The Western Sydney Wanderers face one of their toughest tests of the season when they face Auckland FC in New Zealand.
It represents their second match across the ditch in the space of a week, having already played against Wellington at Sky Stadium last Saturday.
The Wanderers had the better of the play in that game, creating far more chances, but were forced to settle for a draw as Wellington were clinical with their chances.
Nicolas Milanovic scored a stunning goal in the 89th minute to earn the Wanderers a share of the points and to extend their unbeaten run to six games in the competition.
They also slipped to fifth on the ladder, but can move back up to third with a win against Auckland, and also have a game in hand on Melbourne Victory in fourth.
It is clear the Wanderers are still in a strong position to return to the finals and even to have a home final, and a result against ladder leaders Auckland would be a fantastic message to the rest of the competition.
Auckland are the last team to defeat the Wanderers, though, and are the only team to keep them scoreless this season.
That came on Australia Day at CommBank Stadium, where it seemed like the teams were heading for a scoreless draw after an incredibly tight match with chances for both sides.
However, Auckland would break Wanderers hearts with a goal from Neyder Moreno in the fifth minute of stoppage time denying what would have been a deserved point for Western Sydney.
In some ways, it has acted as a defining moment given the unbeaten run the Wanderers have now gone on this season, and a win over Auckland on the road would be a fantastic full circle moment for Alen Stajcic and his side.
It would also be a huge scalp given Auckland’s achievements this season, as the new boys on the block have only lost twice and are the favourites to win the minor premiership, becoming the first expansion side to achieve this since the Wanderers did it back in 2012-13.
Auckland’s last defeat came way back on January 11, and they are on an 11 game unbeaten run; that said, three of their last four games have been draws, breaking the streak with a 2-0 win on the road to Brisbane last weekend.
They took their time to get going and had less shots than the struggling Roar, but goals from Nando Pijnaker and captain Hiroki Sakai secured the win for Auckland and left them seven points clear at the top of the table.
The bedrock for their success has been their defence, conceding an equal low 20 goals in the entire season, helped by not conceding in their first five games.
They have also kept 10 clean sheets for the season, though their defensive record has fallen slightly, conceding twice to the Mariners at home and four times to Adelaide in recent weeks.
The Wanderers will hope their attack, which is the best in the competition with 49 goals for the season, will be able to breach Auckland’s back line, even if they were unfortunate not to do the same in the reverse fixture.
