In turn, Ms Ardern will have to overcome the emotion of her grandmother dying earlier this week to focus on this one last major challenge in her quest to become prime minister on Saturday.
Election momentum has clearly swung behind Ms Ardern in recent weeks and the fuel crisis caused by a tear in the pipeline between Marsden Point and Wiri has given her ample ammunition for the 1News Now debate which starts at 7pm.
The fuel shortage is not the fault of the Government but most of the blame is being sheeted back to a report in 2010 which warned of the vulnerability of fuel supplies.
The previous Labour government received a similar warning in 2005 but also did not take heed of the advice.
The Government has called in the New Zealand Defence Force to provide logistical support but news of several Auckland petrol stations running out of some fuel, and thousands of passengers either stranded or forced to rebook flights, has lifted tensions in the last days before the election.
Nearly 600,000 people had voted by last night and Mr English and Ms Ardern will need to appeal to the last swinging voters to ensure their respective parties get the most seats on Saturday.
Every vote will count and both leaders know what is at stake.
National forced Labour to back down on most of its controversial tax policy. However, the water tax on irrigators is still causing Labour problems in the regions.
But again, a farmers' protest in Morrinsville, the home town of Ms Ardern, turned nasty when one farmer protester held up a sign calling Ms Ardern a ''pretty communist''.
The Left of the political spectrum seem to be able to say nasty things at will against National and Act. But let a farmer say something outrageous about Ms Ardern, and the world turns against him or her.
Mr English will need to concentrate on two areas of Labour's policy and viewers should not be surprised if the tried and true phases ''borrow and hope'' and ''tax and spend'' get recycled tonight.
Ms Ardern has maintained a mainly positive campaign and has been mobbed by supporters wherever she has gone. She needs to retain the positive attitude tonight, as the debate is likely to get rough.
Mr English has also been talking in a positive fashion but only his criticisms of Labour are reported widely. He has tonight as the chance to prove to voters he has what it takes to lead National to a fourth term.
TVNZ said its final leaders debate would feature a New Zealand sign language interpreter.
The announcement came after members of the deaf community protested outside the state-owned broadcaster more than a week ago. A petition with about 2000 signatures was also delivered.
