The Blues will head north this weekend with their sights set on taming the Lions in order to register their sixth win of 2017.

Both sides will enter the match on the back of defeat, with Carlton to return to the action after a 20-point loss to the Western Bulldogs and Brisbane to take the field after succumbing to Richmond by 31 points.

With wins over Gold Coast in Round 1, Fremantle in Round 12 and Essendon in Round 15, the last-placed Lions will be out to record their fourth victory of the season, while Carlton, in 16th place, will look to claim its second interstate victory with a win at The Gabba for the first time since 2013.

The Round 18 outing will see the two sides go head-to-head for the first time this season, though the 49th overall. While the Blues lead the overall battle count 28 wins to 20, the Lions have had the wood over the navy blue squad in recent times having won four of the past five encounters.

In their last meeting – Round 21, 2016 – Brisbane claimed a four-point win over a relentless Blues outfit which almost overcame a 41-point deficit with eight second-half goals to the Lions’ three.

In that clash, Brisbane midfielder Tom Rockliff blew the Blues away with 39 disposals, 12 tackles, six clearances and two goals. His best-afield performance was followed closely by the display of teammate Dayne Zorko, who recorded 27 possessions and booted three majors.

With Rockliff currently ranked third in the league for clearances and Zorko equal sixth for tackles, both will be high on Carlton’s radar when the sides meet again this weekend.

In addition to the experienced Brisbane pair, 2017 NAB AFL Rising Star nominees Eric Hipwood, Hugh McCluggage and Alex Witherden will hope to make their mark on the contest in the company of four of the Blues’ five nominees.

With an average of 37.2 clearances a game, the Lions are ranked eighth in this category across the competition, and will hope to get the better of Carlton which is ranked last with an average of 34.1.

After the Lions fell short in clearances against Richmond with 26 to the Tigers’ 41, captain Dayne Beams said his fellow onballers would be eager to rectify last week’s effort when the side returns to home turf on Sunday.

“Our midfield group was beaten against Richmond,” Beams said.

“That was really where the game was won and lost. We put our defence under enormous pressure.

“We’ve got a job now as a midfield group to bounce back … we need to rectify it this week (against Carlton).”

Brisbane has made two changes for Sunday’s clash with Nick Robertson (suspended) and Tom Cutler (omitted) exiting the team. Key defender Darcy Gardiner will return to face the Blues after missing the Lions’ past two matches with a dislocated elbow, while Jake Barrett has been recalled to the senior squad after he was omitted from the side in the lead-up to Round 16.

Meanwhile Carlton has made five changes to the side which lost to the Bulldogs, with youngsters David Cuningham and Tom Williamson returning from injury in the company of first-year Blue Harrison Macreadie, Dale Thomas and debutant Harry McKay. The five inclusions have replaced omitted pair Blaine Boekhorst and Liam Sumner and injured trio Alex Silvagni (knee), Dylan Buckley (hamstring) and Ciaran Byrne (groin).

Carlton will front the Brisbane Lions from 4:40pm on Sunday at the Gabba. To purchase your tickets, click here.