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The Western Bulldogs took a 40-point win over Essendon on Sunday, but will sweat over an injury to Easton Wood.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Essendon 7.11.53
Bulldogs 14.9.93
The Western Bulldogs still have a chance to crack the top four in time for the finals as they do battle with the last-placed Essendon Bombers. Catch all the live scores and action on The Roar from 4:40pm (AEST).
Essendon picked up a miraculous win over the Gold Coast Suns at home last week, marking just their second victory of the season.
It also snapped an incredible 17-game losing streak for the last-placed Bombers, who had gone winless for nearly four months, dating back to Round 2 when they beat the Demons.
They now stand a chance of avoiding the wooden spoon if they can win either of their final two games and the Lions and Dockers continue to lose.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Bulldogs are sitting in seventh place with their ticket to the finals already booked.
A win, admittedly a very, very large win, could see the Bulldogs jump a few positions in an extremely tight top-seven race, as every team jostles for top-four spots coming into September.
The Dogs have the third-best defence in the league, while the Bombers sit second-last for the same discipline, conceding 109 points per game, one of just three teams to hit triple figures in that regard.
Essendon can also lay claim to the worst attack in the competition, averaging just 64 points a game. At 41 per cent, the Bombers also sit in last place for kicking accuracy in 2016.
Rather surprisingly though, Essendon share the top two spots for uncontested possessions in the comp with today’s opponents.
Team news
A couple of big changes for the Bulldogs this week, including an Achilles injury to half-back Matt Suckling.
The big news for the Dogs has been the dropping of former All Australian Jake Stringer, after a series of average performances saw him called out by coach Luke Beveridge.
The aforementioned Suckling injury will make way Roarke Smith, who has been recovering from a major knee injury suffered late last year. Toby McLean has also been named to play his first game since the Round 11 win over West Coast.
For the Bombers, coach John Worsfold has dropped James Polkinghorne, Jonathan Simpkin and Sam Grimley, with Mark Jamar, Kyle Langford and Darcy Parish coming into the side.
Prediction
The Bombers have had a shocker of a season and there’s a good chance it will continue today.
The Dogs have plenty to play for, coming off the back of a couple of wins, and should keep their roll going.
Bulldogs to win by 30
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