St Albans Saints v Port Melbourne
7:45 pm, Friday 7 July, Churchill Reserve
Port Melbourne claimed a crucial three points against Heidelberg last week and St Albans went down to Bentleigh at home.
Port Melbourne's Jackson Courtney-Perkins will return to the forward fold along with Duggan this week after serving a one-match ban. The duo will form a dangerous combination against St Albans defensive pair Sean Timmins and Justin Micallef.
Daniel Fabrizio will play up front for St Albans and will be supported by Brian Summerskill, however, will come up against the imposing Port Melbourne defence of Jalil Regague and Ross Archibald.
Mid-season recruit Dylan McGlade and Mo Zwed will play on the wings for the Saints and will look to catch out Port Melbourne defenders Kristian Bombaci and Fletcher McFarlane.
Port Melbourne's midfield of Mark Leonard, Valil Cesnik, Dan Edwards and Luka Tevere appears too strong for St Albans' midfield led by Matthew Grgic, Zelfagar Nazary and Joey Colina.
There is so much riding on this match for both teams. Three points would go a long way in Port Melbourne's finals aspirations, while victory would see St Albans clear of the relegation battle.
South Melbourne defeated Avondale 3-0 earlier in the season, while the Cannons also gave them a scare, being level at 2-2 up until the 61st-minute mark when the Avenger broke the deadlock.
Can Port Melbourne leapfrog Green Gully with a win over the Saints?
Avondale v Dandenong Thunder
3:00 pm, Saturday 8 July, Epson Huntly Recreation Reserve
Avondale claimed only their second draw for the season against the Knights in Round 20, while the Thunder went down to the Magic.
With South Melbourne and the Oakleigh Cannons closing the gap on the Avengers, victory is paramount in their chase for the premiership.
After going down 1-0, Avondale hit back through Yousef Ahmed to ensure they would come away with a point from their visit to Knights Stadium.
The Avondale forward half has many outlets to goal with Liam Boland playing up front and George Ott coming off the bench with Stefan Zinni and Zander Guy on the wings.
Dandenong defenders Mersim Memeti and Harry Ascroft will be up against it, trying to contain the dangerous Avondale forward line - who have scored an astonishing 66 goals from 20 rounds.
Sitting six points adrift from the top six, securing a result from this fixture will go a long way to playing finals football.
Kasper Hallam looms as Dandenong's most dangerous option, while Kieran Dover, Scott Lochhead and Grad Damen are all capable of finding the back of the net.
Avondale defeated Dandenong 2-1 in Round 8 with Manny Aguek scoring a brace.
Can the Thunder keep their finals hopes alive with an upset over the ladder leaders?
Moreland City v Green Gully
3:00 pm, Saturday, 8 July, CB Smith Reserve
Moreland fought hard last week against Hume City but went down 3-2, while Green Gully defeated North Geelong Warriors at home.
Green Gully will have Pierce Waring playing up front (NPLM #2) alongside Leighton Lauton and will be a massive challenge for the Moreland defence of Nick Bavcar and Luke Jurcic.
Moreland showed some forward potency last week through Fletcher Fulton scoring a brace in the defeat and will play as a striker this week and will need to contend with Justin Spritii and recruit Danny Kim.
Apai Akuno and James Hooper (3 goals each this season) are Moreland's other hopes in the forward half, however, coming up against Taylor Schrivers and Nahuel Bonanda on the flanks will be no easy task.
Midfielder Luc Jeggo came back into the fold last week for Green Gully and made an instant effect, scoring in the 3-1 victory over North Geelong. Gianluca Iannucci and Josh Hope help form a formidable midfield trio and make life difficult for Moreland's Jamie Latham, Jaiden Brown and Kur Arob.
Green Gully defeated Moreland City 6-2 when they faced off in Round 8, midfielder Josh Hope was a step above with a brace in the big win.
Can Green Gully cement their spot inside the top six or can Moreland show some fight in the bottom-two battle?
Bentleigh Greens v Oakleigh Cannons
3:00 pm, Saturday, July 8, Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
The Cannons clinched an important victory over South Melbourne last week for their top two aspirations, while Bentleigh jumped off bottom place with a 2-0 win over St Albans.
Oakleigh will be full of confidence following last week's huge result and will look to continue to close the gap on the top two.
Joe Guest will lineup in midfield after another commanding performance alongside Cam McGilp and Oliver Kubilay, creating a tough challenge for the Greens midfield led by Mario Barcia.
Bentleigh is undefeated over its past three matches and has found the back of the net four times with Chris Theodorakopoulos and Tom Strickland creating an impressive partnership up forward. Oakleigh defenders Brodie Boyce and Anton Mlinaric will be a much tougher challenge this week with the pair a catalyst in last week's victory.
Moonib Adus scored in last week's win and will look to cause havoc on the wing, likely to match up against Connor Hampson or Brandon Lundy.
Oakleigh defeated Bentleigh 3-0 earlier in the season with Joe Guest, Connor Hampson, and Dylan Clark all getting on the scoresheet.
With their season on the line can the Greens claim a crucial three points and provide hope for next season?
Altona Magic v Heidelberg United
6:15 pm, Saturday, 8 July, Paisley Park
Altona defeated Dandenong at home 3-0 in Round 20, and Heidelberg went down to Port Melbourne 1-0 away.
This clash will be pivotal in deciding the finals, with both sides still trying to squeeze into the top six calculations.
Jonas Markovski extended his lead in the NPLM Golden Boot with a three-goal match-winning performance last week and will once again have a major say on this week's result.
The goal-scoring machine will lineup in the forward third along with speedster Tommy Semmy with Heidelberg defenders Shinsuke Murakami and Ajdin Fetahagicto tasked with stopping the duo.
On the other end of the pitch, Altona full-backs Alex Castiello and Thomas Woerndl will need to ensure Bergers' forward Kaine Sheppard doesn't have a major influence, while Kenny Athiu may come off the bench.
The Bergers have plenty of options on the wings with Adrian Zahra, Dom Falla, and Balil Habib all capable of troubling Altona defenders Johnny Stojcevski and Miki Gamo.
Altona's form resurgence has been largely helped by Cian Cuba and Ashton Ahluwalia dominating the midfield each week. This week will be a tough test, although they could still be too strong for Heidelberg's Josh Pinn, Sean Ellis, and Anthony Lesiotis.
The Magic defeated Heidelberg 2-1 earlier in the season with Tommy Semmy scoring the winning goal.
North Geelong Warriors v Melbourne Knights
3:00 pm, Sunday, 9 July, Elcho Park
Melbourne Knights drew with Avondale last week, as North Geelong went down to Green Gully.
The Knights put in a huge defensive effort against Avondale last week and will make it difficult for the North Geelong forwards.
After scoring in recent weeks, Luke Zivcic and Lochlann McGrath will play up front for the Warriors, however, will come up against highly-rated Knights defenders Ben Collins, Josh Phelps, and Ivan Franjic.
North Geelong defenders George Ellis, Nikola Jurkovic and Anthony Banovac have been instrumental in North Geelong starting to turn its season around, however, will be up against it this week coming up against Gevaro Nepomuceno, Ciaran Bramwell, and mid-season signing for the Knights Lars Kinnander.
Following a commanding performance in Round 20, the Knights' midfield of Steve Whyte, Gian Albano and Luka Kolic should be too strong for North Geelong's Aden Gardner, Nelson Salvatore, and Ryan Opperman - although with everything on the line expect a fight from the Warriors.
Melbourne Knights defeated North Geelong 3-2 in Round 8 with two late Warrior goals sending a scare through Knights.
Can North Geelong jump out of the bottom two with a win?
South Melbourne v Hume City
3:00 pm, Sunday, 9 July, McIvor Reserve
South Melbourne suffered its first loss in over a month against Oakleigh last Sunday, while Hume City defeated Moreland 3-2.
Hume City's played a terrific captain's game last week, scoring a brace and will once again be a threat in the forward half and will most likely match up against Jake Marshall.
Hume's top scorer this season Jewad Rezai and Matthew Lazarides - who found the back of the net in last week's win will also need to be catalysts if their side is going to cause an upset. The creative duo will need to get past South defensive duo Brad Norton and Lirim Elmazi, which will be no easy feat.
South Melbourne was kept scoreless last week against Oakleigh and will be determined to ensure they get on the score sheet against Hume.
Hume defenders Tomas Maricic and Lachlan Weier will be tasked with marking South strikers Max Mikkola and Ajak Riak, while forward Yagoub Mustafa could get off the leash against his old side.
South's midfield of Pat Langlois, Marcus Schroen, Jack Painter-Andrews and Marc Jankovic will be confident of rebounding this week, although following an impressive fortnight against Oakleigh and Moreland, the Hume City midfield of Umut Bozdugan, Ben Bowler and Mark Ochieng will be full of confidence and will back themselves in.
When the sides last met, neither side was able to find the back of the net with the match ending in a 0-0 draw.
Can Hume Cityt extinguish any chance of a bottom-two finish or will South continue to push Avondale for the top spot?