Aiming to move back into the top three of the Australian A-League table, Western Sydney Wanderers will make the short trip to Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday to take on rivals Macarthur.
A defeat to Adelaide United last time out saw the visitors drop down to fourth spot, although they only trail Central Coast Mariners on goal difference, while their hosts find themselves 10th and just two points ahead of basement side Brisbane Roar.
Match preview
After finishing sixth and seventh in their first two A-League campaigns, the third season has been much tougher for Macarthur, who find themselves at the bottom end of the division after 22 matches with just seven wins and 25 points on the board.
Their troubles have largely come in defence, with no other side having conceded as many as the 41 goals that Mile Sterjovski's side have shipped in their 22 league outings thus far, including 26 in their last 11 games, in which time the Bulls have added just eight points to their tally.
That dismal run included a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Saturday's opponents in late February, and after they managed to bounce back with a 3-2 triumph over Brisbane Roar, they head into the weekend on the back of another three-match winless run, firstly suffering a 4-1 beating against Central Coast Mariners before showing more encouraging signs in a 1-1 draw at home to league leaders Melbourne City, having initially gone ahead through Jason Romero.
Hoping to build on that result and make a return to winning ways ahead of the final four league games of the season, the Bulls most recently travelled to take on Perth Glory last Saturday, but they left empty-handed following a 2-1 defeat, despite leading until after the hour mark through Lachlan Rose, as Adam Taggart drew their hosts level in 69th minute before Mark Beevers netted the winning goal 16 minutes from time.
As a result of their particularly disappointing form in recent months, Macarthur find themselves 10th in the A-League with four games of the campaign left, and with just one and two-point leads over 11th-placed Melbourne Victory and basement side Brisbane Roar respectively, they will be desperate to reverse their fortunes to avoid finishing at the foot of the division this term.
Their visitors have enjoyed a much stronger campaign this time around but also come into the game in search of a return to winning ways after a damaging defeat last time out in their fight for places at the top end of the league table.
Western Sydney Wanderers have occupied a spot in the top four for the entirety of the season thus far, and after finishing on just 27 points last time around, they moved onto 31 points from 19 games with the thrashing of Macarthur and a 2-0 home victory over Central Coast Mariners consecutively.
Those results left Mark Rudan's side second in the A-League, but they now head into their latest derby having lost two of their last three outings, firstly being beaten 1-0 away at Perth Glory before dishing out another 4-0 beating to Sydney opposition as Amor Layouni netted a brace alongside goals from Kusini Yengi and Calem Nieuwenhof away at Sydney FC.
Wanderers would then host second-placed Adelaide United last time out in their bid to leapfrog their opponents and climb back into the top two, but they instead fell behind Central Coast Mariners and down to fourth spot following a 3-2 defeat in an eventful contest, with Marcelo's goal on the hour mark not enough to spark a turnaround after Yengi's equaliser was following by quickfire goals from the visitors early in the second half.
While they will be wounded by that defeat in a hard-fought encounter, Rudan's side do have the chance to quickly move back into the top three and pile pressure back on Adelaide as they go in search of a 10th three-point haul of the season and a third resounding win over Macarthur of the campaign, having also won 4-0 in their previous meeting in early January.
Team News
Macarthur will likely remain without forward Bachana Arabuli, who has been absent for their last three matches after notching up four goals in his first 12 games for the club.
In his absence, attacking responsibility will again fall on Lachlan Rose, who netted his third goal of the campaign in his ninth top-flight appearance last time out, with Jason Romero set to join the 23-year-old up front in a 5-3-2 setup.
The back five will likely feature Ivan Vujica on the left-hand side and Matthew Millar on the right with Jonathan Aspropotamitis, Tomislav Uskok and Jake McGing set to line up in the middle of the defence, while Kearyn Baccus and Daniel De Silva are bound to keep their places in midfield.
Western Sydney Wanderers come into Saturday's contest without centre-back Marcelo, who will serve a suspension after he was sent off in the dying minutes of their defeat to Adelaide United last time out, with former Manchester United midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin potentially in line to deputise alongside Tomislav Mrcela in his absence given the lack of natural central defenders in the squad.
Further forward, Calem Nieuwenhof and Romain Amalfitano should again partner up in the engine room with the dangerous trio of Yeni Ngbakoto, Milos Ninkovic and Kusini Yengi operating behind a lone frontman.
The line will be led by Brandon Borrello, who will look to break a run of three matches without a goal having hit the net eight times in the A-League so far this season.
Macarthur possible starting lineup:
Kurto; Millar, McGing, Uskok, Aspropotamitis, Vujica; Baccus, De Silva, Skotadis; Romero, Rose
Western Sydney Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Thomas; Simmons, Mrcela, Schneiderlin, Traore; Amalfitano, Nieuwenhof; Ngbakoto, Ninkovic, Yengi; Borrello
We say: Macarthur 0-2 Western Sydney Wanderers
Keen to bounce back from a narrow defeat to the league's form team, and having had the much stronger season of the two teams thus far while dishing out two thrashings to their rivals, we anticipate Western Sydney Wanderers again coming out on top against Macarthur this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
