Respect for Roar's achievements so far this season is plentiful in the United camp, but confidence is high that Gold Coast can maintain their unbeaten record against their local rivals and add a little more spice to the title race by snatching three precious points from Ange Postecoglou's men.

"Ange has coached them a little differently this season and it's worked well for them; they're playing great football," Djulbic said.

"In the first game of the season when we drew 0-0, they were the better side in the first half and we came back into it during the second half and I think a draw was a fair result on the day.

"Roar's unbeaten run will have bred a lot of confidence in their players, but they've already had a couple of lucky breaks in some matches with some late goals, etc, so I'm actually surprised their undefeated run hasn't come to an end before now.

"We're all confident that this weekend is when their winning and drawing streak will be broken.

"We're still unbeaten against them which is a good thing for us and does provide a slight psychological advantage.

"We want to keep that record intact of course, but the most important thing from our perspective is to win the game so we get the three points we need to keep in touch with the top two spots on the table.

"Maybe for Brisbane it's more about beating their rivals, but for us it's the points that count. Brisbane are getting further and further away from the rest and we need to reduce their lead at the top.

"Adelaide are doing us a favour with their recent results and it's up to us to capitalise on that."

Derby bragging rights aside, Gold Coast will first be focussing on leapfrogging third-placed Central Coast Mariners and eventually overhauling second-placed Adelaide United once they complete their games in hand.

For that to happen, taking all the points on Sunday is vital to Gold Coast's mission and Djulbic said the hunger in the United dressing room is tangible as the lead up to the game hots up.

"We've been talking about this game for quite a while now and the boys just can't wait to get out there. It has all the elements of a great match and these are the games you want to be involved in," Djulbic said.

"Everyone at the club is looking forward to this one.

"Our goal from the start of the season was to finish in the top two.

"We have the players, and the points on the board, to achieve that and there is plenty of talk in the dressing room about reaching our target.

"We know how important this game on Boxing Day is in terms of us achieving what we set out to do.

"We have to be very strong defensively and our structure is very important. We've been working on that in training and it will certainly be the key for us.

"If we want to keep pace with Brisbane then it's a must-win match for us.

"In terms of securing second place at the end of the season then a draw would be a decent result, but none of the players or coaches are talking about drawing this match.

"We're going up there to win - it's as simple as that."

Gold Coast coach Miron Bleiberg was typically tight-lipped on his line-up or tactical plans for the big game, but after the convivial events of the week leading up to the match, a shot of confidence was finally fired.

"We believe we are as good as they are; we believe that on the day our football can be as good and we are going for the three points," he said.

"We also have a physical advantage over them and that is something we will look to capitalise on. I have confidence in our players and they have confidence in their ability to go and win this game."