The Crows defeated Freo by 29 points at Patersons Stadium in round 10 this season, but Lyon’s men have strung together five wins on end to sit on the cusp of the top eight.
Sanderson said Freo had improved, particularly in the midfield, and that Adelaide would have to be at its best to win at AAMI Stadium on Saturday.
“Freo’s tough. They’ve only lost twice since we beat them last time, so they’re in really good form,” Sanderson said on afc.com.au.
“Matthew Pavlich, Nat Fyfe, Stephen Hill, Michael Barlow and David Mundy… they’ve got some quality in their side. Maybe, the first time we played them this season they relied on too few in the midfield, but now they’ve got great depth through there.
“They’re playing more like Ross wants them to play now.”
Sanderson said the Fremantle defence, ranked second in the AFL behind Sydney for points conceded, was the trademark of the team.
“They’re really difficult to score against,” he said.
“They frustrate you. They’re one of the best tackling sides in the competition, so they put a lot of pressure on the ball and don’t let you get a free-flowing game.”
Sanderson also acknowledged Coleman Medal leader Matthew Pavlich’s form as a major reason behind Fremantle’s rise up the ladder, but he was confident Adelaide had the defenders to cover the Freo Dockers skipper.
“'Pav' is red hot,” Sanderson said.
“We were watching some vision on him in our opposition meeting today.
“He’s electric up forward, but we’ve got some good defenders in Ben Rutten, Daniel Talia and Sam Shaw, who will probably all get a look at him.
“We’ll try to find the right match-up on the day, but we’ve got three defenders who are in pretty good form and can certainly play that role.”
