Ahead of Saturday night's clash between North and Carlton, North Media take a look at some of the night's biggest matchups.

There may not be a less enviable task for a defender this week than lining up on the in-form Ben Brown in his home town.

After a goalless Round 1, Brown has kicked bags of six and four in his last two outings, taking him to third in the Coleman Medal race behind Lance Franklin and Jeremy Cameron.

In his past three appearances at Blundstone Arena, Brown has averaged just under three goals per game, proving there’s something about the Hobart deck that suits his game.

Following a return to prominence in the back-half of last season, Liam Jones has become a regular for the Blues.

Tom Lynch got the better of Jones in Round 2 after kicking a bag of eight goals, highlighting the dangers of giving your opponent too much room.

There’s no harder forward to stop in the air than Brown, so Jones will need to ensure he’s within arm’s reach at all times to prevent his opponent from significantly impacting the game.

Scott Thompson is sure to have his hands full on Saturday night when he lines up on Levi Casboult, who is coming off a four-goal haul last Friday night against Collingwood.

A reliable defender, Thompson has been strong in the back half so far this season, but this will no doubt be his biggest test of the month.

Once heavily criticised for his inaccurate goal-kicking, Casboult would be brimming with confidence given he’s kicked just three behinds this season.

The 28-year-old forward has recently been working closely with former North star Saverio Rocca, who has seemingly gotten Casboult back in the right direction.

With rain forecast to hit the area throughout Saturday, it will be interesting to see how the big man goes in the slippery condition

After being a late withdrawal from North’s side in Round 3, Robbie Tarrant is back in the 22, and fans are understandably excited.

Tarrant will unlikely be given the opportunity to ease back into things, with exciting, young forward Charlie Curnow waiting.

Curnow has lived up to the expectations of footy fans so far this season, highlighted by a bag of five goals against Richmond in Round 1.

The 21-year-old’s height, athleticism and pin-point accuracy has caused headaches for defenders already, with many failing to minimise his impact.

Tarrant however, is one of the competition’s best key defenders, and after keeping Tom Lynch and the St Kilda key forwards goalless already this season, he is every chance to keep the excitement machine in check.

The match-up between Todd Goldstein and Matthew Kreuzer will no doubt be the most enthralling contest of the night.

Brad Scott said earlier this week that he and Goldstein had “really upfront discussions” after a performance after a tough outing against Max Gawn, but backed the 29-year-old to bounce back this weekend.

Goldstein showed signs of returning to his All-Australian form on Good Friday after collecting 38 hit-outs, and will look to replicate that performance against an in-form Kreuzer.

The Carlton ruckman had a stand-out performance in his side’s loss last week, winning 25 hitouts and racking-up 23 disposals after being a late out in Round 2.

Carlton coach Brendon Bolton is expecting the ruck battle to be a key contributor to the result of the match, with both teams boasting impressive midfields who are likely to make the most of being given first use.

The strong return of Ben Jacobs has been well documented in recent weeks following impressive run-with roles on some of the game’s most damaging players.

Round 4 is set to be no different than the previous three, with one of the game’s most exciting, young midfielders likely to receive the tag.

Last week Jacobs was successful in minimising the impact of Clayton Oliver, and is expected to start alongside Carlton’s Patrick Cripps on Saturday night.

In the opening three weeks, Cripps has averaged close to 29 touches per game, which included an impressive 36 touch match against the reigning premiers, Richmond.

In 2018, Cripps ranks second in total contested possessions, fifth in clearances per game, seventh in total contested marks and eighth in handballs per game, making him Carlton’s most damaging players.

This contest will be fascinating.