Macarthur square off against Perth Glory on Saturday looking to end a four-match winless streak in the A-League.
While the visitors are battling to avoid being cut adrift of the top four, 10th-placed Glory face the same predicament regarding the teams directly above them.
Match preview
Having come from behind to claim draws from their last two matches, Macarthur are starting to show the form which put them among the early pacesetters.
However, despite the 1-1 draw with leaders Melbourne City last time out, Ante Milicic's team are at risk of seeing all of their early work being undone.
Now sitting four points behind their last opponents having played more games, the most recent additions to this division must improve on a run of four wins from 11 fixtures.
Top goalscorer Matt Derbyshire has netted just once in four fixtures, heaping the pressure on one of four teammates to add to their uninspiring total of two strikes for the campaign.
Like the visitors, Glory have also gone four fixtures without posting a victory in the A-League, keeping them in the bottom three of the table.
Although Richard Garcia's side remain clear of Melbourne Victory and Newcastle Jets, they will be left with little to play for this season if they do not improve on six points being collected from 10 games.
Joel Chianese has scored twice in 75 minutes of football since being allowed to join Glory on a loan deal from Indian side Hyderabad FC.
The 31-year-old's two goals are all that Glory have mustered during the final third throughout April, with leading marksman Bruno Fornaroli having now gone five games without finding the back of the net.
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Team News
Chianese will almost certainly be drafted into the Glory starting lineup, taking the place of Chris Ikonomidis on the right flank.
Chris Timmins and Diego Castro are also in contention to feature in the team after their substitute appearances last time out.
Macarthur will be without Aleksandar Susnjar after the defender collected his fifth yellow card of the season.
Antony Golec is in line to be included in the team as his replacement, but teenager Michael Ruhs may remain among the replacements despite his goal against Melbourne City.
Antonis Martis and Liam Rose will be considered for starting roles in midfield after their second-half performances versus the leaders.
Perth Glory possible starting lineup:
Reddy; Geria, Lachman, Warland, Ota; Chianese, Kilkenny, Malik, Armiento; Keogh, Fornaroli
Macarthur possible starting lineup:
Federici; McGing, Milligan, Golec; Rose, Benat, Genreau, Meredith; Puyo, Derbyshire, M'Mombwa
We say: Perth Glory 1-2 Macarthur
With both teams showing little form in recent games, this contest may be lacking in quality.
However, Macarthur are in a position where they have more freedom to throw caution to the wind, leading us to predict a narrow win for the visitors.
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