Auckland FC will look to keep the heat on at the top of the A-League ladder when they travel to take on Western Sydney Wanderers on Sunday.
Steve Corica’s side should still be on a high after thrashing Melbourne City 3-0 and backing it up with a 2-2 draw at Adelaide United, but they cannot take the foot off the gas.
They sit second on the ladder, just one point behind Adelaide and are in with a real chance of winning the minor premiership in their debut season.
Western Sydney on the other hand are having another disappointing season and face a battle to make the top six.
Another campaign without finals is almost unthinkable and they are in desperate need of three points at CommBank Stadium.
Wanderers will be looking to respond after suffering a 3-1 defeat against Central Coast Mariners on Friday night.
The loss put another dent in their finals hopes and once again conceding goals is proving to be a huge problem for them.
They have now leaked 26, with only Perth Glory conceding more and unless they tighten up the top six looks out of reach.
Thankfully the Wanderers do not have too many issues at the other end, scoring 29, with Nicolas Milanovic leading the way with six goals.
Brandon Borrello has five and, along with Milanovic, will be key to Western Sydney’s chances of taking all three points.
Their home form has not been great this season when winning just two games, and that also needs to change.
Auckland again showed they have what it takes to go all the way this season as they fought out a 2-2 draw at Adelaide on Wednesday night.
It looked as though the Reds would go clear at the top of the A-League ladder after they went 2-1 up five minutes into added-on time at the end of the game.
However, the visitors once again showed great spirit to snatch an equaliser three minutes later.
It shows the kind of character that Corica has in his side and it bodes well for the remainder of the season as they chase silverware.
A trip to Western Sydney certainly won’t scare them and they will be confident of leaving with all three points.
Despite conceding two against Adelaide, they still have to tightest defence in the comp, letting in just 11.
They have also improved the ‘goals for’ column with five in the last two games, while they also won 4-1 away at the Mariners.
Guillermo May scored in the win over City last weekend and is the club’s leading scorer with four goals to his name.
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Western Sydney Wanderers - 2.62
Draw - 3.60
Auckland FC - 2.50
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.