The second game on Saturday for AFL Round 8 is between Brisbane Lions and Essendon Bombers. The match is to be played at Gabba with the opening bounce set to commence at 4.40pm with away team Essendon Bombers currently holding favouritism in the market. View our AFL live scores, odds and results for the game between Brisbane Lions and Essendon Bombers.

Round: AFL Round 8, Saturday May 10, 4.40pm
Stadium: Gabba
Weather: 24° Shower or two.

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Odds Comparison:

Brisbane Lions	4.25	4.25	4.15	4.25	4.25	4.20
Essendon Bombers	1.24	1.23	1.25	1.23	1.24	1.24

All odds are subject to change. Odds listed are correct at the time of the latest update.

 Preview:

The Lions take on the Bombers on Saturday, 4.40PM at the GABBA.  Essendon will be favourites to win this game, with the Lions only managing a single win so far in 2014.  Brisbane had a shocker last week against the Swans, losing by 79 points and showing very little promise.  They will go into this match lacking in confidence, and the Bombers should be able to take advantage.

In contrast, Essendon got their season back on track last week against the Western Bulldogs, and should be able to square their season up at 4-4 with a win  this weekend.  While Essendon do not look particularly effective in attack and struggled to score against the Bulldogs last week, their strong defence should be enough to get them through this round, even away from home.

THE SIX POINTS

1. This will be the 40th clash between the clubs and the Bombers hold a 22-16 winning advantage, with one draw. The Lions have won 10 of 14 at the Gabba.

2. The Lions continue to struggle in a number of categories, ranked in the bottom four in disposals, uncontested possessions, contested possessions, marks inside 50, and are last in scoring.

3. The Lions’ biggest victory over the Bombers was a 66-point win in round 12 2004, while Essendon’s biggest win was by a crushing 140 points in round nine 1988.

4. No team has received fewer free kicks this season than Essendon, averaging only 15.8 a game, while the Lions are 11th with 18 a game.

5. Essendon’s defence has been strong in 2014, conceding an average of just 78 points a game, but the offence has struggled of late, averaging just 64 per match over the past four matches.

6. In the Lions’ upset win last season, livewire Dayne Zorko was the most effective player according to the Official AFL Player Ratings. Zorko had 23.8 points to clearly outstrip second-placed Jack Redden (17.1).

Teams:

Brisbane Lions:

B Jed Adcock, Justin Clarke, Joel Patfull
HB Tom Cutler, Marco Paparone, Andrew Raines
C Lewis Taylor, Sam Mayes, Nick Robertson
HF James Aish, Jonathan Brown, Josh Green
F Dayne Zorko, Trent West, Jackson Paine
FOL Daniel Merrett, Tom Rockliff, Jack Redden
I/C Ryan Lester, Matt Maguire, Pearce Hanley, Darcy Gardiner
EMG Daniel McStay, Mitch Golby, Jack Crisp

IN Matt Maguire, Pearce Hanley, Jackson Paine, Jonathan Brown
OUT James Polkinghorne (Omitted), Rohan Bewick (Omitted), Luke McGuane (Knee), Mitch Golby (Omitted)

Essendon Bombers:

B Michael Hurley, Dustin Fletcher, Michael Hibberd
HB Mark Baguley, Cale Hooker, Dyson Heppell
C Brendon Goddard, Jobe Watson, Brent Stanton
HF David Zaharakis, Jake Carlisle, Zach Merrett
F Paul Chapman, Joe Daniher, Patrick Ambrose
FOL Patrick Ryder, Jake Melksham, Heath Hocking
I/C Jackson Merrett, Martin Gleeson, Courtenay Dempsey, Kurt Aylett
EMG Jason Ashby, Travis Colyer, Kyle Hardingham

IN Patrick Ambrose, Martin Gleeson, Kurt Aylett
OUT Jason Ashby (Omitted), Ben Howlett (RESTED ), Jason Winderlich (Knee)

News:

For the second Saturday night in the space of four rounds, Essendon confront one of the AFL’s most inspirational key forwards playing for a team they’re expected to touch up.

Bombers coach Mark Thompson, whose charges tackle besieged Brisbane at the Gabba, hopes that is where the comparisons with a shock loss inflicted by St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt in round five start and end.

Jonathan Brown headlines four changes made by the Lions for the clash, with Thompson keen to avoid a repeat of the Saints shocker.

“Hopefully we’ve done better,” Thompson said of the lessons learned from the 16-point defeat in which Riewoldt kicked five goals.

“We’ve made them aware of who they’re playing and how good at the basics you have to be, no matter who you play.

“Travelling is a factor on top of that, Brisbane is almost as experienced a team as us.

“Sometimes as a coach it doesn’t matter what we do, the players are the ones that have to go out and do it.”

The lowly Lions endured more off-field drama this week with the exit of chief executive Malcolm Holmes.

But Thompson is more worried about the addition of almost 500 games of experience to the side that slumped to a 79-point loss to Sydney.

“Players are there to win a game of footy. They don’t think: I’m going to try hard because the CEO got sacked,” he said.

“It’s really important to have your better players out there. Good, experienced players are gold.

“When we get BJ (Brendon Goddard) back we win, when (captain Jobe) Watson goes out it’s a little bit harder.”

Pearce Hanley is arguably the most important of Brisbane’s four inclusions, but he can’t match Brown for stature.

The three-time premiership player also has an outstanding record against the Bombers and will be refreshed after being rested from the defeat to the Swans.

Thompson indicated Cale Hooker would be given the job on Brown.

“It’s a real challenge for him, but he should be up to it,” he said.

“The amount of marks he (Hooker) has taken, and marks from opposition kicks has just been outstanding.”