When Melbourne Victory host Melbourne City in a tantalising A-League Men derby, a packed-out AAMI Park is on the cards.
Victory attracted more than 18,000 fans to their opening home game against Western Sydney, while City have won two games on the bounce heading into Saturday night.
But just 24 hours before the derby, Western United are expected to draw one of the season's lowest crowds against fellow expansion club Macarthur FC at the same venue.
Defending champions Western United drew just 3,427 fans, including a small group of Sydney FC supporters, to their opening home game.
Given Macarthur only attracted 3,213 at home against Adelaide, a low crowd is again on the cards.
The two games highlight the chasm between the league's big supporter bases and its smallest.
But United skipper Josh Risdon was confident Western could build crowds.
"The club's building a fan base, so it's obviously not going to happen overnight," Risdon told AAP.
"Things like winning the championship, that can only help."
Risdon pointed to an incoming A-League Women's team and academy as examples of United's progress.
He also hopes the club's long-promised small stadium in Tarneit can eventually deliver the desired atmosphere, given 30,000-capacity AAMI Park felt cavernous with a small crowd on hand.
"It (AAMI Park) obviously seems very empty when you're not getting big crowds," Risdon said.
"I'm a big believer in the smaller the stadium, the better.
"Obviously when you're in a smaller stadium it definitely feels louder when you pack out a smaller stadium, rather than playing in a bigger stadium with less fans.
"Definitely that is the the aim behind our new stadium, to start off small and get a good little fan base going and having demand for tickets and seats.
"Then as the club grows, we can build a bigger stadium and get more fans and attract more people to the games."
It is far from doom and gloom across the league.
Sydney FC had 21,840 fans at their opening-round Big Blue while if Western Sydney can keep winning, an increase on their first-round crowd of 8,984 appears likely.
Newcastle, Brisbane, Melbourne City and Wellington all had 7,000 or more fans at their home games.
City star Jamie Maclaren hopes two teams playing attacking football in front of a full house in Saturday night's derby can spur interest in the league.
"It'll be great to have our support but at the same time, it'd be great for Victory fans to turn out," he told reporters.
"We want the atmosphere. It'd only be better for the spectacle.
"It's a credit to the way Victory play - like ourselves, we want to win games.
"It's important for fans who flick on the TV if they're a neutral, to want to watch our football and that's something that we need to grow within this game and within this country."
