Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs have played each other 48 times with the Bulldogs holding the advantage in the head-to-head ledger – 26 wins to 22.
The last time the two teams locked horns was in Round Six, 2022, where Adelaide held on to win a thriller by one-point, marking its first win in Ballarat.
Adelaide forward Taylor Walker booted three majors including his 500th goal of his career, while Ben Keays had 33 disposals and nine score involvements.
For the Bulldogs, midfielder Tom Liberatore led the way with 33 disposals, 10 tackles and nine clearances.
This weekend, Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs will face-off at Mars Stadium in Ballarat again, the fourth time the sides will play one another at the venue.
The Crows have enjoyed plenty of AFL finals success against the Dogs, winning all three they have played.
Adelaide beat the Bulldogs in both the 1997 and 1998 Preliminary Finals to book its ticket to the Grand Final.
In 1997, the Crows won by two-points after coming back from a 22-point deficit in the final term. Ben Hart left his mark on the contest, amassing 26 disposals and seven marks.
In the 1998 Prelim, Adelaide triumphed by 68 points.
Andrew McLeod finished with 19 disposals and seven goals, while Matthew Robran amassed 20 disposals and booted six majors.
The Crows’ most recent finals win against the Dogs, came in the 2015 elimination final, where a late goal from Charlie Cameron sealed a seven-point victory in a back-and-forth affair.
Small forward Eddie Betts proved a handful for the Bulldogs defenders, booting five goals.
Three-time Club Champion Rory Laird has been one of Adelaide’s bests in recent times against the Bulldogs, averaging 26 disposals and 6.4 tackles in the last five meetings.
Keays has also made his mark averaging 26 disposals, 5.7 clearances and 435.7 metres-gained against the Dogs since joining Adelaide in 2020.
For the Western Bulldogs, Bailey Smith has enjoyed playing Adelaide, averaging 29.3 disposals, 6.5 inside 50s and 4.3 tackles.
Dogs forward Aaron Naughton has been able to hit the scoreboard in recent times against the Crows, averaging 2.5 goals a game and three marks inside 50.
A match-up to keep an eye on in Saturday afternoon’s game is the ruck battle between Reilly O’Brien and Tim English.
O’Brien has been one of the best hit-out ruckmen this season, ranked fourth in average hit-outs per game (36.7) and fifth in average hit-outs to advantage with 10.4.
Meanwhile, English has shown the ability to cover the ground and win plenty of the ball averaging 19.3 disposals, 6.2 marks and 29.2 hit-outs a game.
Adelaide will also be looking to limit the impact of Bulldogs midfielder Marcus Bontempelli who leads the league in average clearances this season, 8.2.
Bontempelli also averages 25.8 disposals and 7.4 tackles a game.
For the Dogs, they will want to make sure defender Brodie Smith does not have a repeat of his performance last week, where he amassed 32 disposals, eight intercepts, 731 metres gained and a goal against the Saints.
If Adelaide wins, it will be its sixth of the season.
A victory will also mean the Crows will hold their spot in the top eight for another round and jump ahead of the Bulldogs on the ladder.
