Perth Glory are aiming for a club record of six consecutive wins on Sunday night when they take on Western Sydney at Bankwest Stadium.
Tony Popovic's side is on a hot streak of five-straight wins, propelling the premiers to third on the A-League ladder - a stark contrast to Markus Babbel's Wanderers, who sit in eighth place.
The Wanderers have scored just four wins this season and have won only one of their last 10 games to put coach and club under pressure nearing the middle of the season.
Popovic, who was the Wanderers inaugural manager from 2012 until 2017, said he feels for his former club in their current run of form.
"All of us coaches, we know the job that we have and we know it's a pressure job and it's around results at the end of the day," he said.
"But first and foremost we want to win the game.
"I'd be more than happy if they turned their season around, being a former coach at that club, but I hope it doesn't start this week."
Sunday's game will be Popovic's first visit to Bankwest Stadium since it opened.
Meanwhile, the Wanderers will be without Alex Meier after granting the German striker a release on Friday.
New signing, Irish international Simon Cox, arrives in Australia on Sunday and will be at the stadium to cheer on his new teammates.
Babbel hopes the injection of excitement from Cox could be a catalyst to reignite the Wanderers' season.
"That's what I like in this league. Maybe Sydney FC is (the exception) but the rest of the games are fifty-fifty games. We know this is an experienced side with a lot of individual quality," Babbel said of Glory.
"We know if we stay in our structure and work as a team you will see they'll have a problem with us."
STATS THAT MATTER
* Perth Glory have lost just one of their past 10 A-League matches against Western Sydney (won four, drawn five) and are unbeaten in the last six of that stretch.
* Perth Glory have won their last five A-League matches on the bounce, keeping four clean sheets in that run - a sixth consecutive victory would be a new club record.
* Western Sydney have trailed at half-time in just two of their last 13 A-League (leading twice and level nine times). However, they have gone on to win only four of those 13 games (drawing two and losing seven).
Australian Associated Press
