Reigning champions Sydney FC host the Australian A-League's new boys Macarthur on Sunday morning.
Both sides will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing defeat last time out, with Steve Corica's men falling to Melbourne City and the visitors losing to Western United.
Match preview
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The Sky Blues won the 2019-20 Grand Final seeing off City in the showpiece event, but Patrick Kisnorbo's side exacted their revenge in midweek.
That result left Sydney in fifth position in the top-flight standings, seven points behind league leaders Central Coast Mariners, albeit with two games in hand.
A positive result over the weekend would reaffirm their title ambitions for the current campaign and remind their domestic rivals of Sydney's quality.
These two teams met earlier in the season as the Sky Blues ran out 3-0 winners in a comfortable victory for the champions. Corica will be aiming to mastermind a similar display on Sunday and watch his side surge up the division.
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Macarthur fell to a heavy 4-1 defeat at the hands of Western United last time out and will be keen to get back to winning ways in this one.
A solid start to their maiden A-League campaign has them sitting in third place in the top flight after picking up 14 points from their opening nine encounters.
Finishing inside the top six and securing a spot in the playoffs would be a magnificent achievement for the Bulls, and their impressive form will have them believing that that is an achievable aim.
A win over Sydney would arguably be the Campbelltown Stadium outfit's biggest result in their history, and they will be motivated to make history over the weekend.
Sydney FC Australian A-League form: DLWWDL
Macarthur Australian A-League form: WLDWWL
Team News
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Sydney will have to cope without the services of goalkeeper Adam Pavlesic once again after the 18-year-old shot-stopper was involved in a heavy clash in the AFC Champions League several weeks ago.
The youngster is joined on the sidelines by midfielder Chris Zuvela, who picked up an injury against Wellington Phoenix earlier this month and has failed to recover in time for this one.
Striker Milislav Popovic is the only absentee for Macarthur, with the 23-year-old yet to make a first-team appearance throughout 2020-21.
Former Rotherham United and Blackburn Rovers striker Matt Derbyshire has started to hit some good form for his new side, bagging five goals in his last three outings and will be crucial to his side's chances over the weekend.
Sydney FC possible starting lineup:
Redmayne; King, Warland, Wilkinson, Grant; Brattan, Baumjohann, Ninkovic, Caceres; Barbarouses, Buhagiar
Macarthur possible starting lineup:
Federici; Meredith, Milligan, Jovanovic, Franjic; Etxebarria, Genreau; Najjar, Puyo, Susaeta; Derbyshire
We say: Sydney FC 2-1 Macarthur
This should be a close encounter between two teams who will fancy their chances coming into this one. We think the reigning champions will have too much for their opponents on this occasion, though, and come away with all three points.
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 47.29%. A win for Macarthur had a probability of 29.99% and a draw had a probability of 22.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sydney FC win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.22%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.09%) and 2-0 (6.49%). The likeliest Macarthur win was 1-2 (7.15%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.06%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 5.5% likelihood.
