Unbeaten after five games, Essendon is enjoying its best start to a season since 2000, when it went on to lose only one game en route to the premiership. After already claiming the scalps of Adelaide, Fremantle and Collingwood, the Bombers will be very short-priced favourites to add the Giants to their list of wins on Saturday. It could also be a percentage booster, given the Giants' lacklustre final quarters in the last two weeks against Melbourne and Gold Coast. The Giants face the prospect of a heavy defeat if they drop away against a hungry and in-form Essendon unit.
WHERE AND WHEN: Etihad Stadium, Saturday May 4, 1.45pm
TV, RADIO AND BETTING: Click here for broadcast guide
LAST TIME
R9, 2012, Essendon 18.11 (119) d GWS 7.11 (53) at Skoda Stadium
THE SIX POINTS
1. Kevin Sheedy will be coaching against his former club for the second time and the first time in Melbourne, at a venue where he coached the Bombers 73 times.
2. This could be dangerous for the Giants. The last time Essendon played a new team at Etihad Stadium – Gold Coast in round six, 2011 – the Bombers won by 139 points.
3. It is the Giants' third game at Etihad. Last year they lost to Carlton by 67 points and suffered a 128-point defeat at the hands of St Kilda.
4. In 2012 Essendon conceded an average score of 95 points a game. The Bombers' defensive focus has seen this number drop to 70 per game so far this season.
5. In contrast, the Giants conceded an average of 125 points last year and that has increased this season, averaging 134 points against in 2013.
6. It's easy to see why the Bombers are dominating and unbeaten after five rounds. James Hird's men are ranked second for contested marks and second for inside 50s. The Giants' only hope appears to be at the centre clearances, where they rank second this season in the competition.
