Adelaide and North Melbourne have met 39 times. The Crows hold a narrow overall advantage, 20 – 19.

Thursday night’s fixture will be the first of Adelaide’s ‘double-up’ games in 2016. The Crows and Kangaroos faced off in Round One of this season. Adelaide also plays Geelong, Fremantle, Port Adelaide and West Coast twice.

It will be Adelaide’s third-ever ‘home’ Thursday night fixture. The Crows beat Collingwood in front of 50,000-plus fans on a Thursday night in 2014, and lost to eventual premiers Hawthorn in the prime timeslot at Adelaide Oval in Round 12 last season.

In the opening round of this season, North Melbourne came from three goals down at half time to record a stirring 10-point win. Veterans Brent Harvey and Jarrad Waite each kicked three goals, while Crow Josh Jenkins slotted five in a losing team.

Four of the past six games between the Crows and Kangas have been decided by 10 points or less.

The Roos haven’t beaten the Crows in South Australia since Round 21, 2003, when the visitors also came from behind to post a 10-point victory. It will be only North Melbourne’s third trip to Adelaide Oval. The club is yet to taste victory at the redeveloped venue.

The biggest home-and-away crowd for a game between Adelaide and North Melbourne was 47,487 at Football Park in Round 16, 2006. On that night, Club legend Mark Ricciuto booted five goals to help guide his team to a comfortable 72-point win.

The Kangaroos are third on the AFL ladder with 10 wins and three losses, while the Crows are eighth with a record of eight wins and four losses from one fewer game.

After winning a remarkable nine straight games to start the season, North Melbourne has lost three of its past four matches against fellow top-four fancies Geelong, the Sydney Swans and Hawthorn.

The Crows have won their past four games against West Coast, St Kilda, Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast.

Three of North’s wins this season have been by 10 points or fewer. Only the Hawks have won more close matches (four).

Adelaide midfielder Scott Thompson has averaged 29 possessions, six tackles and four marks in his past three outings against North Melbourne. Thompson racked up 30 disposals, including a game-high 17 contested, to go with nine clearances in his team’s Round One loss to the Roos.

Roos playmakers Daniel Wells and Brent Harvey have each assisted in 23 scores this season – ranked equal-first in the AFL.

Wells has enjoyed the biggest jump in Champion Data ranking points (49.4) of any player in 2016. Emerging Crow Jarryd Lyons has enjoyed the second-highest rise (46.7).

Crows captain Taylor Walker has a good recent record against North Melbourne. Walker has averaged three goals in each of his last four games against the Roos.

The Adelaide forward, who has kicked 285 career goals, needs seven more goals to draw level with Ricciuto (292) in second place in the Club’s all-time goalkicking. Eddie Betts is three goals-shy of his 150^th Crows goal.

Walker could come up against one of the in-form defenders in the competition, Robbie Tarrant, on Thursday night. Tarrant (13 games) ranks equal-fourth with Crow Daniel Talia (12 games) in spoils this season, and is conceding an average of only 1.5 goals to his direct opponents this season.

Tarrant is seventh in the League for rebound 50ms (55) just behind teammate Michael Firrito (61). He’s also 15^th for total marks (81). Tarrant (ninth) and Kangaroo Scott Thompson (sixth) are both top-10 in the League for intercept possessions.

Roos Ruckman Todd Goldstein is averaging 37.9 hit-outs per game (ranked second in the AFL) including 11 to advantage (ranked fourth in the AFL). Goldstein has kicked 13 goals – the second most of any ruckman in the League.

Jack Ziebell is North Melbourne’s prime midfield mover. Ziebell is top 12 in the AFL for total kicks (sixth), inside 50ms (seventh) and clearances (12^th). Ziebell uses the ball well going inside his team’s forward line. Of his 63 inside 50ms, 30 have been retained by the Roos – the fifth most of any player. Crows half-back Brodie Smith has the fourth-best inside 50m retention total (32).

North Melbourne has the highest tackle differential (+ 8.8) of any team in the competition. Captain Andrew Swallow has laid 100 tackles – ranked second in the League.

The Kangaroos have kicked 32 goals from centre bounces – the equal-most of any team.

Like the Crows, the Roos have multiple tall targets in attack. Waite leads his team’s goalkicking with 27 (ranked equal-13^th in the League), while Ben Brown is equal-third in contested marks (29).

The Crows and Kangaroos are two of the most efficient scoring teams. Adelaide averages a goal with 29.6 per cent of its forward 50m entries (ranked No.1) while North Melbourne goals with 27.1 per cent of its forays inside attacking 50m (ranked fourth).

The Kangaroos play on from marks only 24.6 per cent of the time – the second least of any side.

The Roos average the second-highest percentage of effective kicks (68.9).