Western United will square off against Sydney FC in search of three points in an Australian A-League fixture on Wednesday.
The home side come into the game on the back of a 3-2 victory over WS Wanderers at the same ground. Benjamin Garuccio scored a brace to help his side edge the five-goal thriller.
Sydney United settled for a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw away to Wellington Phoenix on Saturday. David Ball and Bobo scored in either half to ensure parity was restored at fulltime.
The draw left the capital side in fourth spot in the table, having garnered 18 points from 13 matches. Western United sit at the summit of the standings and have 23 points to show for their efforts in 12 matches.
Western United vs Sydney Head-to-Head
Sydney FC have three wins from their last five matches against Western United. One match ended in a draw while the home side have one win to their name.
Their most recent meeting came a week ago when second-half goals from Steven Lustica and Mx Burgess saw the two sides share the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
Western United form guide: W-D-W-D-W
Sydney FC form guide: D-D-W-W-D
Western United vs Sydney Team News
Western United
Sebastian Pasquali and Rhys Bozinovski are unavailable due to injuries.
Injuries: Sebastian Pasquali, Rhys Bozinovski
Suspension: None
Sydney FC
Michael Zullo, Luke Brattan and Chris Zuvela are all unavailable due to injuries. Kosta Barbarouses made his return from injury over the weekend and should be available for selection.
Injuries: Luke Brattan, Michael Zullo, , Chris Zuvela
Suspension: None
Western United vs Sydney Predicted XI
Western United Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Jamie Young; Ben Garuccio, Leo Lacroix, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Josh Risdon; Steven Lustica, Neil Kilkenny; Connor Pain, Alessandro Diamanti, Lachlan Wales; Aleksandar Prijovic
Sydney FC Predicted XI (4-4-2): Tom Heward-Belle; Conor O'Toole, Ben Warland, Alex Wilkinson, James Donachie; Anthony Caceres, Paulo Retre, Patrick Yazbek, Milos Ninkovic; Elvis Kamsoba, Bobo
Western United vs Sydney Prediction
Western United are on course for a maiden league crown and a win in front of their fans will put them one step closer to finishing the regular season at the top of the table.
They will be buoyed by their strong home record, although Sydney FC have enough quality to leave AAMI Park with something. Both sides are likely to play on the front foot, translating into plenty of goalmouth action, but we are backing the hosts to narrowly edge the game.
Prediction: Western United 2-1 Sydney FC