A CHANCE to keep a good thing going.

The ladder may say one thing, but Carlton knows it’ll have a big challenge ahead when it hosts Adelaide at Marvel Stadium in Round 5.

While the Blues are undefeated and the Crows are yet to taste a win in season 2024, one thing that can be for sure when these two teams meet is it’ll be hot in the kitchen.

The Blues only need to look at the last time the two sides met - in the corresponding round last year - to know they’ve got their work cut out for them. In both 2022 and 2023, the Crows have been a roadblock for the Blues, starting a four-game losing run to end the 2022 campaign before bringing an end to the Blues’ unbeaten opening month last year.

Put simply, Carlton will need to be on its A-game under the roof.

Unsurprisingly, the two teams have been among the best contested possession sides in the competition so far this season, with the Blues ranked third and the Crows ranked fourth in the metric with just a 0.7 differential between them.

All week, the talk has been about Carlton’s clearance game getting back to previous levels, and the midfield brigade will face a stern test against Adelaide on Saturday — the Crows are the third-best clearance side in the competition so far in 2024.

Where the Blues will look to gain the ascendancy is off turnover, which has been so effective for them this campaign with an average of over 72 intercepts per game.

The leadership for both sides will be crucial, with respective captains Patrick Cripps and Jordan Dawson to line up at the opening centre bounce.

The duo can’t be split for disposals, and while the midfield bull in Cripps has the advantage for contested possessions and clearances, he’ll know his opposing skipper won’t be far behind: Dawson is averaging seven tackles a match after four games.

If the Blues are to continue their trend of kicking a winning score, there’s no surprise who’ll be the focal point under the roof.

Alongside Harry McKay, Charlie Curnow’s Marvel Stadium record in recent seasons speaks for itself. Averaging over 90 points in AFL Fantasy at the venue since 2022, Curnow will be hoping for a similar performance to the last time these teams met under the roof, when he produced a six-goal haul in the first of two Coleman Medal-winning seasons.