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Despite winning their last clash against Sydney FC, Melbourne City coach Erick Mombaerts believes his team enters the A-League grand final as underdogs.

Melbourne City coach Erick Mombaerts knows his team has to lift on previous performances against Sydney FC to claim their maiden A-League championship.

City will likely take an unchanged starting 11 into Sunday's grand final after winning through to club's first decider with a 2-0 victory over Western United on Wednesday night.

But City are taking on an opponent at Bankwest Stadium that is one win away from becoming the most successful Australian soccer club in history.

A fifth A-League title, and their third in four seasons, would see the Sky Blues surpass rival Melbourne Victory's four championships.

They can can also go clear of former juggernauts Marconi, South Melbourne and Sydney City, who all won four championships in the defunct National Soccer League.

Melbourne City defeated Sydney FC 2-0 in their last regular season outing, but Mombaerts says the Sky Blues will be better than that August 1 game.

"We know that we can do well against Sydney but now it's a cup game, it's different and we have to play better than we have done against Sydney (previously) and especially also when we played the semi-final (against Western United)," he said.

"We didn't play our best game against Western but we won and we were strong. We need to find a good balance."

City will only be without veteran Scott Jamieson, who returned to Melbourne for the birth of his first child earlier this month.

Sydney FC have recalled veteran defender Michael Zullo, who has been battling a hamstring injury, but will be on limited minutes, at best.

Joel King has grown in confidence in the left-back position in Zullo's extended absence and Sky Blues coach Steve Corica will persist with the young gun in a starting spot.