Where and when: MCG, Friday, June 26, 7.40pm
Head to head: Essendon 108 wins, Carlton 117 wins, four draws
Last time: Essendon 17.14 (116) d Carlton 16.16 (112), round three, 2009 at MCG
Missing in Action
Essendon
Rhys Magin (shoulder) - 3-5 weeks
Scott Gumbleton (back) - indefinite
Jason Laycock (foot) - season
David Hille (knee) - season
Carlton
Sam Jacobs (foot) - 2 weeks
Darren Pfeiffer (shoulder) - 3 weeks
Bret Thornton (hamstring) - test
Jarrad Waite (knee) - season
Andrew Walker (shoulder) - 3 weeks
Robert Warnock (foot) - 2 weeks
FORM
Essendon: LWLLW
Carlton: WLWWL
SUMMARY

Both sides carry good form into this clash despite Carlton's last start loss. The Blues pushed the unbeaten Saints all the way before going down by nine points while the Bombers had a game on their hands in the first half against the Demons before sweeping them aside in the third quarter to surge away to a 48-point victory.
The Dons are slowly working their way back to health with Andrew Welsh, Hayden Skipworth, Kyle Reimers and Dustin Fletcher among the players to return recently after long lay-offs. Mark McVeigh also fell into that category, but will miss this match as he serves a one-game suspension for a high hit on Jared Rivers.


Bret Thornton will be given until Thursday to prove he has recovered from the hamstring strain that kept him out of the St Kilda clash and will likely be the only change to the team if he passes a fitness test.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Tayte Pears (Essendon)
The young defender has been given some big jobs so far this year and looms as the obvious candidate to take on Brendan Fevola. Darcy Daniher stuck with the Carlton spearhead all night last time out, keeping him to four goals and Matthew Knights will stay true to his youth-first policy on Friday. Fev famously offered Daniher $100 if he lasted the whole game. Will he be quite so upfront this time around?
Matthew Kreuzer (Carlton)
The ruck duel between Kreuzer and Paddy Ryder promises to be a beauty. Ryder has stepped into the shoes of injured lead ruckman David Hille superbly while the young Blue continues to develop his game at a rate of knots. They've reached this point in their careers via different routes with Ryder playing down back early before moving into the middle while Kreuzer has played a lot of football on the ball from the start. You get the feeling we'll be watching these two young men go at it for years to come.

QUESTION MARKS
Which team is coming and which one is going? With both sides on six wins this is a huge game, but the Bombers can probably least afford a loss. Their run home appears tougher than Carlton's making a win here vital.
Can Scott Lucas take another step toward reviving his career? Seven goals in the last two weeks has helped enormously.
Can the Blues win if it stays close the whole way? They've lost four games by under 10 points this season with their four-point win over the Lions the only tight one they've come out on top in.
WHO WILL WIN AND WHY?
You can make cases for both teams here. Both have forward lines capable of kicking a big score and both have young defences, but the telling factor might be Carlton's class through the middle. Mark McVeigh's loss is a real blow for the Bombers and probably tips the scales slightly in the Blues' favour.
Brett Ratten has reminded his players that their performance in the round three clash was not up to scratch and the sting of that loss might be enough to get them over the line in the return bout.
PREDICTION
Carlton by nine points.

http://www.afl.com.au/Results/tabid/11433/default.aspx?display=1&seasonid=71&roundid=717&fixtureid=5130

no poll...

anyway essendon always lift againts carlton, can't see this being any different

Essendon by 14
---
as it was said

they were coming, we were waiting XD

Big Game for both clubs, massive

Essendon have had the wood over us lately, hopefully we can change that around.

Great to see Thornton back.

Alwyn Davey and Lovett always kill us, we have to stop them to win the match.

Im gonna tip the Blues by 12 in a shoot-out

I'm tipping Essendon based on the fact they've got the wood over the Blues the last couple of years. Should be a really high scoring and open contest, but I think the Dons by 2 Goals.

Massive game this, I reckon it'll be the game of the round. Bombers to come out and have a real crack, but the Blues to get on top in the end, Carlscum by 18.

I think Carlton will win by 7 points

Carlton by 20 points

SImple reason is Fev will take hold of Pears and will kick straight
I HOPE

cmon the bombers im pumped for it
there is gonna be a massive crowd tonight gonna be good cmon bombers!

Im not going to the game

Just saw some stats, in the last 6 games between these teams each team has scored OVER 100 points.

These games are exciting, attacking football, you have to watch the game

CARN BLUE BOYS!

go carlton i bet on them lol

i reckon carlton by 25

yeah Blues cant lose with Dons injurys.

It's only 3 quarter time but...

Bye Bye Tip

ffs

It's official. Carlton suck. They were coming, but I think they got held up at the lights

Sucked Fucking In Carlton.

That's awesome!

The Collingwood supporter in me is fucken stoked, but the tipster in me is miserable.

bahahahaha who the F*** is carlton