Clarke limped off the track with an injury at training on Tuesday and wasn’t able to come up for the round 1 game.
Young South Australian midfielder Cam Sutcliffe was also named in the 22.
The emergencies for the game will be Jesse Crichton, Lachie Neale and Jack Hannath.
Three-time All Australian ruckman Aaron Sandilands is unavailable after he aggravated his injured left hamstring this week.
In his absence, Jon Griffin will lead Freo’s ruck division against champion West Coast big man Dean Cox.
The Eagles will be without Cox’s All Australian ruck partner Nic Naitanui.
Freo general manager of football Chris Bond said young South Australian ruckman Hannath was close to earning his debut.
“Jack’s a young developing player for us who has fit really well into our team,” he said.
“He’s an emergency, so he’s obviously close.
“If he continues with his form, he’s sure to get an opportunity sooner rather than later.”
There were few surprises in Freo’s line-up, with the 22 players named almost identical to the team that played in round 3 of the NAB Cup a fortnight ago.
Sutcliffe did not play in Freo’s last two NAB Cup games, but Bond said the 20-year-old had earned his opportunity after a strong summer on the track.
“Cameron’s a player that’s very versatile for us,” he said.
“He can play in different roles and he’s got some real strengths to his game.
“We see him as a player of the future.”
Bond said Freo had confidence going into Saturday’s match, but the club would not be underestimating their opponents.
“We know it’s going to be an incredibly tough game,” he said.
“The Eagles have a very deep list. They’re well coached and they are a great club, so we’re expecting a very hard battle.”
Bond added that Clarke’s injury was not serious and he expected the ruckman/forward to recover quickly.
“After the initial injury he worked incredibly hard to get up for this week and just failed,” he said.
“We don’t think it’s anything major and we expect him to train next week.”
The 37th Carlton Mid Derby will also be Freo defender Michael Johnson’s 150th AFL game.
Fremantle squad:
| 1 | Hayden Ballantyne |
| 3 | Zac Dawson |
| 6 | Danyle Pearce |
| 7 | Nathan Fyfe |
| 8 | Nick Suban |
| 9 | Matt de Boer |
| 10 | Michael Walters |
| 12 | Jon Griffin |
| 13 | Tendai Mzungu |
| 15 | Ryan Crowley |
| 16 | David Mundy |
| 18 | Luke McPharlin |
| 21 | Michael Barlow |
| 23 | Chris Mayne |
| 26 | Kepler Bradley |
| 29 | Matthew Pavlich |
| 32 | Stephen Hill |
| 33 | Cam Sutcliffe |
| 34 | Lee Spurr |
| 37 | Michael Johnson |
| 41 | Paul Duffield |
| 46 | Clancee Pearce |
| 44 | Jesse Crichton (Emergency) |
| 38 | Jack Hannath (Emergency) |
| 27 | Lachie Neale (Emergency) |
