Racing and Sports will provide analysis of many games in the 2022 AFL Season.

We'll endeavour to run through the form, incorporate appropriate stats and also supply a betting prediction which won't always just be who will win.

CARLTON V SYDNEY

Friday 20 May @ Marvel Stadium

After years, nay decades, of crucifying drafts, going through coaches likes hot knives through butter and having many a false dawn, it appears the light is piercing through for Blues fans.

Mind you, with all those Number One/First Round draft picks, Carlton should be contending but right now they possibly don't care.

In order to justify their position in the Top Four they need to win games against those foe and Sydney is one team clearly challenging those lofty positions.

Carlton has actually played OK against Sydney in the last few years but for a long while couldn't handle the pressure during that Swans Finals reign.

Now, with the advent of Michael Voss and either his game style or the respect he brings with it, they have a certainty about them.

You can rely that they will hold up and not fold under the stresses and tension. When you have Cripps, Walsh, Hewett, Cerra and Kennedy in the midfield, options are not just those you own but also the decision the opponents must make.

Who do you concentrate defensively on? Do you accept Cripps will dominate and put time into Walsh? Or try and take the lieutenants off the ball and hope that the big boys have a bad one? Depth creates options.

They did exactly that against a GWS team that had much to play for last week in Leon Cameron's final outing. Importantly, despite jumping like Black Caviar, they slowed like Chautauqua but had still his finish.

Composure and confidence to play attacking football when under the pump led them to a five goal win. There is zero chance of that happening in the last decade.

Now they must do that against a young, sometimes fragile but ever capable Swans team.

Off a fair effort but ultimately overrun against the Brisbane Lions, they were utterly pathetic once more at home to Gold Coast (hindsight says maybe that form is better than it looked).

Winning the way they did against Essendon probably doesn't hold much weight as the football world has unleashed on the Bombers for what they dished up.

But it would have provided a confidence builder. Good kicking is good football. Sydney had 35 attempts but only 14.21. Reverse that and you are much the happier and much the wiser as to form.

Either they played well and didn't get value for it or were poor in victory. The likelihood is that it is somewhere in between.

Warner and Mills have clearly taken over the midfield now. Kennedy and Parker are more impactful and in leadership roles. Variety in the middle is critical as it's been a negative for Sydney sides for years. There was sameness instead.

The most likely thing for the Friday fixture is that George Hewett will go to Callum Mills. He was a tagger at Sydney so the Blues brains trust will want him on the bigger gatherer for Sydney.

If the Swans defence, which has some strength with the McCartins and Rampe, can maintain the talls of Curnow and De Koning, that will mean those smalls plus midfielders must kick the score.

The creation of chances that Sydney had against Essendon, if replicated is a danger this week. And they do play Marvel often with a degree of self-assuredness.

But you'd expect at some time in the game, Carlton will get a run on led by Cripps and Walsh. Not sure Sydney has enough firepower to handle that run off half back nor the depth in contested ball.

That is unless the big bloke in #23 rolls back the clock.

Match Selection: Carlton by 19 points

Suggested Bets: Carlton 1-39 @ $2.50