The reigning Premier's Plate holders meet the defending A-League champions at AAMI Park in the latest round of Australian A-League matches on Saturday morning.
Melbourne City sit at the summit of the standings, four points clear of Western Sydney Wanderers in second position with a game in hand, while Western United are four positions adrift of the final playoff spot.
Match preview
Melbourne City have been in scintillating form in the 2022-23 A-League campaign, registering 22 points from a possible 27 on offer from their opening 10 matches.
After being beaten 2-1 by Sydney FC on December 10, Rado Vidosic saw the Melbourne derby a week later against fierce rivals Melbourne Victory suspended after 22 minutes following Hearts goalkeeper Tom Glover being struck with a metal sand bucket.
With protests staged before the start of the match objecting against the Australian Professional Leagues' decision to sell the A-League Grand Final licensing right to Sydney for three years, referee Alex King, also injured in the incident, decided to conclude proceedings following the mass pitch invasion.
After the indefensible scenes at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, The Hearts returned to winning ways with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Central Coast Mariners on December 27, courtesy of Jamie Maclaren's first-half strike.
Rado Vidosic's interim troops then made it two wins out of two six days later when a brace from Maclaren instigated a 3-1 away success over Wellington Phoenix to send his side even further clear at the top of the table.
Already in possession of a victory over their upcoming hosts in the last 12 months, courtesy of last season's 2-0 Grand Final success on May 28 in Melbourne City's backyard, Western United will make the footballing expedition to South-Eastern Melbourne with the utmost confidence of taking three points off last year's regular-season table-toppers.
Sitting only two points behind Sydney FC, who occupy the final playoff position, John Aloisi's side initially struggled to reproduce the run of form that saw The Western Service Crew lift silverware last season.
However, after only one victory in their first seven matches, Western United have rediscovered glimpses of their 2021-22 campaign registering two victories and a share of the spoils against Brisbane Roar on December 30 from their previous three matches.
The Western Service Crew began their return to form on December 18 when Aleksandar Prijovic's fifth-minute strike proved enough to overcome Melbourne City's closest Premier League title challengers, Western Sydney Warriors, at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
Aloisi's numerically fewer side followed their victory on Boxing Day when Josh Risdon's goal in first-half injury time secured a 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory despite having defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley sent off shortly after the half-hour mark.
In pursuit of a hat-trick of victories, the Western-Melbourne suburban-based side again were indebted to Prijovic, as the Serbian international salvaged a point in the 78th minute after Carlo Armiento had given the visitors the lead midway through the opening 45 minutes.
Despite suffering a 2-1 defeat in the initial fixture of the current A-League campaign on October 7, it is possible that Western United could take at least take a point from Saturday's highly-anticipated encounter.
Team News
In pursuit of his fifth A-League Golden Boot, Jamie Maclaren, barring any injury, will again lead the line for Melbourne City, with Mathew Leckie, Richard van der Venne and Marco Tilio providing an additional line of attacking support.
Leading the charts with 12 goals from 10 matches, Maclaren will surely fancy his chances of adding to his already-exhilarating goalscoring escapades against a visiting Western United defence that have conceded the league's highest number of goals (19) this season.
Barring any unforeseen injuries, Rado Vidosic is unlikely to change his 11, with Callum Talbot, Thomas Lam, Curtis Good and Jordan Bos expected to start in a familiar-looking back four.
After coming off the bench against Brisbane Roar, John Aloisi could decide to restore top scorer Nicolas Milanovic to The Western Service Crew's starting XI after the midfielder replaced Connor Pain against Brisbane Roar.
If that is to be the case, the attack-minded Milanovic could take his place alongside Lachlan Wales, Neil Kilkenny and Tongo Doumbia in a four-man midfield for the visitors.
Melbourne City possible starting lineup:
Glover; Bos, Good, Lam, Talbot; O'Neill, Berisha, Van der Venne, Leckie, Tilio; Maclaren
Western United possible starting lineup:
Young; Garuccio, Imai, Lacroix, Risdon; Doumbia, Kilkenny, Wales, Milanovic; Diamanti, Prijovic
We say: Melbourne City 3-1 Western United
Presiding regular-season champions Melbourne City head into the match on the back of seven victories from nine league matches, which brings us to our prediction that Rado Vidosic's side will emerge victorious in an end-to-end game at AAMI Park.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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