence going into this contest but then again all of the teams are as I've said previously on a similar standing I think that they all have similar bouts of quality maybe I've always edged towards Montego Bay United getting that sixth spot but I think all three teams are really similar in terms of the quality that they possess in all phases of the game so it's going to be really tight and then this weekend is going to be another part of the roller coaster that we're expecting as the season carries on. Do you remember any of the seasons coming down to this wire lands? I feel like this one is for you. It's hard it's hard not not with so many teams battling for that last playoff spot I think usually you might find two teams battling for one spot but to find three teams battling for one spot and three teams on the identical number of points battling for one spot. Three matches left. I can't remember seeing this I really can't. The year that Harbourview won that'll be 2021 they had a really really close battle with two other teams I know Tivoli was right there as well it wasn't as close as this one just goal difference but no it was it might have actually been just as close but it wasn't as close at this point so yeah it's an anomaly it's not something that we see very often because all three of those teams are also nine wins seven draws seven losses they're practically identical it's just a goal scoring that's tipping the scale right now maybe the amount of goals that Montego be United and Dumbledon have been conceding and the lack of goal threat I think Waterhouse's defense is a reason why they've pushed up to our 11 goal difference because as I've mentioned before attacking wise they haven't been that good to be honest but they've been pushing through and they've been doing well enough to sustain themselves but I think that game at the Waterhouse Mini Stadium on Sunday is going to be a very big one yeah well we're in late March now can you remember that late December Dunbar Holden victory over Waterhouse two goals to one I think it was and if it is that anything has changed since then between the two teams because you would want to look at last meeting that they had which Dunbar Holden won but that was three months ago and the teams are probably playing differently now in March than they did in in late December would that result you know give you any indicators as to what may happen in this important fixture I don't think so because as you mentioned the teams have changed especially the dynamics of each team for better and for worse in either case I think I don't think Waterhouse coincident are as good as they were in December they don't have the same fluidity especially going forward they might be a little bit better defensively but I think in terms of the balance that they have going forward and going back it's not as good as it was then and for Dunbar Holden I think that they've gotten a bit better they've gotten they're on a new two-to-legender Lenny Hyde so it was always going to take some time for them to get accustomed to the type of football that he wants to play and as the games go on I'm not saying that it's perfect all the time because we've seen that they've struggled on several occasions to break down teams but when they do score goals they score quite a lot of them we've seen them score four on several occasions but then the next week they'll go on and you know have a nilal jar or something of the sort so I do think that Dunbar Holden they have their issues but if both teams are playing at their best capacity I do think that Dunbar Holden has improved the most since that December meeting okay well that's an important narrative then because if they won in December and you think they are better now than they were in December then on that analysis they should beat Waterhouse on the weekend nobody there's other things to consider as well because you have to consider the venue of the game as well where the game will be played which would be in at the Waterhouse, mini stadium, Waterhouse are known for a lot of rampant support and they do support their teams very well they can geop the players yeah and and Dunbar Holden don't have a very good record when playing away from home I mean that they haven't played most of their games at home their home games but when they're playing in his hostile environments you think back to say for instance when they were to go and play Mount Pleasant when they're going going to play Arnett Garnes for example they don't generally do well over the past couple of seasons because they have a generally young squad so a lot of factors can play into it it's not just quality of teams or the names or the tactics because there's a lot of psychological edges that can be given just based off of the atmosphere in the ground and things like that so there's a lot to consider but I do think based off of the quality and form of the team I'd give Dunbar Holden the slight edge all right can we talk quickly about the top two spots because those are the two positions that would automatically qualify for the the semis and they wouldn't have to go through the first phase of the playoffs. We've spoken a lot on this show about the work that Jerome Wait has done with Tivoli Gardens and they continue to show themselves as a potent team currently number two behind Mount Pleasant by far the most prolific scoring team and by far the team boasting the best goal difference are they poised to make it a top two. I think that's also very difficult to say because just like how there are three teams deadlocked for the sixth spot there are four teams deadlocked from second to fifth there's so many teams that can get there's just a matter of goal difference at this point but you did mention the goal difference of Tivoli Gardens which is quite substantially higher than everyone else but it's going to be difficult I think that's going to change week on week as it has been for quite some time but yeah Jerome Wait is doing a splendid job it's not very easy to score six goals in this league and they and their opponents on Monday did it pretty comfortably last game week so they're a team to look out for but in terms of a clash that could decide a lot for the top two I think this Mount Pleasant versus Arnett Garnes game on Sunday is going to be a really entertaining watch. Arnett Garnes are peaking and playing some really good football right now and they're going to come up against the best team in the league in my opinion and Sunday at Mount Pleasant as well so I think tactically that's going to be a really intriguing clash I don't think we'll have all the time to get into all the tactics that I would want but hopefully on Monday we can get into that. Yeah there's one one more thing on the Tivoli performances though because I saw it just in Don had a hat trick last weekend and he had gone several match weeks without scoring after taking the lead as the the golden boot leader from early in the season but probably a good sign for Tivoli that he's finding his scoring boots back again at this critical point in the season. Yeah and there was a little tweak of his positioning so often we've seen him being deployed on the wings and it's changed up a bit now he's being deployed centrally or he was deployed centrally against Mullines and his runs and his interchanging with Anthony Nelson I think was really lethal for Tivoli as well as what they were doing on the wing and it's with Tivoli no other team plays the formation or the tactical balance that they have so it's always going to be a mismatch unless a team prepares for them specifically throughout the week if they're going to use their similar system so Tivoli is always going to be a really tough team for anybody we saw that when they came up against Mullines and only two 1-0 victories that was really close to both of those games are extremely close so there's a lot to learn from those games in terms of what we see against other big teams so yeah a lot to look out for for Tivoli going into the playoffs and I've been really high on them all season I wouldn't be surprised if they find their way not only in the semifinals down the line but even in the final as well yeah and I want to get a quick comment from you on Portmore season because right now they have the best unbeaten streak in the league 16 matches undefeated and they have always been there or they're about during the season they have never been leaders or they haven't been leaders I don't think since the start of the season but they've been right there and they keep getting the job done and they have the know-how to winning championships even though this this current team is doesn't have too many players who have won the championship or before if any at all but it's a team that you can't underestimate because of their their traditional strength and know-how in winning championships well yeah they have Rudolph Austin who I believe has won the league but that was a very long time ago that was before he went overseas to play and he hasn't he didn't play the last game I think they're saving his legs for the playoffs but I think with Portmore they have a few attacking issues I think it's a similar issue to what stats would have had in the Manning Cup under the same coach Phillip Williams I think at times their attacking play can be a bit slow but defensively they're so solid they can cause a problem for any team and they can slow down any team but even if we're taking into consideration their last game against Cavalier Cavalier hit the post three times in that game and Cavalier in the first game against Portmore also won one they'll Cavalier had the better of chances in that game as well so they're riding their luck a bit I'm not saying that they're not a quality team but I think attacking wise given the players that they have at their disposal I think their need tour should be a little bit more free flowing I think it looks a bit bogged down especially in possession but they are very good defensive teams so they're going to make it difficult for everyone but I think in the playoffs that can make them very dangerous but I'm not quite sure if it's enough to overcome some really good attacking teams like Mount Pleasantivoli and Arnett even Malaysia you know I'm hoping after this weekend we can no longer just be speaking about there's the the game is anybody's want to win it's so open right now we can still be trust me on Monday we'll still be in the same position but we've been talking about this for quite some time it's like we have no clarity I don't think that will change on Monday's show trust me so when after game week 26 all right well what's for sure viewers is you have all the reason to keep it locked to sports max because of course we want to see how this ends up we've been talking about deadlock everybody being tied on the same number of points people only being ahead of another one because of cold difference so keep it locked let's see what happens by the end of match week 26 and our show is about to get hotter because we have Naomi Cohen sitting right on the side set she'll be joining us on the main set very very soon for our special segment celebrity knock stay with us