TONIGHT’s AFLW action comes from the city of churches, and is between a pair of perennial contenders having vastly different seasons.

7:15pm local (7:45pm AEDT)
Norwood Oval

Recent form

Adelaide suffered quite the scare last week against St Kilda, but got the job done to jump back onto the winners list.

Melbourne also suffered a bit of a scare last week, but thanks to a strong start managed to overcome the Giants and also snag a victory.

Last time they met

As two of the original sides that have both been among the competition’s best for a long time now, there is certainly plenty of history between these sides.

These two have met just about every season, with the most recent meeting back in Round 6 last season.

That particular afternoon down at Casey Fields, Adelaide were too strong for the Dees, coming away 10 point victors and handing the Dees the first loss of their premiership defence.

Key stat areas

Both of these sides prefer to move the ball in different ways. Adelaide prefers to handball it more than kick it, while for Melbourne it is the other way around, which is a contrast to recent seasons.

An area that Melbourne in particular will need to be mindful off is inside 50 efficiency, because not only is their own stat poor but it is significantly worse than Adelaide’s. The same can be said for clearances and uncontested possessions.

Key match up/s

Although Adelaide has many talented players right across the park, at the heart of it any opponent that wants to beat the Crows needs to stop powerhouse midfield duo Ebony Marinoff and Anne Hatchard.

This means the Melbourne midfield, but in particular Tyla Hanks and Kate Hore, is going to have a big night trying to quell the influence of the aforementioned Crows pair.