Wellington Phoenix will look to extend their unbeaten run to nine games on Wednesday, when they make the trip to Western Sydney Wanderers.
A run of 16 points from their last eight matches has seen the Nix rise to eighth spot in the Australian A-League table, although they only lead Wednesday's opponents due to goal difference.
Match preview
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Western Sydney Wanderers suffered a narrow defeat last time out, as they took on city rivals Sydney FC away from home.
The game remained level until the 62nd minute, when Bobo netted the only goal of the game to send Carl Robinson's side home empty-handed.
That was a second consecutive defeat for Robinson's men, having previously suffered a much more disappointing 5-1 loss to Perth Glory.
In that game, Andy Keogh netted an impressive four-goal haul before Joel Chianese capped off the affair with a goal in added time, while Bruce Kamau's goal for the Wanderers had no effect on the final outcome.
Those two results put an end to a positive run of form for the Sydney outfit, having previously won two matches in a row, including an eye-catching 5-0 victory over Western United, as James Troisi, Ziggy Gordon, Kamau and Bernie Ibini-Isei all got on the scoresheet alongside a Dylan Pierias own goal.
Their recent dip in form has seen Robinson's men drop below Wednesday's opponents and move down to ninth spot, while they sit just three points above Western United in the bottom three.
They take on a Wellington Phoenix side who have hit their strongest run of the season, having gone eight league games without a defeat in the top flight.
The visitors recorded their eighth A-League victory of the season last time out, as they comfortably defeated Western United 3-0 at home.
Clayton Lewis opened the scoring late in the first half, before Reno Piscopo doubled their lead and Tomer Hemed immediately added a third goal to put the game out of sight and seal an impressive win.
That followed a commendable 2-2 away at league leaders Melbourne City thanks to a Hemed brace.
The forward put his side ahead in the 37th minute, but Naoki Tsubaki equalised for the hosts on the hour mark, and the Melbourne outfit looked set to snatch all three points as Jamie Maclaren gave them the lead in the 81st minute, but Hemed levelled the encounter in the dying minutes to earn a creditable point for his side.
After a disappointing start to the campaign, with 15 points from their first 15 league games of the season, Ufuk Talay's side have since changed their fortunes with four wins and four draws from their last eight top-flight matches.
As a result, they have moved out of the bottom three and up to eighth spot, while they sit just one point behind seventh-placed Perth Glory and three points behind sixth-placed Brisbane Roar.
The Nix will now look to extend their impressive unbeaten run to nine games to continue their rise up the A-League table, with a win seeing them move up to seventh spot.
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Team News
Western Sydney Wanderers will remain without goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic, who is yet to feature this season due to a shoulder injury.
Midfielder Jordon Mutch will hope for a return to the starting XI after he was reduced to a substitute appearance last time out.
He has partnered up with former Scotland international Graham Dorrans in the middle for the majority of the season, and they should reform that pairing on Wednesday.
Mitchell Duke should continue to lead the line, having netted six goals in 16 A-League appearances this season alongside two assists.
Wellington Phoenix could look to keep an unchanged side after an impressive victory last time out.
They will remain without key man Ulises Davila, who has missed the last two matches having recorded seven goals and five assists from 21 top-flight appearances this season.
That has not stopped their momentum though, with Tomer Hemed stepping up in his absence with three goals in the last two matches to earn four points for his side.
Western Sydney Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Margush; Gordon, McGowan, Natta; Russell, Dorrans, Mutch, Aquilina; Kamau, Duke, Troisi
Wellington Phoenix possible starting lineup:
Sail; Fenton, Taylor, Payne, Sutton; Ball, Devlin, Lewis, Piscopo; Hemed, Waine
We say: Western Sydney Wanderers 0-2 Wellington Phoenix
The two sides come into this game in contrasting runs of form, and we see those continuing with another solid victory for the Nix on their travels.
Talay's side have looked particularly impressive since mid-April, and their momentum coming into this game should get them over the line against a struggling Wanderers side.
Top tip
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 Western Sydney Wanderers win with a probability of 46.09%. A win for Wellington Phoenix had a probability of 30.63% and a draw had a probability of 23.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Western Sydney Wanderers win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.21%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.57%) and 2-0 (6.63%). The likeliest Wellington Phoenix win was 1-2 (7.32%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.52%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 7.3% likelihood.
