Aston Villa Women travel to Manchester City on Saturday for a key showdown live on Sky Sports.
And Carla Ward takes her side to the Academy Stadium three points and three places above their opponents.
City have struggled mightily in the opening months of the 2021/22 season and are in the midst of a run of just one league win in their last six.
Their surprising start to the campaign has given Villa, in particular, a belief that a win on Saturday lunchtime is very much within the realms of possibility.
This belief will only be buoyed by Villa's recent solidity in defence, as well as last weekend's victory in the Second City Derby.
Anita Asante scored the game-winning goal in the opening half an hour at St. Andrew's, as Villa took all three points away from the derby for the first time in the top flight.
Another subplot which will surely help the cause is Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah's first goal for the club in Wednesday night's Conti Cup defeat to Sheffield United.
The forward stepped off the bench to prod home from close range and is hoping that maiden strike in claret & blue will kickstart a rich vein of form.
Coverage of our clash with Manchester City gets underway on Sky Sports from 11:00.
Villa go into Saturday's clash with far more optimism than in recent visits.
As mentioned, Gareth Taylor's City side are sitting in 9th and are already 12 points adrift of league leaders Arsenal.
Home losses to Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United have been a huge surprise in and of themselves, but heavy defeats to Arsenal (5-0) and Chelsea (4-0) have been cause for concern in terms of City's league aspirations.
Following this weekend's matchup, league games against Birmingham City, Reading and Brighton & Hove Albion will follow for a side in desperate need of a significant uptick in form.
The Last Meeting
Aston Villa Women were knocked out of this season's FA Cup in ruthless fashion the last time these two sides met in April.
City had contributions from Chloe Kelly, Ellen White, Janine Beckie, Georgia Stanway, Rose Lavelle and Sam Mewis on the day, en route to the semi-final.
This followed a similarly painful visit earlier in the campaign, when Villa were beaten 7-0 at the hands of Taylor's side.
Carla Ward will be keen to erase any recent memories of Villa's trips to the Academy Stadium.
The Boss
Carla Ward spoke to VillaTV following last weekend's victory in the Second City Derby...
