League leaders Leyton Orient arrive at The Lamex Stadium tomorrow for a top-of-the-table clash with Second-Placed Stevenage in front of a capacity crowd…
Just five points separate the sides going into this fixture, with Boro having a game in-hand. Stevenage are currently on an unbeaten streak of ten league games and will be looking to make it eleven in tomorrow’s crucial clash.
Last weekend, Boro travelled to Harrogate and took away a point in tough conditions.
Leyton Orient have been the front runners of Sky Bet League Two for the majority of the 2022/23 campaign and have picked up fifty-seven points in twenty-six matches. The O’s have won seventeen league games, drawing six and losing just three. Richie Wellens’ side have struggled to find the back of the net recently though, scoring just one in their last five games.
Their most recent match was a tough battle at home to Barrow which ended goalless. Orient full-back Tom James received a red card in the final stages of the match and is therefore suspended for tomorrow’s clash. Paul Smyth is The O’s top scorer this season with nine to his name. He’s been his side’s dangerman all season, causing problems on both flanks.
Richie Wellens took over as Orient boss in March 2022 and is currently enjoying his first full season at the club. He has won 56.8% of his matches and took his side from a thirteenth-place finish last campaign, to title challengers this campaign. Wellens has five years’ experience in EFL management, having taken charge of Doncaster, Salford, Swindon and Oldham in the past.
Previous results against tomorrow’s opponents have been varied, with Boro winning four encounters and The O’s winning nine. Stevenage have only defeated Leyton Orient once at home in the league. That match came in 2017 as Matt Godden, Ben Kennedy, Tom Pett and Luke Wilkinson grabbed the goals in a 4-1 thrashing.
This season’s reverse fixture was live on Sky Sports as the top two went to battle at Brisbane Road. The score ended 0-0, with both sides cancelling each other out, despite having chances to win it.
Scott Oldham has been appointed as Match Referee for tomorrow’s fixture with Stuart Butler and Kevin Howick as Assistants, and Nicholas Cooper as Fourth Official. Oldham has dished out sixty seven yellow cards in twenty two matches this season, but is yet to reveal his red.
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