Caltex Socceroos defender Bailey Wright is set to test himself against the best when his Bristol City host Manchester United in the EFL Cup (Carabao Cup) quarter-finals on Thursday morning (AEDT).
Having spent his entire professional career in England, Wright will relish the opportunity to compare himself to a Premier League counterpart and could get the chance to do that against 31-time England international Chris Smalling.
How does Wright's impressive season in the second-tier stack up against one of Jose Mourinho's men?
We've assessed the Opta numbers to find out.
DEFENCE
The rough and tumble of the Championship, not to mention his own good form, sees the Robins skipper posting bigger numbers in all key defensive categories.
Wright is winning an average of 1.5 tackles - ahead of Smalling's 0.8 - and he also succeeds in 6.1 duels, compared to 4.5.
The margin is smaller when it comes to clearances, with the Aussie's 6.1 per match shading the United man's 5.2.
And it's even narrower in terms of blocks: Wright has produced 11 in total this term, whereas Smalling has been required to put his body on the line seven times.
ON THE BALL
Interestingly, Wright is averaging almost 10 more passes per match (45.7) than his top-flight counterpart (36.4).
That's partly the result of a far superior number of touches (68.9 compared to 48.3).
Smalling does, however, boast greater accuracy when he gets on the ball, finding the target with 87% of his passes (compared to 79% for the Bristol stopper).
GOING FORWARD
While far from the first responsibility of either player, Wright and Smalling have both still found time to influence matches at the other end of the pitch.
The former's five shots for the season seem almost greedy in comparison to Smalling's three.
And while the 25-year-old Melburnian is yet to score this term, he has chipped in with two handy assists.
Smalling, meanwhile, chimed in with the second goal in a 4-1 win over Newcastle United last month and that remains his only strike for 2017/18.