Saturday night will be an entirely different story from two sides last met in Round 2.

Collingwood smashed Port Adelaide, beating them by 71 points in a dominant showing on the MCG. Who would've thought that Port Adelaide would turn the tables and now find themselves as Collingwood's biggest threat to the premiership?

A sold-out clash at the Adelaide Oval, it's anyone's game with no clear favourite.

Port Adelaide's 13-win streak came to an end last weekend when they surprisingly lost to Carlton by 50 points, whilst the Pies' party rolled on, beating Fremantle by 46 points to sit a game clear on top of the ladder.

We break down what to expect for Saturday night's blockbuster clash.

Last time they played

Last time these two met in Round 2, Collingwood piled on nine goals in a row in the first half, with Port Adelaide no real chance of coming back. It is no surprise that Nick Daicos was the best on ground, earning himself nine coaches votes as a result of his 32-disposal, four-mark and two-goal performance. The most memorable moment from the match would be one of Daicos' goals, receiving a running handball from Scott Pendlebury to kick truly from close to the boundary line on the run.

The Power were unable to quell Daicos' influence on the game, with Lachie Jones sent to tag him. Will they send someone to him this time?

Darcy Cameron also produced a strong game for the Magpies and clearly beat Scott Lycett in the ruck contest, finishing with 18 disposals, four clearances and 29 hitouts. Cameron is a massive in for Collingwood this weekend, having missed Round 18 due to injury.

For the Power, Charlie Dixon was their standout player in a poor showing, finishing with five marks, 14 disposals and a handy three goals.

Collingwood outplayed the Power in almost every key statistic, particularly when going inside 50. Collingwood's efficiency for the game was at 61.4 per cent, whilst Port's was almost a 20 per cent drop off at 42.6 per cent.

Teams

After fielding a team which some may have argued resembled Port Adelaide's SANFL side, Ken Hinkley has loaded his team up with some massive inclusions. Captain Tom Jonas has been dropped after a poor performance against Carlton, having struggled with form for most of the season and returns to the SANFL for a ninth time in ten weeks. Trent McKenzie returns at his expense after making a speedy recovery from injury.

Jason Horne-Francis and Charlie Dixon return from injury, whilst Willie Rioli also returns after missing the clash with Carlton for personal reasons. Darcy Byrne-Jones will miss the game after entering concussion protocols.

For Collingwood, the selection squeeze is on with Brody Mihocek and Cameron returning after missing last week due to injury. Unfortunately, Billy Frampton and Ash Johnson have been omitted despite being in strong form, just showing how well this team is currently performing. Oleg Markov has been omitted from the starting 22, but has been confirmed as the sub for the match.

Head to Head

Port Adelaide has the upper hand over Collingwood, having won six of their last 10 games against each other. However, Collingwood has won two of the last three.

These two teams have played in some close games, with four of the last 10 games decided by a goal or less. Interestingly, Collingwood has not defeated Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval since Round 20, 2011.

It will be a tough task for the Magpies, with Port only losing at Adelaide Oval once this year, albeit to the Adelaide Crows in the Showdown. The home ground advantage may see them start as favourites, but we know that Collingwood have loved a 'backs against the wall' style win on the road over the years.

Key Matchups

Darcy Moore vs Charlie Dixon

The intercept marking king in Darcy Moore comes up against another set of sticky mitts. Moore has a three-centimetre height advantage over Dixon, but Dixon is a bigger-bodied player than Moore is. Dixon has been quieter in his last few performances, kicking only two goals since Round 14.

Port Adelaide fans would be expecting a big performance from their key forward after overcoming injury. Moore will have his hands full, but with support from Nathan Murphy he has the chance to shut down Dixon like he has with other key forwards in the past.

Moore had a game-high eight marks last time they played, including a game-high five intercept marks.

Nick Daicos vs Zak Butters

The two Brownlow favourites will go head-to-head for the three votes in this game. Butters has dropped off in recent weeks, with Daicos currently holding a nine-vote lead over him according to afl.com.au's Brownlow Predictor.

 Butters now sits in sixth position and hasn't polled an expected vote since Round 16, with Lachie Neale, Tim Taranto, Christian Petracca and Jordan Dawson now all ahead of him. This will be a great opportunity on Saturday night to see how two young guns line up on each other. The suggestion has also been thrown out that Butters may attempt to tag Daicos.

Brayden Maynard vs Sam Powell-Pepper

This will be a fiery battle, particularly after Maynard issued the warning that "Port better bring their A-game".

Two fierce competitors for their respective sides who put everything on the line week in week out, with their pressure and ferocity something admired by their teammates and other players in the competition.

Expect this one to be a hard-fought battle - no doubt Port Adelaide will show Maynard they know what he said. A bit of Ed Langdon's "all duck no dinner" comments about this.