Round 8, 2018: Parramatta 24 Wests Tigers 22

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Eels: Jarryd Hayne (hip) is injured again and set to miss another four weeks. Josh Hoffman is his likely replacement although young gun Greg Leleisiuao got through an injury comeback last weekend. Bevan French (shoulder) and Kirisome Auva'a (ribs) will also be pushing to return. Lock Nathan Brown (ankle) is due to make a comeback and will replace Peni Terepo in the starting side if fit.

Wests Tigers: Injured back-rower Chris Lawrence (hamstring) is a chance to return while Jacob Liddle (sternum) and Elijah Taylor (concussion) will need to pass fitness and concussion tests respectively.

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After six long weeks of gloom and doom, the sun is shining again out Parramatta way.

Spearheaded by halfback Mitch Moses's five-star performance, the Eels finally clicked on Sunday, chalking up their first win of the season with a confidence-restoring demolition job on the Sea Eagles.

This was the Parra of last year, the one that charged into the top four and had most pundits tipping big things for 2018.

One win doesn't make a season but it was a huge step in the right direction and should have the Eels in a positive frame of mind for their home clash with the Tigers, who squandered a match-winning lead in last week's loss to the Knights in Tamworth.

Wests romped to a 30-20 victory over the Eels in round four but might not have it so easy this time around.

Parramatta Eels v Wests Tigers, 4.10pm Sunday at ANZ Stadium

Key match-up: They were teammates for a few years but Moses and his Tigers counterpart Luke Brooks are rivals these days. Maybe not off the field, but they will be stinging to get the better of each other on Sunday. Brooks is in career-best form, while Moses got back to his sparkling best in last week's thrashing of Manly. If it's close in crunch time, Brooks and Moses will both be looking for a match-winning play.

For the Eels to win: If Parra get over the Tigers forwards like they did against Manly, it will allow Moses and Corey Norman to create plenty of scoring opportunities. And if the Eels need an X-factor for something special, there's always fan favourite Clint Gutherson to energise the home crowd.

For the Tigers to win: After blowing a match-winning lead last week, the Tigers learned the hard way that no team can be taken lightly and no margin is safe. Wests built their early wins on defence and the Knights exposed a few chinks in the armour that Ivan Cleary has more than likely addressed this week. This game will tell us a lot more about the Tigers' top eight prospects.

Eels stat attack: Parra lost to the Tigers earlier this year but haven't lost to them twice in the same season in six years. The Eels need to improve their goalkicking, ranking last with a 65 per cent success rate.

Tigers stat attack: Brooks and Benji Marshall love putting boot to ball, with the Tigers far and away the NRL leaders in total kicks (150) and kick metres (3895). Wests boast the best defensive record in the competition, conceding 12.7 points per game.

And another thing: Gutherson is something of a lucky charm for the Eels. Parra have lost five of their past six at ANZ Stadium, but Gutherson has won his past six games at ANZ Stadium.

Eels: 1 Clint Gutherson (c), 2 Bevan French, 3 Michael Jennings, 4 Brad Takairangi, 5 George Jennings, 6 Corey Norman, 7 Mitchell Moses, 8 Daniel Alvaro, 9 Kaysa Pritchard, 10 Suaia Matagi, 11 Manu Ma'u, 12 Tony Williams, 13 Peni Terepo

Interchange: 14 Will Smith, 15 Kenny Edwards, 16 David Gower, 17 Tim Mannah (c)

Reserves:18 Tepai Moeroa, 20 Josh Hoffman

Bevan French returns from a shoulder injury to replace Jarryd Hayne (hip, 4 weeks) on the wing in the only change to last week's winning team. Lock Nathan Brown remains unavailable with an ankle injury. Kane Evans and Cameron King were cut from the initial 21-man squad on Saturday afternoon.

Tigers: 1 Corey Thompson, 2 David Nofoaluma, 3 Esan Marsters, 4 Kevin Naiqama, 5 Malakai Watene-Zelezniak, 6 Benji Marshall (c), 7 Luke Brooks, 8 Matthew Eisenhuth, 9 Jacob Liddle, 10 Ben Matulino, 11 Chris Lawrence, 12 Robbie Rochow, 15 Josh Aloiai

Interchange: 14 Pita Godinet, 16 Michael Chee-Kam, 17 Sauaso Sue, 18 Tim Grant

Reserves: 20 Tyson Gamble, 21 Mahe Fonua

Chris Lawrence returns from a hamstring injury, but lock Elijah Taylor is out, with Josh Aloiai to start. Tim Grant has been promoted to the interchange bench, with Chris McQueen cut from the reserves 24 hours before kick-off.

Head-to-head: Played 36; Eels 20 wins, Wests Tigers 15 wins
Matches at venue: Played 13; Eels 9 wins, Wests Tigers 4 wins
2017 results: Eels won 26-22 at ANZ Stadium in round 7 and 17-16 at ANZ Stadium in round 20
Points per game: Eels 12.9; Wests Tigers 18
Points conceded per game: Eels 23.1; Wests Tigers 12.7
Televised: Live on Nine, Fox League

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Eels continue resurgence with win over Wests Tigers

Further life was breathed back into the season of the Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium on Sunday, with a 24-22 win over the Wests Tigers helping put their poor start to the season into the rear-view mirror.

In a tense final 20 minutes, Wests Tigers five-eighth Benji Marshall and Eels back-rower Manu Ma'u traded tries before Parramatta stood firm to record their second win in as many weeks after having started the year 0-6.

Ivan Cleary's Tigers twice lead in the second half, but were unable to prevent themselves falling to a second loss in as many weeks.

The first half was a tight affair, with the Eels having more options in attack but the Wests Tigers appearing the more structured and less likely to make errors.

Boom centre Esan Marsters set up the opening try of the match in the 25th minute. After stepping his way past a couple of Eels defenders, he delivered a brutal fend on Kaysa Pritchard before giving fullback Corey Thompson an unimpeded run to the line.

The Eels hit back four minutes later when Bevan French out-jumped David Nofoaluma to score from a cross-field kick.

Parramatta took the lead in the 33rd minute when halfback Mitchell Moses produced a super flick pass to send centre Michael Jennings over out wide. The Eels led 12-10 at the break.

The Tigers took the lead four minutes into the second half when a clever pass from Luke Brooks sent forward Matt Eisenhuth over between the posts.

Paramatta regained the lead on the hour when Brad Takairangi capitalised on a Manu Ma'u offload to score out wide.