Where and when: TIO Stadium, Saturday June 1, 7.10pm ACST
Last time they met: Adelaide Oval, round 19, 2018: Adelaide 10.17 (77) lost to Melbourne 13.12 (90)
Melbourne completed a 52-point turnaround to lead by 32 points at three-quarter time, before Adelaide sent a late scare through the Demons camp in Jordan Lewis' 300th game. Matt Crouch and Clayton Oliver starred for their respective teams.
What it means for Melbourne: An opportunity for a rare win over a top-eight side. It's been a brutal, injury-decimated season for the Demons, whose three wins have come against Sydney, Gold Coast and Hawthorn.
What it means for Adelaide: In a tightly fought season, a win would arrest a slight slide down the top eight after two successive losses. It would also keep the Crows in touch with the top four.
How Melbourne wins: The Demons should be boosted by a swag of returning players, including Michael Hibberd, Christian Salem, Steven May, Alex Neal-Bullen, Kade Kolodjashnij and Sam Weideman, which will help their cause enormously.
How Adelaide wins: Adelaide has the big-bodied midfielders to match Melbourne and should be able to take advantage on the outside. The Crows also have a variety of weapons up forward.
The stat: The Demons currently average the fewest marks per game (80.8) of any team in the competition. It's an example of the Dees just not getting their hands on the ball, as they are also 16th in average disposals.
The match-up: Clayton Oliver v Brad Crouch
It's a battle of the two young inside midfield bulls, with Oliver ranked seventh overall in the AFL Player Ratings. Crouch may have a few years on Oliver but is ranked 229th across the competition.
It's a big week for: Taylor Walker
The Adelaide co-captain has been under the pump in recent weeks, with six of his 10 games for the year resulting in either one or no goals. He is coming off a goalless, two-mark game last round.
Big call: Jeff Garlett to slip under the guard of Adelaide's defence and kick three goals.
Photo: Will Russell
