The world No.10 can match his previous best Open finish - making the fourth round in last two years - with a win on Friday night over Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli.
Following the Thursday night exit of Thanasi Kokkinakis, de Minaur is the last Australian man left in the singles draw.
Kokkinakis was outplayed by Bulgarian 13th seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 6-2 4-6 6-4.
De Minaur's clash is the final match on John Cain Arena while 10-time Open champion Novak Djokovic opens the night proceedings on Rod Laver Arena against Tomas Etcheverry of Argentina.
Australia's world No.1 doubles star Storm Hunter follows Djokovic on to court for her third round clash with the Czech Republic's former French Open champ Barbora Krejcikova.
De Minaur only had to play two full sets in his first round clash with Milos Raonic before the Canadian veteran retired hurt, and then only dropped six games in a straight sets win over Matteo Arnaldi - spending less than four hours on court in total.
The 24-year-old said he'd learned that preserving energy was a key in going deep in a grand slam.
"Over the years I've come to learn how important it is to, if possible, conserve the energy because it is a long two weeks if you want to get to the end of the tournament, and that's ultimately the goal," de Minaur said.
"The first week is all about finding ways to get through - it might not be your best tennis, but if you get through the first week, you give yourself a chance in the second week to show what you're made of."
Having claimed the scalps this summer of the world's top two players in Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, de Minaur says he's bristling with self-belief.
A win over world No.100 Cobolli sets up a fourth round meeting with either world No.5 Andrey Rublev or 29th seed Sebastian Korda.
De Minaur says he feels he can now win a match even if he's not at his best.
"Nothing can give you more belief than winning matches, and especially good matches, and I think that's what I've gotten this year," he said.
"In saying that, I feel in a good position where if I don't bring my A-game, I've still got plenty to show - I've won enough matches this year to know how to win certain types of matches.
"I'm feeling great mentally and physically."
AUSSIES IN ACTION ON DAY SIX OF THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN (PREFIX DENOTES SEEDING):
Men's singles, third round
10-Alex de Minaur v Flavio Cobolli (ITA)
Women's singles, third round
Storm Hunter v 9-Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)
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