Essendon and Adelaide have reached their sliding doors moment halfway through the AFL season.
The two teams are a game outside the top eight and teetering with 6-6 records ahead of Saturday night's crucial clash at Etihad Stadium.
This is a match with much more meaning than just four premiership points.
The Bombers have their well-documented ASADA crisis and are also coming off a disastrous one-point loss to Melbourne.
Demons coach Paul Roos admitted after the match that his side was lucky not to lose by 70 points.
Adelaide are determined to break the six-game run of win-loss, win-loss that has stopped them building momentum.
They are coming off an impressive home win over North Melbourne and coach Brenton Sanderson is happy to talk up the significance of this game.
"It's a big opportunity for us, particularly when you play a side that is exactly where you are on the ladder," he said on Friday.
"This is a huge game - a big one for both clubs."
Sanderson said Adelaide must stop Essendon's ability to retain possession with short kicking, while improving their own disposal efficiency.
He also pointed to the relentless pressure that Sydney and Melbourne applied in their wins over the Bombers.
"It's almost like a soccer tactic, they just keep passing the ball around until an opportunity opens up to attack," he said.
"We have to try and limit those mark chains.
"We have to try and prevent them dictating the tempo of the game - we have to create turnovers early in the chains."
Sanderson said Essendon, like Adelaide, had been too inconsistent within matches, from one quarter to the next.
He also said Essendon's off-field dramas would mean nothing during the match.
"Certainly you have to empathise with what players are going through and I know it's a messy situation - but there won't be any mercy this week, for sure," he said of the ASADA crisis.
Sanderson shrugged off Essendon's decision to rest veteran Paul Chapman, who wants to be ready for the match next week against his old side Geelong.
While the decision raised eyebrows, Sanderson said he did not regard it as arrogant.
"Fortunately for us, Paul Chapman isn't playing, because he's a very good player.
"But they're still going to bring in a young, hungry player who's determined to keep his spot."
Bombers coach Mark Thompson said Chapman's omission was purely a case of player management.
"With two six-day recovery days ... it was either going to be this week or next week and he wanted to play against his old team," Thompson said.
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