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Sydney FC have been beaten only once in their past 15 derbies against Western Sydney but are coming off their heaviest A-League defeat in 32 months.

Sydney FC coach Steve Corica is backing his defence despite his team conceding three goals for the first time in almost 32 months.

The Sky Blues turned in their worst performance of the season - and arguably their worst in three years - in last week's 3-1 defeat to Wellington.

And if the title heavyweights fall to cross-town rivals Western Sydney on Saturday, the heat could quickly ramp up on the rookie coach.

Corica is likely to follow through on his threat of wielding the axe after the loss, with marquee Siem de Jong and Danny De Silva likely starters at ANZ Stadium.

"We had Siem on the bench last week and I want to get him back into the team as soon as possible because he's a marquee," Corica said on Friday.

"He's been out for six weeks and I think we've missed him."

De Silva could also be in line for his first look at the run-on side after being plagued by a hamstring injury over the opening seven rounds.

"He went away with the Olympic boys last week in Canberra and got back on Thursday," Corica said.

"He missed a bit of week's training but he had a great week down there.

"(He) is a very attacking player, positive, great with the ball, and you need players like that in our team to create goals and score goals as well."

Corica is unlikely to make changes to his back line and still maintains they are still the best in the league.

Not since Sydney FC were emphatically beaten 3-1 by the Phoenix in March 2016 had they conceded three goals and lost by more than two.

"Up until last week's game we only conceded five goals - it was the best in the league," Corica said.

"I still think we still are the best in the league, even conceding three goals."

Instead, the former Sydney FC midfielder prioritised a strong start on Saturday.

The Sky Blues have conceded the first goal in their past three league matches - two of which they lost - leaving them in danger of dropping out of the top six.

They have also lost only one of their past 15 contests against the Wanderers and claimed a controversial 2-0 win in their first match-up in round two.

"I'm more interested about the way we start games and how we approach them and the way we want to play football."

For the Wanderers, import Patrick Ziegler is in some doubt after aggravating a knee injury that kept him out of the opening six games of the season.

STATS THAT MATTER

* Sydney FC are looking to be the first side to record four straight victories in the history of their derby with Western Sydney.

* Each of Western Sydney's past seven wins in the competition have come against teams currently ranked below them on the ladder.

* Western Sydney have made a league-high 109 shots this season, but are shooting at a league-lowest 40 per cent on target.