To see 500-match man Kevin Muscat's latest portraits...

The home team can open a six-point gap on their bitter rivals with victory this weekend while Sydney will be desperate to haul themselves level.

Win, lose or draw though, Vargas points to last year's race to the wire as proof that toilet seats are not handed out in December.

And as the A-League continues to suffer from meagre attendances, the Victory defender is predicting a cracking atmosphere with both sets of fans turning out and bellowing their support.

"Everyone is really looking forward to the game, it's a fixture that both sets of players and fans always relish," Vargas told au.fourfourtwo.com today.

"Sydney had a great result when they came here last time and people like Mark Bridge and Alex Brosque can really hurt you. They've also looked tight at the back."

But Vargas believes Melbourne have one particular weapon that should cause Sydney to worry.

Archie Thompson is a man on a mission to impress Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek who challenged the striker to show him that he should be a contender for next year's World Cup.

Vargas believes Thompson's fire could be key.

"The boys know they (the Socceroo staff) are watching," he said. "I'm a big fan of Archie, he's looking good and he is ready for a big game."

Much as three points will help Victory open up an impressive lead, Vargas is taking nothing for granted.

He added: "Look what happened last season.

"The season went right to the wire and I think we ended up winning it by a single goal. There's still an awful lot of football to be played.

"We're just focused on this game, hopefully we get a big crowd and I'm sure our fans will get behind us, as they have from day one."

To see 500-match man Kevin Muscat's latest portraits...