Essendon v Western Bulldogs, at Telstra Dome, Friday, April 11, 7.40pm

FORECAST

Late shower
Minimum 14, Maximum 26

BETTING

Essendon $2.30, Western Bulldogs $1.58

LAST TIME THEY MET

Western Bulldogs 20.11 (131) d Essendon 14.14 (98), round 15, 2007, at Telstra Dome

FORM GUIDE

One of three sides undefeated, the Bulldogs enter this match as clear favourites. In week one they knocked off Adelaide, week two it was Melbourne's turn and last Friday night they recovered from a sloppy first term to beat the Saints by 38 points. Adam Cooney ran hot while Mitch Hahn, Jason Akermanis and Ryan Griffen booted three goals each.

The Bombers are eighth with two wins from three starts. They began 2008 well with a triumph over North Melbourne in round one and last weekend beat the Blues by 16 points. In round two, however, they were slaughtered by Geelong. Matthew Lloyd was hard to stop last weekend, while Mark McVeigh was best on ground.

MEDICAL ROOM

The Bulldogs will test Nathan Eagleton (ankle), but will miss Scott West for the next two weeks with a knee complaint. Malcolm Lynch (hamstring) could be available next week, Tom Williams (thigh) and Farren Ray (foot) are both a fortnight away, and Andrejs Everitt (knee) could be back in three. However, further investigation to Shaun Higgins' ankle has revealed the young forward will miss 12 to 14 weeks with ligament damage.

For the Bombers, David Myers (hamstring) is available, while Nathan Lovett-Murray (groin) and Andrew Welsh (hamstring) will be tested – although the latter is expected to play in the VFL. Scott Gumbleton (hamstring) and Courtenay Dempsey (hamstring) are two weeks away while Leroy Jetta (hamstring) will miss three. Tim Hislop (wrist) is four to six weeks from resuming and Heath Hocking (groin) will have adductor release surgery this week and could miss 10, along with spearhead Scott Lucas (knee).

RANDOM FACTS

* The Bulldogs have won the last three battles between these two sides, all of which were played at Telstra Dome.

* They haven't met at the MCG since round 13, 1999. Since then, the Bombers have won seven, the Dogs four and there has been one draw.

* The Bombers were the last side the Bulldogs beat in season 2007 before they dropped six of their seven games to close the season and produced one draw.

KEY MATCH-UPS

Brian Lake v Matthew Lloyd: The obvious choice for a match-up but perhaps the most influential. Lake is the Dogs' best defender while Lloyd is in solid form with 10 goals from three games.

Adam Cooney v Damien Peverill: Peverill ran with Chris Judd last weekend in his first game for the season, and the tough tasks could continue this week, with Cooney very good against St Kilda.

WHAT THE CLUBS SAY

Western Bulldogs

"Four weeks ago when we played them, we found out how good they are and how much they can run and how fast they are. That's something we've got to take into consideration. We've got our team meeting … and I'm sure that Rodney (Eade) will have some plans in place to try and stop their run.

"It's going to be a tough game, but their game is a running game, pretty similar to ours. We're going to have to find ways and different avenues of trying to stop their run. They've got great players in Matthew Lloyd, who they like to use, and Adam McPhee is playing a great lead-up role down there, and Mark McVeigh is having a great season as well." – Mitch Hahn, senior player.

Essendon

"The last three quarters [of last week] they played aggressive football on the inside and they played attacking fast football on the outside. When you've got those two mixes they are pretty lethal because they have beautiful foot skills and they are a very dangerous team.

"They are not three wins and no losses because they are just going. They are a very good side." – Matthew Knights, senior coach.