Collingwood vs Essendon betting tips, odds and predictions

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Traditional ANZAC Day rivals Collingwood and Essendon will meet again at the MCG for the last Friday night home-and-away match of the 2019 AFL Premiership season.

Due to the floating fixture for round 23, the AFL decided that the Magpies and Bombers would be the best match-up heading into the finals.

Collingwood turned last week’s important game against the Crows into a training drill, beating the favourites by 66 points at Adelaide Oval.

SEE ALSO: AFL ROUND 23 BETTING UPDATE

After two shock losses in a row, the Bombers staged in an upset in Perth to spoil the retirement party for Fremantle heroes Hayden Ballantyne and Aaron Sandilands.

Now that both sides have locked down a spot in the top eight, the winner of this match will have a chance to move higher in the rankings.

The Magpies can finish as high as second, which would rely on the Cats, Eagles and Tigers all losing their matches, but a top four spot is up for grabs nonetheless.

The Dons could end up sixth if they beat the Pies, which would see them host a final for the first time since 2002.

Collingwood vs Essendon Round 23 players disposals betting

Scott Pendlebury to get 30 disposals @ $2.60 with Sportsbet
In his last clash with the Dons, the Collingwood captain wound back the clock and collected 38 disposals and an ANZAC Medal. Last week Pendlebury had 34 touches against the Crows after only playing 77 per cent game time, as opposed to the 89 per cent he played against Essendon. Pendles is in great form and will be hard for the Bombers to stop.

Zach Merrett to get 30 disposals @ $1.83 with Sportsbet
Merrett is a well-known ball winner and averages 28.6 touches per game, the 14th most in the AFL. If the Magpies do not place a hard tag on the quick midfielder, he will find plenty of the ball around the fringes of the contest. Merrett has had 30 touches in each of his last three matches against the Pies.

Collingwood vs Essendon Round 23 goalscorer odds

Will Hoskin-Elliott to kick two goals
Now that Hoskin-Elliott is finding some consistency week to week, he is kicking more goals than ever. The former Giant has kicked six goals in the past two weeks, including a bag of four against the Suns. If he plays deep forward again this week, he will end up with at least two goals on the board.

Jake Stringer to kick two goals
As the Essendon forward line is missing a variety of assets, including star man Joe Daniher, the Bombers have looked to their smaller forwards to provide a scoring option. Stringer has kicked multiple goals in seven of his last eight games and looms as perhaps the biggest threat to the Pies this week.

Collingwood vs Essendon Round 23 margin betting

Collingwood Magpies by 40+ points @ $3.30 with Sportsbet
Given the Pies’ recent form, you would expect them to come out and beat the Bombers by a considerable margin. Adelaide had everything to play for but failed to fire a shot for most of the game. The Bombers have been on and off like a tap all season and could misfire again this week.

Collingwood vs Essendon Round 23 match odds

Collingwood Magpies to win @ $1.36 with Bet365
Collingwood Magpies -19.5 @ $1.90 with Sportsbet

The Collingwood midfield brigade has been spectacular in the past three weeks, building a solid platform heading into the finals. A win over the Bombers should surprise nobody after what the Pies did to Adelaide last week.