East London side Leyton Orient will be looking to secure their first home win since August as they host Accrington Stanley in a huge clash at the Matchroom stadium this Saturday.
Setting the Scene
Just three points separates the two teams as Stanley haven’t had any wins from their last six fixtures. Yet the O’s have only won once at home all season in League Two which has left the fans to become more frustrated with the lack of consistent positive results.
At the beginning of the year, Leyton Orient were predicted to be in the promotion battle and now find themselves in a relegation scrap. The East Londoners are only one point above strugglers Newport County; a win by more than one goal against Accrington will see Orient rise above their League Two rivals.
Although Leyton Orient have experienced a very rough start to the season, their hopes of promotion are still alive. With 27 games left in the season, Orient are only 10 points away from the playoff spots.
Team News
Midfielder Liam Kelly won’t be available until February 2017 as he continues rehabilitation after his operation six weeks ago.
Harry Cornick is still at his original club Bournemouth, as he undergoes rehabilitation.
Teddy Mezague has recovered well from his Achilles injury and has gone back to training with the squad. He is expected to be back before Christmas.
The Key men
Ollie Palmer is certainly one of Leyton Orient’s main men. He is the team’s top scorer with four goals in 15 games.
If he’s not scoring then his height and composure will be very important to win headers and hold the ball in attacking movements, and also in defending corners.
Northern Irish striker Billy Kee has been in good form for the visitors. The forward scored a brace against National League side Woking last Sunday in the FA Cup second round.
Kee is also Accrington’s top scorer with five goals in 13 appearances in League Two this season.
The 26-year-old striker is known for his physical presence despite not being a tall player. He stands at 1.75m tall (5 ft 9in), but he is a very powerful man who uses that to his advantage.
Stat Attack – Head to Head
Orient have lost nine out of 10 league matches played at the Matchroom Stadium. Their only home win came very early in the campaign, against Stevenage (3-0) in August.
Accrington have only been able to win one game in November – an away win at Bradford in the FA Cup – and the poor run of results have seen the club free fall to 20th position in League Two, only three points off the relegation zone.
The teams have only played each other twice, and both games had the same outcome. (LO 0-1 AS & AS 1-0 LO)
Last 6 Results
| Leyton Orient | Accrington Stanley
|
| Doncaster 3-1 Leyton Orient | Accrington Stanley 1-1 Yeovil |
| Leyton Orient 0-1 Exeter | Hartlepool 2-0 Accrington Stanley |
| Leyton Orient 1-2 Blackpool | Accrington Stanley 0-1 Stevenage |
| Colchester 0-3 Leyton Orient | Luton 1-0 Accrington Stanley |
| Leyton Orient 0-2 Crewe | Accrington Stanley 1-3 Newport |
| Hartlepool 1-3 Leyton Orient | Crawley Town 0-0 Accrington Stanley |
Previous league meetings
25.03.16 – League Two – Accrington Stanley 1-0 Leyton Orient
31.10.15 – League Two – Leyton Orient 0-1 Accrington Stanley
Betting Odds – (Sky Bet Odds correct at the time of preview)
Leyton Orient are looking to recover from three consecutive losses and Sky Bet back them at 9/5, whereas a draw has odds with 23/10 and an Accrington win is backed at 6/4
Looking at the last encounter between the two sides it could be wise to bet on Under 1.5 Goals at 9/4.
You can get odds of 7/1 for a correct score of a 1-0 Accrington win.
Did you know?
Leyton Orient have never scored a goal against Accrington Stanley. The two teams had never met before last season and both games ended in the same score – 1-0 to Accrington.
Leyton Orient have had issues on the defensive end, having only kept two clean sheets in 19 games.
Follow the action
Tickets are still available for the match.
Follow coverage of the game on Leyton Orient’s and Accrington’s official Twitter pages ( @Leytonorientfc & @ASFCofficial)
If you are looking for audio coverage, you can listen to commentary from BBC London’s Dave Victor on Orient PlayerHD.
