It was such a novelty to be back at home lately. But now we’re out on the road yet again for a double away day – starting in LDN. To be exact, we’re going to east London as Leyton Orient play host to Alex Revell‘s men. And it may come as more of a shock to our hosts that, all of a sudden, we’re right on their shoulder in the table. We’re on a nice little run of form of late. Orient, however, are no mugs and certainly aren’t shy of doing a number on us. It’ll be a solid test for Revs and the lads, that’s for sure.
Then again, we said the same about other games recently. And we passed those tests – most recently beating a smart Harrogate Town side at the Lamex at the weekend. Game on!
The Details: Leyton Orient v Stevenage
Where’s the game?
In the shadow of London’s Olympic Stadium, you’ll find a football ground of greater repute and heritage. Well, it’s not an athletics venue for a start! The name, however, doesn’t do it too many favours. But that’s football nowadays. Anyway, it’s to The Breyer Group Stadium that we be going for our latest adventures on the road.
Can I watch Leyton Orient v Stevenage?
For some reason, fate is conspiring; forcing you to choose between two midweek televisual delights from east London. In one corner, it’s EastEnders on BBC1. In the other, it’s Boro’ on iFollow. You gotta pick one. We didn’t make the rules. But we’d rather spend £10 on a Match Pass than find out what Dirty Den and Pete Beale are up to…
How is Boro’s form looking at the moment?
Right now, you have to go back seven games to dig out our most recent defeat; our 1-0 loss at Bolton the last time we were on the wrong end of a result. Since then, we’ve won three and drawn three. That puts us right up there in the form table for the last eight matches; 15 points from a possible 24. And when you consider the Trotters are top of the pile on 20, our reverse at the University of Bolton Stadium doesn’t seem so bad.
Our record on the road is much improved too; collecting 17 points from 17 away days. It’s the same return as Orient – though they’re indoors here, so that’s not relevant. More than two thirds of our games (unsurprisingly) have seen fewer than 2.5 goals. That’s helped by a run of four straight clean sheets, of which three were away from the Lamex. So, this could give our hosts something to ponder as we look to maintain our excellent defensive form.
… and how are the Os doing right now?
It’s not going great of late for the Os. After a hattrick of wins at the back-end of the festive period, the east Londoners have picked up just one victory in the last nine – and that was at the expense of relegation-haunted Grimsby Town. It’s no surprise, therefore, that you’ll find them down the bottom of the form table after collecting six points from a potential 24. And their home form (25 points from 16 games) is only just better than ours (24 from 17).
Apart from that, there’s not a huge amount to pick out. The Os boast an attacking record that matches their lower mid-table position (37 scored), while their defence isn’t that bad either (38 conceded). Looking at what else SoccerStats.com can tell us, we can see the Os aren’t bad at holding a lead; conceding an equaliser six times out of 18. They’re not so hot when coming from behind, however; equalising eight times out of 22. So, first goal is key.
Our story with Leyton Orient so far
In recent times, our record against the Os isn’t good. Overall, our record against the Os… isn’t good. Since our first visit to Brisbane Road for our famous 1996-7 FA Cup win, we’ve gone on to meet 16 times in all competitions. We’ve won a quarter of them – but lost more than half. And a goal difference of -12 shows that we tend to get beaten comfortably when we’re on the losing side. So, this isn’t the sort of fixture that fills you with confidence.
The Os returned to the Football League for the 2019-20 campaign; spending two seasons down in the Conference after their relegation in 2017. In the three matches since, we did pick up a point at their place last season. But it’s the first in three straight encounters where we’ve not scored. And that’s bad enough. Worse is that it now means we’ve failed to breach their defence on 10 – TEN – out of the 16 occasions we’ve met. Can’t make that look good.
Luckily, our attack is known for firing on all cylinders this season…
Last Time Out: Stevenage 0-2 Leyton Orient, 24 October 2020
Who’s the referee in charge?
Mr Young is the man tasked with keeping things in check down in east London. And it’ll be the second time we’ve met this season; the first being way back in September in our Papa John’s Trophy group stage win against Southampton’s young ‘uns. The main thing to know about that match is that it was the first time we’d won on Mr Young’s watch. All three of our previous encounters had gone the way of our opponents – and all of them had ended 1-0.
We have a ref who’s keeping himself busy this season too. This bring up his quarter ton of appointments; fresh from overseeing Salford City’s home clash with Scunthorpe United at the weekend. And my how this Bedfordshire official likes to call on his cards. His Saturday afternoon’s work included five bookings, which takes him to a ton for the campaign. Reds aren’t so common, thankfully, with just two of those coming out of his pocket.
Last Time Out: Stevenage 2-1 Southampton U21s, 22 September 2020
Leyton Orient v Stevenage: Our verdict?
Our recent record is a delight to behold and there’s no reason why this team can’t kick on. We may as well see how high up the League Two table we can finish. But we always feel nervous about a trip to Brisbane Road. It’s not a happy hunting ground and the Os have a historic hold over us. We reckon we’re looking at a potential 0-0. And we’ll take that…
