Head-to-head
Played 15: Perth Glory 4, Sydney FC 5 wins, Draws 6

Previous Meeting
Sydney FC 3, Perth Glory 2, Parramatta Stadium, February, 2010

History
Sydney snapped a four-game winless streak against Perth by beating them 3-2 in a thrilling match towards the end of last season. But before that, since handing Glory a 5-2 thrashing in Round 3 2008-09, the Western Australians took the honours in three consecutive games. A 2-1 win over Sydney in October 2008 saw Glory make a surprise run towards the finals that season which gained momentum in a 4-2 thrashing of the Sky Blues just before Christmas, in a game which John Aloisi would probably describe as the lowest point of his career.

Past five matches:
Perth: LLLLL
Sydney FC: LDDLL

Match Committee
Robbie Fowler will probably have to go better than alright as Glory look to snap a five-game losing run. Ryan Pearson also comes into the extended squad for Sunday's game.

Sydney coach Vitezslav Lavicka has opted for youth to turn his side's fortunes around. Kofi Danning, Terry Antonis, Rhyan Grant and Dimitri Petratos have all been named in the extended squad after returning from their campaign with the Australian Under-19 side in China, which saw them lose the Asian Cup final to DPR Korea.

Danger men
Michael Baird - The Glory striker hasn't had the easiest homecoming to Australia. He was prevented from playing for the first three games after a dispute with his former club in Romania and, having made it onto the pitch for 10 minutes, was promptly suspended for two weeks for simulation. Having finally seen some time on the park, Baird's also had some great shots denied by spectacular goalkeeping. But the striker has stuck to his task and his bullish run against North Queensland last week, where he used his pace and power to bust three tackles, resulted in a Glory equaliser.

Nick Carle - Carle was given 23 minutes of time on the pitch against Melbourne last weekend and it was no surprise that this period was the Sky Blues best in a 3-0 thrashing by Victory. Carle's also endured a difficult homecoming as he struggled to play through a painful toe injury before being forced out of the side. But the creative midfielder remains vital to Sydney resuscitating their winless campaign so far.

At the end of the day….
Both sides head into this shockbuster completely out of form and needing a win to resurrect their seasons. The Glory were topping the table after an unbeaten opening five games, but since then, they've lost five on the trot to sink to eighth. Sydney FC may be the reigning premiers, but that's just a label really as they have failed to win in 10 starts this season.

Lavicka appears to have lost patience with some of his under-performing experienced players and may look to the quartet of young stars he's brought in to the squad to lend some enthusiasm and youthful energy to the side, especially as their confidence will be high after their exploits in China. But the coach will still be sweating on the fitness of skipper Terry McFlynn, who is struggling with a calf injury and trained away from the main squad on Thursday.

One gets the impression that a stroke of luck will be all that's needed to turn both these sides around. Although Sydney have lost a fair amount of quality from their championship winning side in Clint Bolton, Simon Colosimo, John Aloisi, Steve Corica and Karol Kisel, they have brought in some high-profile replacements as well. However, injuries haven't allowed Kisel's replacement, Carle, to really settle into his groove, while the defence remains a work in progress as well without Colosimo.

Sydney's defensive issues may just be the gift horse Glory need to turn things about after the West Aussies have scored just two goals in the last five games. This may sound like an issue for the strikers but the problems lie further up the field where the midfield delivery into the forward third has been a real issue. The exciting runs down the flanks that were such a feature of the first five weeks have dried up and as a result the crosses coming in from either side have as well. However, new coach Ian Ferguson isn't afraid to change things around, as shown by his first-up game in charge last week against Fury, where he dropped in-form goalkeeper Tando Velaphi and replaced him with Aleks Vrteski.

Neither side, though, will want to concede an early goal as both Sydney and Perth have failed to win a single game between them this season after conceding the first score. This clash could really go either way but Sydney have struggled in Perth in recent times, having scored just once in their past three games at nib Stadium, so we'll go with the Glory for now.

TEAMS: 
Perth Glory squad: 1. Tando VELAPHI (gk), 3. Jamie COYNE, 4. Andy TODD, 5. Jamie HARNWELL, 7. Jacob BURNS (C), 9.Robbie FOWLER, 10. Michael BAIRD, 11. Branko JELIC, 12.Scott NEVILLE, 14. Steven McGARRY, 16. Adriano PELLEGRINO, 17. Todd HOWARTH, 19. Naum SEKULOVSKI, 20. Aleks VRTESKI (gk), 21. Mile STERJOVSKI, 22. Anthony SKORICH, 25. Ryan PEARSON *two to be omitted*
In: Robbie FOWLER (returns from international travel), Ryan PEARSON (promoted)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Chris COYNE (on loan -5 weeks)

Sydney FC squad: 1. Liam REDDY (gk), 2. Sebastian RYALL, 3. Stephan KELLER, 5. Hayden FOXE, 6. Hirofumi MORIYASU, 7. Brendan GAN, 8. Stuart MUSIALIK, 9. Bruno CAZARINE, 10. Nicky CARLE, 11. Kofi DANNING, 12. Shannon COLE, 14. Alex BROSQUE, 15. Terry MCFLYNN (c), 16. Terry ANTONIS, 19. Mark BRIDGE, 20. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 21. Scott JAMIESON, 22. Sung-Hwan BYUN, Dimitri PETRATOS *four to be omitted*
In: Kofi DANNING (returns from international duty), Terry ANTONIS (returns from international duty), Rhyan GRANT (returns from international duty), Dimitri PETRATOS (returns from international duty)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Nil