As the only unbeaten teams in the A-League, all eyes will be on the Sydney FC-Melbourne Victory match this round.
With most teams having to deal with key players missing thanks to Socceroos duty, none will be feeling the pain more than the two league leaders.
While Perth has a one point advantage over the two, the Sydney game will be a chance for the two to really test who is the better team in the long run.
Sydney FC’s Graham Arnold has had to deal with the prospect of having Terry Antonis back dashed by the FFA, and wasn’t shy about slamming the FFA’s regulations on the topic.
Antonis was supposed to be in Osaka with the Socceroos this week but was forced to pull out after being involved in a car accident on the way to the airport which left the 20-year-old with head and neck injuries.
Arnold also has to juggle a team without marquee man Marc Janko, Corey Gameiro and skipper Alex Brosque. But in their place, Terry’s brother Peter Triantis and fellow Greek Australian George Timotheou have come to the rescue.
Melbourne Victory are in the same boat as Kostas Barbarouses, Connor Pain, Daniel Georgievski head to Japan, while skipper Mark Milligan and young defender Scott Galloway both sit sidelined. Victory have one positive, as they welcome back Matthieu Delpierre and make use of Greek Australian Jesse Makarounas.
In the other big match of the season, fans will be hoping to see a well-rested Western Sydney Wanderers show they have what it takes to make it to the grand final again as they take on ladder leaders Perth Glory.
With the AFC Championship taking a toll on the fitness of the team, showing in their 1-0 loss against Wellington Phoenix, coach Tony Popovic says the team is finally getting back to a normal routine.
“We’ve had six or seven weeks where all we’ve done is recover and fly,” Popovic said on Thursday.
“The players trained well Tuesday. They all look like they’ve finally recovered from all the travel and everyone is sleeping well again.
“It’ll be nice to get a bit of continuity on the training ground and I’m sure as the weeks go by you’ll see a lot stronger Wanderers.”
Glory have come off a Tuesday win in Melbourne against Bentleigh Greens to make it to the FFA Cup final, and will be the ones fighting flight fatigue more than the Wanderers on Saturday.
Adelaide United saw off Central Coast Mariners in the Westfield FFA Cup semi-finals on Wednesday and will be taking on the Phoenix in an entertaining match on Saturday.
Finishing proceedings will be Melbourne City, who might be in for a chance to make it two wins in the season against a still-struggling Central Coast Mariners.
City were able to take points away from the flat-lining Brisbane Roar last week in their 1-3 win at Suncorp Stadium, and returning home to AAMI park this week, City will have the upper hand.