Alessandro Del Piero trains at Allianz Stadium on Thursday. Allianz Stadium, Sydney Kick-off 7.45pm Referee Peter Green TV 7pm, Fox Sports 1HD Twitter #TheBigBlue Odds Sydney FC $2.90, Draw $3.40, Victory $2.25 Alessandro Del Piero (Sydney) Del Piero is the player on which Sydney's hopes hinge. His return to the starting side is a huge boost for the Sky Blues. Adrian Leijer (Melbourne) Leijer's career is at a crossroads. After being stripped of the captaincy by Ange Postecoglou, he might respond better to a new coach who believes in him. Brett Emerton (Sydney) Started for the first time this season in Perth last week, and looked in reasonable condition. Emerton is in a weekly fight to save his position. He must dominate games like this. Mark Milligan (Melbourne) The ex-Sydney man will get jeered whenever he goes near the ball. Given he's in career-best form, it should not bother him. Marc Warren (Sydney) Warren played a blinder in the opening match but he needs to maintain that level. To deal with Melbourne's mobile front third, his concentration levels cannot falter. Seb Ryall (Sydney) v Archie Thompson (Melbourne) Both these players are being played out of their best positions - Ryall is being used as a right-back, Thompson as a left-sided attacker - which ups the stakes even more. You can never discount Thompson, especially against the Sky Blues.