Looking to end their six-game winless run, Perth Glory welcome fellow strugglers Melbourne Victory to the HBF Park on Sunday.
The visitors head into this tie in similar form, having failed to claim victory in each of their last three outings, and they will aim to end this poor run.
Match preview
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Perth Glory's chances of a top-six finish took another huge blow when they were beaten 3-1 by Melbourne City on Wednesday.
After taking the lead on the half-hour mark through Christopher Oikonomidis, Luke Bodnar's own goal and a brace from Jamie Maclaren condemned the Glory to their fourth defeat in six games.
Richard Garcia's men have failed to taste victory in 11 of their last 12 games, with a 2-1 win over Newcastle Jets on March 3 being the only exception.
Perth Glory have now dropped to 10th place in the A-League table, 11 points off the playoff places and four points ahead of Sunday's visitors.
Although the Glory have two games in hand over most of their rivals, failure to win here could see them miss out on the playoffs for just the second time in the last six seasons.
On the other hand, Melbourne Victory claimed a 5-4 win in their thrilling home game against Western Sydney Wanderers on April 23.
Newly-appointed head coach Tony Popovic watched as his men climbed up from the bottom of the league table, leapfrogging Newcastle Jets into 11th place.
However, they have failed to win in each of their following three games, falling to one draw and two defeats, including Thursday's 2-1 loss to Macarthur.
The Boys in Blue were made to rue their wastefulness and inability to convert clear-cut chances as the Bulls fought back from one goal down to claim their first win in six games.
While Melbourne Victory are unbeaten in their last five encounters with the hosts, they have struggled for results on their travels, picking up a league-low five points from nine away games.
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Team News
German defender Sebastian Langkamp is yet to recover from a groin injury he suffered in the 1-0 loss to Sydney FC on April 7.
Without any late fitness or injury issues, Perth Glory will have no other concerns and we expect Garcia to name his strongest starting XI for this crutch tie.
Melbourne Victory will be without 29-year-old midfielder Marco Rojas, who is still on the sidelines with an ankle injury, while defender Ryan Shotton is out with a groin problem.
English midfielder Callum McManaman is ruled out with an ankle injury sustained against Central Coast Mariners last Sunday, but is expected to return to the fold next week.
Perth Glory possible starting lineup:
Reddy; Geria, Aspropotamitis, Bodnar, Ota; Kilkenny, Malik; Ikonomidis, Castro, Armiento; Fornaroli
Melbourne Victory possible starting lineup:
Acton; Roux, Ansell, Ryan, Broxham; Brimmer, Butterfield; Lauton, Kruse, Brooks; Gestede
We say: Perth Glory 1-1 Melbourne Victory
After several poor outings in recent weeks, both sides have dropped into the bottom half of the table. With both sides currently unable to win games, we predict a share of the spoils, considering they are equally matched on paper.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
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 Perth Glory win with a probability of 50.17%. A win for Melbourne Victory had a probability of 25.57% and a draw had a probability of 24.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Perth Glory win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.23%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.59%) and 2-0 (8.55%). The likeliest Melbourne Victory win was 0-1 (6.88%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.48%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Perth Glory would win this match.
