Two League One teams separated by 11 places and 12 points meet at the Weston Homes Stadium on Saturday lunchtime as Peterborough United play host to Leyton Orient.
Posh and the O's do battle for the first time since the end of September last year when they played out a 2-2 draw at Brisbane Road.
Match preview
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After finishing inside the playoff spots in the last two League One campaigns, Peterborough find themselves down in 19th place in the table this term after 24 matches and are hovering just five points above the relegation zone.
Seven wins, four draws and 13 defeats have been posted by Posh, who have celebrated just two league victories in their last 11 matches, most recently suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat at promotions hopefuls Wrexham a fortnight ago.
Since then, Darren Ferguson's men have experienced mixed results in two different domestic cup competitions, with a 2-0 defeat at Everton in the FA Cup third round followed by a 4-2 home win over Walsall in the third round of the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night, a result that keeps their hopes of retaining the trophy that they won last season alive.
Peterborough are now gearing up for back-to-back home games in League One against Leyton Orient and Exeter City, and when taking on the former on Saturday, they will be looking to avoid recording three successive home league defeats for the first time since February 2022 in the Championship.
Posh have reason to be optimistic of success against Orient, as they are unbeaten across their last six EFL fixtures with the O's (W4 D2), scoring exactly two goals in four of those games.
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November 26, 2024 was the last time that Leyton Orient suffered defeat in any competition, with Richie Wellens's men putting together an impressive 11-game unbeaten run that includes seven League One victories.
The O's won a fifth straight third-tier match when they edged past Shrewsbury Town 1-0 on home soil a fortnight ago, moving them up to eighth in the table and to within four points of the playoff spots.
Leyton Orient's unbeaten run came under threat last weekend as they required a 6-5 penalty-shootout triumph over Championship outfit Derby Country to advance from the third round of the FA Cup, following a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes, setting up a mouth-watering fourth-round tie at home to Manchester City next month.
Wellens and co must now shift their attention back to League One and will endeavour to win a sixth successive match in the third tier for the first time since September 2022.
Success on Saturday is not a given, though, as Orient have only won one of their last 10 away league games against Peterborough (D4 L5), keeping just one clean sheet during that time.
Team News
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Peterborough will be without Kwame Poku, Jed Steer, Rio Adebisi and Bradley Ihionvien as they all continue to recover from injury, while Harley Mills will serve the third and final game of a three-match ban.
Posh announced on Thursday the loan signing of defenders Tayo Edun from Charlton Athletic and Sam Hughes from Stockport County, and both players are in contention to make their debut this weekend.
As for Leyton Orient, Sean Clare is suspended after he was sent off in the FA Cup win over Derby last time out, while fellow defender Dan Happe will have a groin injury assessed ahead of kickoff.
Dilan Markanday completed a loan move to the O's from Blackburn Rovers on Thursday and the winger is available to make his debut on Saturday.
Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Bilokapic; Wallin, Fernandez, Katongo; Johnston, De Havilland, Collins, Hayes; Conn-Clarke; Mothersille, Jones
Leyton Orient possible starting lineup:
Keeley; James, Beckles, Simpson, Currie; Pratley, Brown; Perkins, Donley, Galbraith; Kelman
We say: Peterborough United 1-2 Leyton Orient
Goals are to be expected on Saturday as 12 of the last 13 competitive meetings between Peterborough and Leyton Orient have seen both teams score, with three or more goals scored on 10 of those occasions.
Taking into account the form of both teams, Leyton Orient will be regarded as favourites to come out on top and they should have enough quality in the final third to fire themselves to three important points on the road.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
