Northampton Town travel to the capital this Saturday in a clash against Leyton Orient. The Cobblers will be looking to build on their first win of the season against Exeter, whilst The O’s look to comeback from a 4-1 hammering by Mansfield.
Head To Head
For the fifth season in a row, the two sides find themselves in the same division as each other after both achieving promotion from League Two in the 2022/2023 season. Leyton Orient ended the season as the champions, whilst The Cobblers secured promotion on the final day at Tranmere.
Since 2014 the sides have met 13 times, with three wins for Orient, four draws and six wins for The Town.
There have been some stunning games between the sides, but the most memorable was by far Orients 4-3 win at Brisbane Road in February 2024. With the sides level at 2-2 until the 80-minute mark, current Bristol Rovers striker Ruel Sotiriou sent Leyton Orient 3-2 up off the bench, before Tyreece Simpson’s 83rd minute leveler. Sotiriou then struck for a second time in the 97th minute to steal 3 points late on for Leyton Orient.
The last meeting between the sides is the one Cobblers fans will be most fond of though, running out 2-1 victors in the capital, following first half goals from Tyler Roberts and Cameron McGeehan. Charlie Kelman scored on the hour mark for Leyton Orient, but it wasn’t enough to get them back in the game.
Leyton Orient
Following a heavy defeat to Mansfield on Saturday, Orient will be keen to bounce back this week. The O’s started impressively with wins over Wigan and Plymouth to go with a 2-2 draw against Stockport, with new signing Josh Koroma scoring 3 goals already.
Evidently strong going forward, Orient will need to prove their defensive capabilities with 9 goals conceded so far in their five league games. Some fans have criticized the defensive ability of left-back Tayo Adaramola, who is naturally a more attacking full-back, leaving gaps in the wide areas for teams to exploit.
Winger Zech Obiero will still be absent for Leyton Orient, following an injury picked up against Wycombe in the Carabao cup first round, whilst Theo Archibald remains out with a long-term injury.
Orient will also be without midfielder Idris El Mizouni who received a red card in Saturday’s game and will serve a one-game suspension. The midfielder returned to Orient on a permanent deal this summer following a year in the Championship with Oxford United. The Tunisian made 28 Championship appearances last season and has had two loan spells previously with Orient, making 89 appearances across the two spells.
Here is how I think Richie Wellens will lineup this weekend.
Possible Lineup:
Tommy Simkin (GK), Michael Craig, Dan Happe, Jack Simpson, Tayo, Adaramola, Tyreeq Bakinson, Joe White, Jack Moorehouse, Josh Koroma, Aaron Connelly, Oliver O’Neill
Northampton Town
After finally picking up their first league win of the League One season, manager Kevin Nolan will be looking to build on that and make it two wins from two. The Cobblers overcame Exeter 2-0 at Sixfields in their last match, with early goals from Ethan Wheatley and Max Dyche wrapping up three points for The Town.
The Cobblers looked very solid defensively with Max Dyche in particular having a great performance, Dyche ended the game with eight clearances, five duels won and a goal. They limited Exeter from creating any threat, ending the game with just a 0.15 Expected goals, despite having 64% possession.
The Cobblers also looked better going forward, which had been a concern for many fans in the first few games. They converted two chances early on and never looked in danger of losing their lead.
It was mentioned in the week that The Cobblers had likely lost out on target Tyler Walton from Accrington Stanley, who’s demanded fee for the attacker has rose consistently in recent times. Reports state the fee in demand would be over double the current record fee paid by The Cobblers which sits at £180k for Josh Low.
The injury update continues to get better for Cobblers fans, as Nolan says defender Jordan Thorniley should be back available this week after missing the last 3 games with an abductor injury. He also says that Ethan Wheatley and Jack Perkins should both be okay despite coming off after treatment on Saturday.
There is also positive updates on Kamarai Swyer and Michael Jacobs who are both ‘beginning the process’ of returning to the pitch and could be available early next month.
After a good win it definitely wouldn’t surprise me to see an unchanged 11 for the Cobblers, so here is how I think they’ll lineup.
Possible lineup:
Lee Burge (GK), Sam Hoskins, Conor McCarthy, Max Dyche, Jack Perkins, Nesta Guinness-Walker, Terry Taylor, Dean Campbell, Tyrese Fornah, Cameron McGeehan, Elliott List, Ethan Wheatley.
My Prediction
With all things considered, it is definitely set to be an entertaining encounter. Attacking football from two sides looking to win, and no doubt trying to win by a large margin. Whilst it could go either way, I think Leyton Orient will take the three points with their high-intensity transition play and attacking capabilities.
Leyton Orient 2-0 Northampton Town
Koroma, White.
