Perth Glory coach Ruben Zadkovich has labelled Melbourne City as the A-League Men's benchmark, and he would love nothing more than watching his no-frills squad take them down.
City, owned by the powerful City Football Group, sit on top of the ALM ladder after posting three wins and a draw from their first four rounds.
Their only blemish came last week when they coughed up a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw with Wellington.
Perth, last season's wooden spooners, sit near the foot of the table with just one win to show from four outings.
The club's already-thin star power stocks were dealt another blow last week when striker Bruno Fornaroli left in messy circumstances.
The Glory will start as rank underdogs in Saturday night's clash at AAMI Park, but Zadkovich wants his players to embrace the challenge.
"They're probably the benchmark in this competition," Zadkovich said of City.
"They've got a star-studded line-up, but for us it's a great challenge.
"I love the prospect of pitching some players that are a lot less on the salary totals than they are and seeing how they compete.
"We've got some young guys in our squad that are punching well above their weight, and it will be nice to go away from home and pitch them against the best in the comp."
Fornaroli has since joined Melbourne Victory as an injury replacement.
Zadkovich wants to bolster his squad during the January transfer window, but he's confident his team can produce some solid results before then.
"Long-term and bigger for the club, we need to move past a 35-year-old striker at the end of his career as our marquee," Zadkovich said.
"We've got a young player like Giordano Colli, who is on less than a tenth of that type of money and he's scored two goals in the last two weeks."
Saturday's match will mark Liam Reddy's 150th ALM appearance for Glory.
Only Andy Keogh (156) has appeared more times for the club.
Reddy spent time at Newcastle, Brisbane, Wellington, Sydney FC, Central Coast, and Western Sydney before arriving in Perth for what was meant to be a short stay in 2016.
"Considering I initially came over with Kenny Lowe on a one-year deal; to be here seven years later is a real positive. This club is special to me," Reddy said.
City will be without defender Thomas Lam following his red card against the Phoenix last week, while the Glory are still missing injured skipper Mustafa Amini (quad).
