Melbourne City are preparing to play Melbourne Victory on reputation and not form in Saturday night's A-League derby.
Never before have the form-lines converged to give City such a good chance of stealing a march on their cross-town rivals.
Powered by the triple-threat of Aaron Mooy, Bruno Fornaroli and Harry Novillo, City have surpassed Victory as the A-League's best attacking unit.
Three wins in a row and 14 goals on the way contrasts starkly with Victory's defeats in Auckland, Western Sydney and Perth without a goal to their name.
On Saturday, Victory's older squad will play in hot conditions for the second time in less than 72 hours after the match in Perth.
It all paints a rosy picture for City, which is why coach John van 't Schip has some home truths for anyone getting ahead of themselves.
"The last three games we've played them we didn't win," he said on Friday.
"They're the champions, they're the team that won everything last year so that can't disappear and that didn't disappear overnight.
"All kind of things adding up, when everything (seems to be) in our advantage, in the end it makes the opponent stronger because they want to show they can cope with all those things.
"We have to be aware of it but not talk to much about it, just focus on what we need to do."
Perhaps van 't Schip's reticence to embrace favouritism is also driven by City's history with false dawns.
Just when the club appears to have turned a corner, a poor result or serious injury seems just a match away.
But there is hunger at City to set that record straight, with van 't Schip echoing Erik Paartalu's sentiment the club needs to push on from their thumping wins against lower-ranked sides and take a big scalp.
City will certainly have that chance over the next month, when they play Victory, Brisbane and the two Sydney teams.
In the derby, van 't Schip's greatest challenge could be re-arranging his team in Connor Chapman's absence.
The Dutchman said he was considering three candidates to replace him; fit-again Aaron Hughes, midfielder Jacob Melling and full-back Jack Clisby.
Should Melling move to defence, marquee Robi Koren could slot into a midfield starting role.
The forecast 42-degree day has also hit ticket sales, with City not expecting to sell out AAMI Park.
STATS THAT MATTER
* For the first time in their history, Melbourne Victory have lost three games in a row without scoring a goal.
* But Victory have won the last three derbies, including a semi-final meeting, scoring three times each time.
* Besart Berisha loves playing City. He's scored 10 goals against them in 12 games, his best ratio against any A-League club.
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