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It’s the battling Collingwood Magpies taking on the West Coast Eagles for Sunday footy in Melbourne. Join us on The Roar for live scores and a blog from 3:20pm (AEST).
It’s fair to say it hasn’t been Collingwood’s season. The nation’s largest club is sitting in 14th spot, with six wins and ten losses, and their finals chances have all but evaporated.
Their opponents today, the West Coast, are clinging onto eighth spot, with nine wins and seven losses. The Eagles are still right in the mix for finals, but it’s games like today they simply must win.
Both teams would be pleased with their results last weekend, with the Magpies easing (ever-so-slightly) the pressure on embattled coach Nathan Buckley with a win against a poor Gold Coast outfit, and the Eagles comfortably taking the four points in a 30 point against an inaccurate but eager Fremantle side in the final derby at Domain Stadium.
Today, though, the teams will be at Etihad Stadium: a venue that, surprisingly, the Eagles have performed better at than their Victorian foes. The Pies have dropped six of their last seven games here, while the Eagles have won four of the previous six. This season’s unpredictability, though, means that stats like that mightn’t matter.
The game will probably be won and lost in the midfield, and with Scott Pendlebury’s outing a massive loss for the Pies, the onus is on Adam Treloar, Taylor Adams and Steele Sidebottom to pick up the slack and perform well to give their team an advantage. West Coast’s formidable midfield of Matt Priddus, Andrew Gaff and Sam Mitchell – to name but a few – will be a challenge though.
The Eagles – who are celebrating Josh Kennedy’s 200th match and Luke Shuey’s 150th – have made a number of changes, with Chris Masten being dropped and Sam Mitchell dropped for management – but, he’ll apparently help coach the Eagles today.
Collingwood’s biggest change is a major one, with captain Scott Pendlebury out with a finger injury. Youngster Matt Scharenburg has been dropped, while Levi Greenwood and Rupert Wills come into the side to replace the aforementioned duo.
Prediction
While Collingwood is a genuine chance of an upset, it’s difficult to go past West Coast as the most probable winners of this match. I’d expect Collingwood to be very competitive for most of the game, but I’d say West Coast will be too strong when it matters.
West Coast by 21 points.
Join The Roar for live coverage from 3:20pm (AEST).
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