Carlton will be looking to snap a five-game losing streak when it faces Geelong tonight for the AFL’s Multicultural Round.

After a 30-point defeat to the Brisbane Lions in Round 18, the Blues will return home eager to record the four points for the first time since Round 13 against the Gold Coast Suns.

The Round 19 clash will see the Blues line up at Etihad Stadium for the fifth time this season, and while they’ve registered just one win on the turf in 2017, they’ll take confidence from their last encounter with Geelong which saw them conquer the Cats by 19 points at the venue in Round 10, 2016. 

On the eve of the clash, senior coach Brendon Bolton said he expected another tough battle to unfold on Saturday night, with previous contests against other top-placed sides set to hold his charges in good stead.

“We’ve had some good tussles with Geelong over the years. We had a good one last year and we’re expecting another on Saturday night,” Bolton told the media on Friday. 

“We’ve challenged a lot of teams and got over the line with some teams that have been at the top of the ladder, so we give ourselves a chance again this week.”

With 11 wins, five losses and one draw, the Cats head into Round 19 in second place on the league ladder, and will return to the action after a 21-point loss to the ladder-leading Adelaide Crows last week.

In that match, veteran Harry Taylor bagged five goals, managing a 100 per cent conversion rate to cover for an inaccurate Tom Hawkins who tallied one goal and three behinds.

While the Cats will miss the injured Mark Blicavs, they will be bolstered by the return of veteran defender Andrew Mackie who has missed his side’s past two matches with injury and illness.

Mackie’s inclusion in the side could see Taylor return to the forward line again this week, but with Carlton defenders Simon White and Caleb Marchbank returning to the fold, the navy blue squad can be confident of curtailing the versatile 31-year-old.
 

Fans can expect contrasting styles of ball movement during the clash, with the Cats ranked third in the league for handballs and 17th for kicks, the opposite of Carlton which is ranked first for kicks and last for handballs.

While Geelong will enter the match with an average of four more clearances per game than Carlton, they’ve had 10 fewer than the Blues over the past two rounds, with Patrick Dangerfield – the league leader for clearances – managing just six in total over the past fortnight.

The superstar Cat, who is also the competition’s highest contested possession winner, boasts an average of 30.5 disposals per game and joins partner-in-crime Joel Selwood inside the top 10 in the Schick AFL Player Ratings.

With the 2016 Brownlow Medallist and the Cats’ captain second and seventh respectively for the most coaches votes so far this season, they look certain to test the Blues who will need to find a way of nullifying their influence from the first bounce.

The stage is set for Carlton and Geelong to go to battle for the 218th time tonight, with the match kicking off from 7:25pm. Purchase your tickets here, and be part of the 2017 Multicultural Round celebration.