Take two winless teams and two coaches under a bit of pressure. Remove both captains, but add a big crowd at Etihad Stadium and a national television audience, and what do you end up with? A Round Three match that's a "must win" for both Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart.

Don't get me wrong, a draw wouldn't be the end of the world, but when you consider how the first two rounds have turned out, this edition of the still-evolving Melbourne Derby might be the most important yet.

Let's start with big brother Victory, whose off-season acquisition of Harry Kewell hogged the headlines and promised packed houses and fluid football.

Unfortunately, the team has yet to gel and the Rolls Royce roster seems to be running on one or two cylinders.

Admittedly, you can't throw a group of players together and expect instant chemistry, but you'd think a squad featuring Kewell, Archie Thompson, Danny Allsopp, Carlos Hernandez, Marco Rojas and Jean Carlo Solorzano could somehow come up with a goal. With the bar of expectations set at Steve Hooker-esque heights, the natives are already getting restless.

The man feeling most of the heat is new head coach Mehmet Durakovic. While the chance to replace Ernie Merrick and lead Victory is no doubt a great opportunity, Durakovic now faces the same scrutiny that befell young Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who was blessed/cursed with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Will Durakovic be able to devise a plan to utilise the talents of his "dream team?" Does he have the tactical nous to adjust on the fly as is required after a poor start? And, the big one, is he actually running the show? The good news is that most of this would be eradicated with a big win on Saturday.

For Melbourne Heart, the season so far has been a disaster. Dependable keeper Clint Bolton - who spent the entire off-season rehabbing - is still recovering from injury, and will see his first action in months. His low-cost deputy Nikola Roganovic has looked shaky at times and Heart has conceded more goals (five) than any other team in the league. The defense has been so bad that erstwhile captain Simon Colosimo has been rushed back for the Derby. Colosimo, once a glamour signing, has struggled with injuries, been stripped of his leadership armband and even reportedly tried to engineer a move away from Heartland. But coach John van 't Schip - even he doesn't want to admit it - needs Colosimo's experience against Victory's firepower.

On the positive side, at least Heart have scored goals - three to Victory's nil - but when Fred limped off with a hamstring injury last week, he took most of Heart's midfield creativity with him. Matt Thompson, who played in defense in the first two matches, will most likely be shifted back to midfield.

Ironically, as much pressure as there is on Kewell and Durakovic, there is plenty on Heart as well, and some of it internal. Heart CEO Scott Munn told the Herald Sun this week that "various departments" would be "asked questions" if the club failed to make the top six. I don't think Munn was talking about the Membership department either. However, as it would for Victory, a win on Saturday would help right the ship.

Expect this one to be intense. Kevin Muscat's on the bench as a Victory assistant, so we shouldn't have to worry about him doing something irrational like the last time these two met. But there's a whiff of desperation in both camps, knowing a Derby loss could send either team into full-blown crisis mode.