House of horrors: Essendon’s midfield could not have looked more insipid than their last visit to Adelaide Oval when they were torn apart by Connor Rozee and Jason Horne-Francis. Brad Scott will be looking for a more consistent effort from skipper Zach Merrett and accumulator Darcy Parish. Adelaide are yet to win at home this year, losing to Geelong and Melbourne.
Young Bomber Elijah Tsatas comes in tonight for his seventh career game.Credit: Getty
What’s at stake: The Bombers can slip momentarily into the top eight if they beat the Crows and go 4-2 for the season. If you discount the Port Adelaide flogging in Adelaide, Essendon have been in decent touch. Their win against the Bulldogs last week was unexpected, and that form line was franked by the Bulldogs’ thumping of St Kilda on Thursday night. The Crows’ season was shot to bits after a dismal 0-4 start, and they looked destined for a dread 0-5 ledger before salvaging a sinking ship with a gutsy come-from-behind win against Carlton. You’d think that win will have been in if they can’t back it up tonight. They need to build momentum and stay in touch with the eight.
History says: The last time the Bombers played the Crows at Adelaide Oval was round 8 in 2020, a match they won by three points. The two teams played at the same venue in round 18 in 2019, and again the Bombers won, that time by 21 points. Essendon dominates their head-to-head clashes across the past five years, holding a 5-0 advantage.
Essendon coach Brad Scott is chasing win number four for the year.Credit: Artwork: Matt Davidson
Coaches’ corner: ”We’re not sitting on top of the ladder flying, thinking we can manipulate selection to manage individuals, we’ve got to pick the best team that we have available to win each game” – Brad Scott
“We feel right now, even though it’s one win, we have some momentum, we’ve been able to work back to our system, work back to our process about what it takes to get the job done.” – Matthew Nicks
At the selection table: Essendon made one change to the side that disposed of the Bulldogs, bringing in Elijah Tsatas to replace Jye Menzei, who will miss with a shoulder injury.
The Crows were forced to make two changes with Jordon Butts (hamstring) injured and Matt Crouch suspended. They brought in midfielder Lachlan Sholl and defender James Borlase.
The experts say: The Age tipping panel is leaning heavily towards a Crows victory – 12-2. Current leader Andrew Wu is predicting the home side to finish seven points ahead, while Libby Birch and Mathew Stokes are the lone two to pick Essendon.