Football – England – League One
Saturday 23rd February 2013 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Leyton Orient entertain Crawley Town at their Matchroom Stadium on Saturday afternoon as the hosts look to return to winning ways and maintain their late challenge on a play-off place.
Leyton Orient had strung together a five match unbeaten run until last weekend when they went down 1-2 away at League One strugglers Hartlepool United, but now they return to the Matchroom Stadium where they will be pretty confident of posting another three points against a Crawley Town outfit who have lost their last three away matches on the trot.
Previous impressive results against Notts County 2-1, Stevenage 1-0 away and Tranmere Rovers 2-1 along with holding seventh placed Brentford and league leaders Swindon Town to draws has sustained The O’s’ play-off ambitions and they can get back on track this afternoon.
Leyton Orient’s home record stands at 8-2-6 18/16 and are unbeaten in their last five. Experienced striker Lisbie (9 goals, 3 assists) and playmaker Cox (8 assists) are the likely suspects in terms of goals or creativity, but they also have Charlie MacDonald up front who’s more than capable of getting on the scoresheet.
Crawley Town are holding their own following their promotion from League Two and a season of consolidation looks to be in order as the Sussex outfit find their feet in this step up in the footballing pyramid. I think if someone had asked if they’d be happy with a mid-table position in League One come February they’d have bitten their hand off and it’s been a remarkable achievement to be playing in this division following their promotions from the Blue Square South to here today.
However, the hard work doesn’t end here and next season I daresay they could well be challenging for greater honours, and this season they’ve done okay; an away record of 6-2-7 15/22 can be improved upon and certainly their goalscoring on the road with only Colchester United (12 goals) possessing a worst attacking record on the road in the division.
The Red Devils have lost their last three on the road with defeats at Bournemouth, Tranmere Rovers and Scunthorpe United and their record against the top half teams away from home hasn’t been great; defeats at Swindon Town, Brentford and Coventry City on the minus side but a positive was their 1-0 win at Doncaster Rovers but that was way back in August.
Leyton Orient are seasoned League One campaigners and I think they’ll find a way to get the points today in their own back-yard, but I recommend taking the round ball for extra insurance at still an attractive price; 1-0 to The O’s though.
Pick: Leyton Orient AH0 (Draw No Bet) @ 1.83 Pinnacle
