Gold Coast United defender Michael Thwaite is confident there will be fireworks when his team comes to Melbourne this weekend. The former Victory man and his Gold Coast teammates are out to atone for the loss the last time the teams met and believes it will be a fiery encounter at Etihad Stadium.

"The way the game went earlier in the year when we lost 3-2, there was a lot of passion in that game," Thwaite said.

"I'm sure there will be a lot of fireworks in this one again.

"As soon as we got the man sent off last time, it changed the game completely. I thought we were quite dominant in the first half before we got the man sent off.

"I think when it's 11 v 11 it will be a different story."

Thwaite said that United may have a bit of ammo to target the Victory with as three of their players used to don the blue, white and silver of the reigning champions.

"With Steve Pantelidis and Daniel Piorkowski up here as well from Melbourne, it's only natural to get asked how Melbourne play," Thwaite added.

"I know very well how Melbourne plays. Being a defender I guess it helps."

But despite all that fire and brimstone, Thwaite admitted he loved his time with the Victory and paid special tribute to the fans of the two-time champion club.

"I had a fantastic year with Melbourne last year. I was very surprised with how good the fans were in Australia after coming back from overseas," he added further.

"Melbourne, as a football club, has set the standard in the A-League for how the club is run and how they interact with the community and that shows with how much support they do get.

"But my heart will be fully for Gold Coast and I will be trying to hopefully stop Archie Thompson from doing his dancing on the field on Saturday night."