HEAD TO HEAD: St Kilda 82 wins, Melbourne 118 wins, one draw
LAST TIME: St Kilda 15.10 (100) d Melbourne 9.11 (65), round 14, 2010 at Etihad Stadium
TV, RADIO AND BETTING: Click here for broadcast guide and odds
A full replay will be available on afl.com.au 12 hours after the completion of the match
FORM: St Kilda: LWLLL Melbourne: WWLWL
SUMMARY
St Kilda led Hawthorn by 32 points at quarter-time last weekend before slumping to the club's fifth loss of the season. Coach Ross Lyon has foreshadowed changes at the selection table after the disappointing 30-point defeat. Melbourne suffered a similar fate with a four-goal quarter-time lead over North Melbourne turning into a dismal 41-point defeat.
St Kilda finds itself mired in 15th place on the ladder after its disappointing start to the season, but the Demons are only two points out of the eight in ninth position.
The Saints will regain Leigh Montagna after the onballer served his one-match suspension for bumping Carlton's Ed Curnow, but the news isn't so great for injury-hit Melbourne. Colin Garland (ankle) and Rohan Bail (knee) have joined a lengthy injury list that includes Tom Scully, Jack Grimes, Mark Jamar and Jake Spencer.
Jared Rivers is a chance to return from an ankle injury, but Jack Trengove will watch from the sidelines as he continues to serve a three-game ban for a sling tackle on Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield.
Melbourne defender James Frawley was moved to say that his team had given up on the match last week while the Saints are at a similar low ebb in terms of their confidence after their poor start to the season.
QUESTION MARKS
Has St Kilda's form bottomed out? Surely the Saints will bounce back at some point and a clash against the up and down Demons provides an excellent opportunity to get back on the horse.
Can Melbourne overcome its aversion to Etihad Stadium? The Demons loss to North last week took their run of outs at the venue to nine.
PREDICTION
St Kilda by 15 points
TOYOTA AFL DREAM TEAM WATCH
Brendon Goddard ($351,700) dropped by $33,000 after his last start score of 54 against Hawthorn to make his total depreciation since the start of the season a whopping $119,300. The out-of-sorts midfielder-defender is still averaging 82.57 a game and is bound to come good soon. Good time to buy.
Michael Newton ($210,700) scored 99 points in his first game of the season against North Melbourne. Watch his form against the Saints and get ready to purchase if he can replicate that.
Follow the game live in the AFL Match Centre on afl.com.au and join the conversation on Twitter using #aflsaintsdees
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL
