Why you should watch it
Just the fact it's Adelaide versus Victory is usually enough, but there is an enormous amount riding on the outcome when it comes to the battle for the Premiers' Plate, top-two spots and top-four spots.
With six rounds left before the finals, the top five began Round 22 packed tight. Third-placed Victory is on 37 points with a game in hand. Fifth-placed Adelaide is on 36 points.
Teams are not playing for sheep stations yet but they've got their eyes on some nice-looking properties.
What happened last time they played
It was an enthralling, high-intensity game at AAMI Park in Round 8 on 27 November, when Adelaide paid a huge price for two defensive blunders in a 3-2 loss.
Reds central defender Nigel Boogaard headed into his own net to give Victory a 1-0 lead and after Adelaide had equalised through Awer Mabil it was Boogaard in the horrors again. His attempted clearance cannoned into team-mate Sergio Cirio and rebounded into the net.
Victory made it 3-1 through Leigh Broxham and then Marcelo Carrusca brought Adelaide back to 3-2 from the penalty spot after Cirio had been brought down by Adrian Leijer.
All of that happened before half-time. There was plenty of action in the second half, but no more goals.
Key battles
Central defenders will have their work cut out in this match.
Adelaide striker Bruce Djite has great strength and with his back to goal he can hold a defender off while he decides whether to try to turn or feed the ball to a support player who is making a run into the box. Matthieu Delpierre and Nick Ansell, look out.
Victory striker Besart Berisha loves to run on to a good through ball and usually times his run well. Boogaard and Osama Malik can't afford to be static when Berisha sets off, because he has proven he doesn't need much space in which to fire off a shot on goal.
Why Victory will win
It is an attacking powerhouse that had recently been a bit off target until it put three goals past the overworked Western Sydney Wanderers last week.
That result will have it primed for a game like this. Kosta Barbarouses is still out injured but you're doing pretty well when you can simply slot Archie Thompson - a guy that has more goals in the A-League than any other - into the starting XI.
Plus, Victory seems to pump itself up for a game against Adelaide. Victory coach Kevin Muscat understands the rivalry better than anyone. He was - and loves it just as much as a coach.
Why Adelaide will win
Even though the Reds wouldn't admit it, they must surely be treating this game as an early finals test. A loss would considerably damage it chances of finishing the regular season top and acquiring home-ground advantage throughout the finals series will be effectively gone.
Regardless of what happens with other teams, it would be four points behind Victory - having played a game more - and that would be a mountain too big to climb.
Under the current finals format, the grand final has only ever been won by teams that finished the regular season in the top two. Adelaide can't afford to lose this game or it might become a token runner in that race.
What the players are saying
Adelaide's overlapping fullback or winger Craig Goodwin says coach Josep Gombau has impressed upon the players the importance of getting back to the style that has brought Adelaide its best results.
"It's definitely going to be a fiery game, as it always is," he said. "Josep has really touched on the fact we have to play our brand of football, the way we know to play and to do the basics. We don't need to change our style, we just need to play our style well."
Victory defensive midfielder Carl Valeri says his team must avoid making the mistake of letting the fact their destiny is in their own hands create a false sense of security.
"It's better to have the ball in your court, but you can't say there's always next week," he said. "If you keep having to say that, pretty soon there is no next week and you're no longer able to control your own destiny."
What the coaches are saying
Gombau doesn't see much difference in ability between the two sides.
"The second game we played against them this season we scored two own goals. We were unlucky and we made mistakes, but the game was equal," he said.
"We scored two goals away from home. I think the difference between one team and the other is not so much in terms of the quality of the players."
Muscat says Victory must put performance ahead of worrying about where it might end up on the table.
"It's easy to get caught up, at this time of the year, in the whole debate about who's going to finish where on the final table," he said. "But then you're taking your eye off the ball. In the initial weeks after the (Asian Cup) break we didn't concentrate as we would have liked."
The villain
Muscat is always the villain, isn't he? He doesn't have to play to get the crowd off side. Just the sight of him prowling the technical area and complaining to the fourth official will be enough to rile Adelaide fans.
The Kosmina-Muscat Cup - the trophy awarded to the best of the teams in their three regular encounters each season - was borne out of the 2006 Etihad Stadium incident that is now entrenched in A-League folklore.
Yes, "Musky" is the villian. It's not hard to suspect he likes being the villain, too.
The hero
Adelaide fans love the team's foreign influence, particularly when Argentine Marcelo Carrusca is leading the charge.
Whenever he is on his game at home, the crowd livens up in anticipation of a good result, and the fact is a key player like him will have to be on his game if Adelaide is going to meet this challenge and win.
The match in numbers
Under the coaching of Gombau, Adelaide is yet to beat Victory in five clashes.
Overall, the two teams have met 32 times, Victory winning 16 and Adelaide 10. There have been 14 clashes in Adelaide, with the Reds winning seven and Victory four.
The last five overall clashes have resulted in three wins to Victory and two draws, but the last five clashes in Adelaide have seen three wins to Adelaide and two draws.
Adelaide's two draws from five games under Gombau against Victory have both come in Adelaide.
The verdict
Both teams will be striving hard to win this, with the result meaning so much.
There won't be much in it, and with Delpierre having recently returned from injury for Victory and Malik in the central defence for Adelaide, clear-cut chances won't be easy to create.
Victory looks the more likely team to win as Adelaide has been a bit off its game recently, but the Reds should lift for this, especially at home with a bumper crowd on hand.
In Adelaide, the most likely result looks to be a draw.
