An intriguing contest looks to be in store this Thursday in the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League at Toa Payoh Stadium when Balestier Khalsa play hosts to defending champions Warriors FC.
The visitors will be keen to taste victory again, having lost their way a little in recent weeks after a sensational start to the campaign.
Six wins in their first seven games, including four consecutive victories, had propelled them to the top of the table. However, that was followed by losses to Brunei DPMM and Geylang International.
Victory against the Eagles last week would have seen them displace Albirex Niigata (S) from top spot and midfielder Thomas Beattie is eager for his side to bounce back against the Tigers.
"The Geylang game was a poor performance from us and we have no excuses - I guess that's football," he told ESPN FC on Tuesday. "We didn't perform as well as we could and Geylang were deserving of the win. We will try and put it right this week.
"All the games are important and there isn't really any 'must-wins' for us... But yes, this is an important game for us to get back on track before we play Albirex."
The Englishman noted that travelling away for AFC Cup games this season has taken its toll on the Warriors physically, while they have also played more games than other clubs in the league.
After an inconsistent start, Marko Kraljevic's charges have strung together some recent momentum.
They have taken seven points from their last three matches, including a shock 2-1 win away in DPMM that ended the hosts' unbeaten start last time out. Miroslav Kristic scored once in each of those games to bring his league tally to six, the second-best in the league.
The striker, along with fellow new imports Tarik Cmajcanin and Robert Pericic, will look to wreak havoc against a Warriors defence that has conceded a league-high 17 goals. Balestier is the only other team with additional AFC Cup matches and they will present their own physical style to be dealt with.
"Balestier is always hard to play against, they have a core group of locals who are very hard working and... The foreign boys they have are also strong," Beattie acknowledged.
"We know they will be a threat with Micky (Kristic) and Robbie (Pericic) upfront; they are always capable of scoring, as is Igor [Cerina] from set pieces. We will have to match them physically and execute the game plan to get the result."
Left-back Ho Wai Loon is suspended for the Tigers, while Alex Weaver will have to deal with the absences of key midfielder Kevin McCann and forward Nicolas Velez for the same reason.
Beattie admitted the consistency of McCann and the goal threat of Velez will be huge losses to his side, but refused to use that as an excuse and called on the rest of his teammates to step up in their absence.
"I am sure most clubs would be glad to have Nico and Kevin missing the game," he said. "But we have Emmeric Ong, who's been doing great and improving every day and who can do a solid job for us; we have Hafiz Rahim, Fazrul Nawaz and Peja (Miroslav Pejic) to chip in at the other end.
"You always know it's going to be hard as clubs love to beat us and raise their game, but if we play like we can I am confident we can get the result."
Balestier Khalsa Probable Lineup: Zaiful Nizam, Ahmad Syahir, Igor Cerina, Nurullah Hussein, Hanafi Salleh, Emir Lotinac, Poh Yifeng, Ignatius Ang, Tarik Cmajcanin, Robert Pericic, Miroslav Kristic
Warriors FC Probable Lineup: Neezam Aziz, Syaqir Sulaiman, Daniel Bennett, Marin Vidosevic, Irwan Shah, Thomas Beattie, Emmeric Ong, Miroslav Pejic, Hafiz Rahim, Fazli Jaffar, Fazrul Nawaz