Adelaide United will aim to end their five-game winless run when they welcome Brisbane Roar to the Coopers Stadium on Sunday.
While the visitors have been in resurgent form, they have stumbled in their previous two games and will look to quickly return to winning ways.
Match preview
After surging to the top of the table with a blistering run of six straight wins between February 19 and March 28, Adelaide United now appear to have run out of steam.
They have managed just one victory in their most recent eight outings, picking up four draws and three defeats, including Thursday's 4-1 loss to Melbourne City.
Ben Halloran pulled one back for the Reds in the 51st minute after the league leaders raced to a two-goal through Scott Galloway's double, but Jamie Maclaren scored two goals in the final 18 minutes of the game to cap off a superb team performance.
The dip in form has now seen Carl Veart's men drop to fifth place in the A-League table, one point above Sunday's visitors.
Meanwhile, Brisbane Roar saw their seven-game unbeaten streak come to an end when they lost 3-2 away to league leaders Melbourne City two games ago.
The loss was followed by another poor display as they played out an uneventful goalless draw against third-placed Central Coast Mariners on Wednesday.
Brisbane Roar's performance further highlighted their struggles on home territory, where they have managed just three wins from 10 games this season.
With 31 points from 20 games, Warren Moon's side are level on points with seventh-placed Western Sydney Wanderers but could strengthen their position in the top half of the table considering they have a game in hand over the teams above them.
However, first up is a stern test of taking on Adelaide United at the Coopers Stadium, where they have lost in each of their last three visits and managed just one win since April 2015.
With teams like Western Sydney Wanderers and Western United hot on their tails, this tie has all the makings of a proper contest, as both sides will be desperate to avoid defeat and keep their playoff chances alive.
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Team News
Adelaide will be without the services of Spanish defender Javi Lopez, who sustained a knee injury against Sydney FC back in March.
Nathan Konstandopoulos has also been out of action since February after rupturing his ACL and will also sit out this clash.
However, the Reds will be boosted by the return of right-back Ryan Strain, who has served a one-game suspension after receiving his marching orders in the game Wellington Phoenix last Friday.
On the other hand, Brisbane Roar will only have to cope without two key defenders as Tom Aldred and Jack Hingert are both ruled out with hamstring problems.
Adelaide United possible starting lineup:
Gauci; Marrone, Timotheou, Elsey, Cavallo; D'Arrigo, Juande, Mauk; Halloran, Juric, Goodwin
Brisbane Roar possible starting lineup:
Young; Neville, Trewin, Gillesphey; Brindell-South, O'Shea, Akbari, Brown; Danzaki, Wenzel-Halls, Champness
We say: Adelaide United 1-2 Brisbane Roar
With one defeat in their last nine games, Brisbane have brilliantly turned their season on its head and are now in contention for a place in the playoffs. Adelaide United have struggled for results in recent games and we predict the visitors will take advantage of their poor form and steal a narrow win.
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 Adelaide United win with a probability of 47.67%. A win for Brisbane Roar had a probability of 28.71% and a draw had a probability of 23.6%.
The most likely scoreline for an Adelaide United win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.41%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.47%) and 2-0 (7.3%). The likeliest Brisbane Roar win was 1-2 (7.04%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.91%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 8.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Adelaide United would win this match.
