The first and third-placed teams on the AFL ladder will do battle on Friday night.

The Round 11 match will be the first of five Friday night clashes featuring the Crows this season.

Adelaide and Geelong have played 39 times. The Cats hold the advantage 22 – 17.

Geelong has won the past four meetings by an average margin of 33 points.

The Crows haven’t beaten the Cats at Simonds Stadium since Round 10, 2003.

Forwards Tom Hawkins (200) and Josh Jenkins (100) will both celebrate milestones on Friday night.

Hawkins has kicked 28 goals this season to be sixth in the Coleman Medal race. Adelaide star Eddie Betts is fourth with 31 goals.

Hawkins has also laid 21 forward 50m tackles – ranked third in the AFL and the best among key forwards.

Crows captain Taylor Walker leads the League in goal assists with 16 – three more than Geelong skipper Joel Selwood (13).

Cats onballer Cam Guthrie has averaged 31 possessions in his last three games against Adelaide.

Guthrie received three Brownlow Medal votes when the teams met in Round Eight last season. Retired Cats champion Corey Enright was best on ground in the most recent meeting in Round 18, 2016.

The Crows (1,241) and Cats (1,068) are the two highest-scoring teams in the competition.

Adelaide has scored more points from opposition turnovers (836) than any other team.

The Cats lead the League in points from clearances (431).

Geelong has been the master of the comeback this season. Despite having won seven games, the Cats have only been in front for 43 per cent of their matches. Adelaide has led for 60 per cent of its total game time.

Geelong has trailed at three-quarter time in four of its seven wins this season.

The Cats have scored more points in fourth quarters (372 points) than any team – 72 points more than the next-best team, Adelaide (300 points).

Crows Rory Laird and Matt Crouch are equal-second in the League for total disposals (327).

Defender Zac Tuohy is an influential player for Geelong. Tuohy leads the AFL for combined inside and rebound 50ms (84). He’s also top 10 for effective kicks (118).

Brownlow Medallist Patrick Dangerfield leads the League for contested possessions (173). Joel Selwood is fourth with 151 – one ahead of Crow Rory Sloane (150).

Sloane and Selwood have each won 69 clearances – ranked sixth in the League. Dangerfield is third overall with 74.

The Cats pair are particularly damaging in the centre square. Dangerfield (41) and Selwood (37) are both top three for centre clearances.

Dangerfield is sixth for inside 50ms with 54 – one more than Crows wingman Rory Atkins (53).

Mitch Duncan is dangerous outside the contest – ranked second for uncontested marks (75) and fourth for uncontested possessions (211). Laird has won 230 uncontested possessions for Adelaide to sit second overall.

The Crows and Cats are the two most efficient teams going forward. Adelaide averages a goal from 30.6 per cent of their inside 50ms, while Geelong boasts an average of 29.7 per cent.

This is despite Geelong only ranking 10^th for total inside 50ms with an average of 53.8 per game. The Crows average 60.2 inside 50ms.

Adelaide and Geelong are also the most accurate teams with a scoring accuracy above 63 per cent.

The Cats like to use handball to move the Sherrin. They have the equal-lowest kick-to-handball ratio (1.03) of any team.

Adelaide ruckman Sam Jacobs has attended more centre bounces (297) than any player in the League. Joel Selwood (263) is third overall – the highest-ranked player outside ruckmen.