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AFL W2W4, Round 7: Can the Dons stop the Cats; Freo the contender?

After the 'festival of footy' across Rounds 5 and 6, the fixture settles down but there will still be action aplenty.

Here's What To Watch For in Round 7.

Can the Dogs find a way to score and stop their skid?

After flying out of the blocks with wins against Sydney and Hawthorn, the Western Bulldogs had their fans dreaming of a return to September and possibly another 2016-like run.

The Dogs looked to have rediscovered their contested, hard running and exciting brand of football which was synonymous with that premiership campaign. In fact, after Round 2, they had won five of their last six games if you date back to the final weeks of last season.

But the wheels have well and truly fallen off. Losses to Gold Coast, Collingwood, Carlton and Fremantle have seen the Dogs slide back down the ladder and facing the possibility of becoming the first team in 2019 to suffer a five-game losing streak.

So what's been the issue for the Bulldogs? Scoring. Luke Beveridge's side has failed to crack the 70-point mark in each of those four losses.

Youngster Aaron Naughton certainly has talent, but he's unable to be a consistent forward as he's being thrown into defence for patches of games. It means the Dogs are relying on goals to come from the likes of Billy Gowers, Sam Lloyd and Tory Dickson. No disrespect, but it's not exactly the most daunting forward line.

On Saturday night the Bulldogs face Richmond, a side which on average is scoring two more goals per game. No Alex Rance does make life marginally easier, but Dylan Grimes and Nick Vlastuin have proven to be a brick wall for the Tigers in his absence.

The Dogs won't be holding Richmond to under 70 points, so they're going to need to find a new avenue to goal if they're to avoid a five-game skid.

How do the Dons quell the dynamic Cats?

Geelong have quietly become the league's most powerful scoring outfit and the Bombers will need to find a way to combat that in Sunday's 'Country Game'.

Not only have the Cats scored the most points so far this year, they also rate strongly in a stack of attacking areas: They're No. 1 for offensive efficiency (points per 50 minutes in forward half), first for points from forward half intercepts and also scoring percentage from inside 50s and groundball gets in the forward 50.

Collectively, the results have been scary and individually, a number of Cats are also purring.

For so long overly reliant on Tom Hawkins, the Cats now have a wealth of dangerous attacking weapons, including the rejuvenated Gary Rohan (who has 15 goals this year and is ranked fourth in the league for forward 50 pressure points), evergreen Gary Ablett (fresh from a 28-touch, two-goal game against West Coast), young dymanos Gryan Miers and Tom Atkins (No. 1 in the league for turnover scores from pressure acts), as well as Bulldogs recruit Luke Dahlhaus and the ever-improving big man Esava Ratugolea.

Hawkins, who has 13 goals to his name, is No. 1 in the competition for score assists and is second in the league for scoreboard impact (Ablett is sixth and Rohan is seventh).

It is an imposing mix and will be the biggest headache for John Worsfold and Co ahead of Sunday's clash at the MCG. Of course, winning the midfield battle makes it much easier to defend (and Essendon's midfield is getting better) but if the Dons are to take down the Cats, their back six will have to shine.

Can Freo stand up as a contender with a road win?

The Dockers have arguably been one of the league's most 'Jekyll and Hyde' sides for the past couple of seasons; excellent one week (more often than not at home) and not-so-good the next. But belief is growing at Fremantle, and Sunday's clash with the Crows could be the catalyst for many acknowledging them as a contender in 2019.

After an indifferent start to the year -- with wins over lowly North Melbourne and St Kilda at home, but losses to Gold Coast on the road and the West Coast Eagles -- the Dockers have found some momentum, having beaten the red-hot Giants in Canberra and the Western Bulldogs to sit second on the ladder at 4-2.

But the Crows, too, have won back-to-back games heading into Sunday's match at Adelaide Oval. Their forward line is once again showing glimpses of its glittering 2017 form, while it seems the penny has dropped for senior players following Don Pyke's decision to drop experienced players Bryce Gibbs and Josh Jenkins.

Fremantle have the ability to go toe-to-toe with the Crows in terms of raw scoreboard impact, but will need to overcome a poor recent record in South Australia to snatch victory. They've lost their last five games at Adelaide Oval by an average margin of more than 11 goals. Will we see Dr Jekyll on Sunday, or Mr Hyde?