WHERE AND WHEN: Etihad Stadium, Saturday August 4, 1.45pm
LAST TIME: Western Bulldogs 15.11 (101) d North Melbourne 12.11 (83), round 7, 2012, at Etihad Stadium
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The Western Bulldogs upset North Melbourne when they last met, but the Bulldogs are at much longer odds to produce a similar performance this time around. Since that round seven encounter, the Dogs have won just two games - against Gold Coast and Port Adelaide (at Etihad Stadium) - and lost their past six games by an average margin of 58 points. Meanwhile, the seemingly finals-bound Kangaroos have lost just three games since (one of them being a two-point defeat to West Coast) while winning six of their past seven games by an average of 30 points to claim eighth spot on the AFL ladder.

THE FOUR POINTS
Western Bulldogs
1. One of the most elementary gauges of a team's intensity and attitude is their tackle count, and in the landslide loss to St Kilda on Saturday the Bulldogs seriously lacked both. The Dogs had 70 fewer kicks yet also laid 26 fewer tackles - 77-51. Outside Luke Dahlhaus (8), Clay Smith (6), skipper Matthew Boyd (5) and Will Minson (4), 18 Dogs combined for just 28 tackles.

2. The loss of veteran Daniel Cross to a season-ending shoulder injury will hurt the Dogs in the short-term but it could also fast-track the development of younger inside midfielders like Mitch Wallis, Tom Liberatore and Clay Smith, who are expected to provide much of the midfield grunt over the next decade.

3. The Bulldogs' attack is an ongoing issue - they have managed just 47 goals in their past six games. Much of their problem has been quality supply, and key big men like Ayce Cordy and Liam Jones have struggled to have any impact. The key might be the smalls - in the Dogs' round seven win over North, Daniel Giansiracusa, Tory Dickson and Shaun Higgins (now sidelined), bagged seven goals between them in the first half.

4. Brian Lake will be desperate to atone for a rare beating, which he received from St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt, who amassed 20 touches, 14 marks and four goals (which could easily have been seven). Lake has been superb this season and will need to be just that when he locks horns with North spearhead Drew Petrie.

North Melbourne
1. North coach Brad Scott has stressed his team will not take the Bulldogs lightly. Speaking after the Roos' comfortable win over Melbourne last Saturday, Scott made it clear the memory of North's 18-point loss to the Dogs in round seven still burned. "We were embarrassed by the Western Bulldogs the last time we played them … we've got to be really switched on to them," Scott said.

2. Scott also admitted last Saturday he was starting to keep a keen eye on North's percentage and those of its nearest competitors. The Roos are a game behind sixth-placed Geelong and seventh-placed Essendon, but their percentage, 110.59, is less than five per cent behind the Cats' and less than three behind the Bombers'. Conversely, they lead ninth-placed Fremantle by less than four per cent. So if North have put the result beyond doubt early in this Saturday's game, it is unlikely to cruise to the line.

3. The Bulldogs smashed North in contested possessions (177-123) and clearances (42-32) in round eight, with nine Bulldogs winning 10 or more contested possessions compared to just one Roo (Scott Thompson). North prides itself on its contested football, so will be hell bent on avoiding a repeat of this on Saturday.

4. Drew Petrie has been in career-best form recently, kicking 18.1 in the past three rounds. However, this Saturday he is almost certain to come up against Brian Lake, who decisively outplayed him in round eight. Although Petrie kicked three goals in that game, Lake held him to just nine possessions and five marks while racking up 26 and 12 himself.

AFL.com.au prediction: North Melbourne by 52 points.