Adelaide and the Sydney Swans have met 38 times. The Crows hold the overall advantage, 23 – 15.
However, the Swans have won five of the last six games between the teams.
In a quirk of the fixture, the Crows and Swans will play for the first time this season on Friday night. Adelaide has already played Port Adelaide, Hawthorn, Geelong, Essendon and Melbourne twice.
The two teams last played at the SCG in the 2016 Semi-Final, which the Swans won convincingly.
Swans wingman Dan Hannebery has averaged 31.8 possessions and 1.8 goals in his last four games against Adelaide.
The Crows and Swans haven’t met on a Friday night since Round 18, 1994. On that night at Football Park, five goals from Adelaide champion Mark Ricciuto wasn’t enough to get the home side over the line as a Paul Kelly-led Sydney team triumphed by 12 points.
If selected captain Taylor Walker, who is nursing a toe injury, will play his 150th match.
In-form midfielder Richard Douglas is set to play his 50th consecutive game.
The biggest attendance for a game featuring the Crows and Swans was 51,330 at Adelaide Oval in Round Four, 2016. The home crowd was treated to a thrilling 10-point win by the Crows.
Since dropping their first six games, the Swans have only lost two matches – both to Hawthorn – and now sit in fifth spot on the AFL ladder.
The Crows have never been lower than second spot on the ladder in 2017 and will become the first team to achieve that feat across a season since Collingwood in 2011.
Sydney’s eight losses this season have been by an average of only 18 points – the lowest in the League.
The Swans have the third highest average winning margin (42 points). The Crows have the best average winning margin of any team (53 points).
The Swans have returned to their stingy best, having conceded the fewest points (1,514) of any team.
Adelaide has the fourth-best defensive record (1,593) and have scored nearly 400 more points than Sydney this season – ranked No.1 in the competition.
The Swans concede the fewest marks inside 50m (8.9) to their opposition of any side. They’re also the best at preventing opposition scores once inside 50m (42.4 per cent).
The Swans have outscored their opposition by 72 points in the opening 10 minutes of games this season, hitting the scoreboard hard early with 169 points for in the first 10 minutes of games, second only to the fast-starting Essendon.
Read more about Sydney’s starts in the Stats Files
Swans superstar Lance Franklin leads the AFL in score involvements (182). Franklin has been involved in 35.2 per cent of his team’s scores – ranked No.1 of any player in the League. Walker is third for score involvements (164), and has been part of 27.4 per cent of Adelaide’s scores.
Franklin has kicked 56 goals to be third in the Coleman Medal race. Walker (fifth) is the highest-placed Crow with 48 goals.
In a reflection of his importance and versatility, Franklin ranks third for inside 50ms (106) and is also the sixth-most used target inside 50m (174).
Franklin has had more shots at goal than any other player this season for a return of 56.53.
Franklin and small forward Tom Papley combined for eight goals when these two teams last met.
Crow Matt Crouch ranks sixth in the competition for contested possessions (273), while uncompromising Swans onballer Luke Parker is ninth (261). Rory Sloane is 11th with 252.
Parker is equal-10th for clearances with 122 just ahead of Matt Crouch (120).
Parker has averaged 26 touches and two goals in his last four clashes with the Crows
Matt Crouch is on track to break the record for most disposals by a Crow in a season. The 22-year-old has already amassed 647 possessions from 20 games. Retiring champion Scott Thompson holds the record with 737 from 25 matches in 2012.
Veteran Swans defender Heath Grundy is equal-ninth for intercept possessions (139). Crows defenders Rory Laird (148) and Jake Lever (144) rank fifth and sixth.
Sydney is likely to be bolstered by the return of skipper Josh Kennedy on Friday night. Kennedy amassed 42 possessions in his team’s Semi-Final win over Adelaide last year.
