Looking to end a run of six games without victory, Western Sydney Wanderers take on Sydney FC at the Bankwest Stadium on Saturday.
In stark contrast, the visitors head into the Sydney derby unbeaten in their last six games and will aim to continue their surge to the top of the table.
Match preview
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Western Sydney Wanderers failed in their bid to return to winning ways last week as they suffered a painful defeat to struggling Melbourne Victory.
In a nine-goal thriller at the AAMI Park, the Wanderers scored three goals in the final 15 minutes of the game, but it was too little, too late, as the hosts held on for all three points.
Carl Robinson's men have now failed to claim victory in six attempts, dating back to a 3-0 win over Perth Glory in early March.
Western Sydney Wanderers have picked up just three points since then and this poor run has seen them drop to ninth place in the A-League table.
On the other hand, Sydney continued their rise to the summit of the table with a narrow 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory on Tuesday.
In a one-sided affair at the Leichhardt Oval Stadium, Bobo's sixth-minute strike was all that separated both sides, but it was enough to hand Steve Corica's men their eighth win of the season.
The Sky Blues have now picked up three wins and three draws from their last six games and this impressive run has helped them move up to second place.
While Sydney will look to close the four-point gap with first-place Melbourne City this week, they have failed to taste victory in their last five Sydney derbies.
Their most recent encounter with the Wanderers ended in a 1-1 draw back in January, when Kosta Barbarouses' opener was cancelled out by James Troisi in the 68th minute.
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Team News
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With no injury concerns or suspensions in the Western Sydney Wanderers camp, we expect Robinson to field his strongest possible starting XI.
Bernie Ibini-Isei was recalled to the starting lineup last time out, but after failing to make an impact, he could return to the bench for this tie.
Meanwhile, Corica will be unable to call up the services of full-back Michael Zullo, who has been out of action since the turn of the year due to a calf injury.
Other than that, Sydney have a full strength squad and we could see the same starting side from last week's win over Melbourne Victory.
Club captain Alex Wilkinson has formed a formidable partnership with Ryan McGowan in central defence, and we expect them to be paired once again on Saturday.
Western Sydney Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Margush; Gordon, McGowan, Mourdoukoutas; Russell, Baccus, Dorrans, Aquilina; Ibini-Isei, Yeboah, Cox
Sydney FC possible starting lineup:
Redmayne; King, McGowan, Wilkinson, Grant; Brattan, Baumjohann, Ninkovic, Retre; Barbarouses, Bobo
We say: Western Sydney Wanderers 0-2 Sydney FC
Sydney come into this tie in fine form and will aim to build on their recent run of results. With the hosts struggling to perform in recent weeks, we back the visitors to take advantage of their poor form and end their winless run in this fixture.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sydney FC win with a probability of 47.82%. A win for Western Sydney Wanderers had a probability of 28.64% and a draw had a probability of 23.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sydney FC win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.42%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.39%) and 0-2 (7.28%). The likeliest Western Sydney Wanderers win was 2-1 (7.02%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.85%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 2.6% likelihood.
