Preview: Leyton Orient v Northampton Town

The Cobblers head to London with a sold out away following as we look to put more pressure on the top three.

Match Preview

Three games to go. Nine points to play for. Two points the difference between the Cobblers and Port Vale in third. The allure of automatic promotion is suddenly back on the table after an excellent Easter weekend that saw the Cobblers claim maximum points from their two games.

The 2-0 win at Oldham was impressive as we came through what could have been a stern test against a team fighting for their lives and then came Monday’s 3-0 home win over Harrogate that saw the front three of Sam Hoskins, Josh Eppiah and Louis Appere really click into gear.

As we travel to East London with a newfound confidence, could we yet make one final push for the automatic promotion dream that looked dead and buried a week ago? Whatever happens, a huge away following will be roaring us on. Come on Town!

The Opposition

At the start of the season, three of the podcast team had Leyton Orient down as League Two title winners with the other predicting a second place finish. While our predictions are as reliable as Billy Turley on crosses it’s still a big surprise to most to see the O’s down in the lower reaches of League Two with three games to go.

Much was expected of Orient from all sides with Kenny Jackett’s appointment raising eyebrows at this level but, after a strong start, things started to unravel after a 1-0 defeat at Sixfields back in November. Orient would bounce back with a 4-1 win over Swindon but that would be their final victory until 19 March, by which time Jackett had been shown the door and replaced by Richie Wellens.

It was impossible to expect Wellens to do anything other than stabilise the club and he’s done exactly that with six wins, two draws and just two defeats from his ten games in charge so far. The tide is turning once again in a roller coaster season and we could well be catching Wellen’s charges at a bad time!

Last time out

The Cobblers won both games over Easter, 2-0 at Oldham and 3-0 at home to Harrogate while Orient beat Scunthorpe 3-0 at home and Swindon 2-1 away (despite being down to ten men in the latter game).

One to watch

Richie Wellens has switched things around a bit up front but top scorer Adrian Drinan, who has 15 this season, will still be a big danger for the Cobblers.

Team News

Orient are likely to be without Adam Thompson after he pulled up during the warmup at Swindon. Hector Kyprianou is suspended after seeing red in the game at the County Ground and former Cobblers striker Harry Smith is a doubt with an ankle injury.

The Cobblers could stick with the same eleven that saw them win both games over Easter. Sid Nelson and Paul Lewis look to be out for the season but other than that we should have a clean bill of health.

Last meeting

Northampton Town 1-0 Leyton Orient – 27/11/21

Sam Hoskins’ goal just before half-time earned the Cobblers all three points earlier this season.

Line-up Prediction – Powered by FanHub

Match Officials

Darren Handley is in charge of this one with Stuart Butler and Mark Stevens as his assistants. Handley last officiated a Cobblers game back in February in the dour 0-0 draw at Scunthorpe.

Score Predictions

Charles: Orient 1-2 Cobblers

Danny: Orient 1-1 Cobblers

Neil: Orient 3-4 Cobblers

Jefé: Orient 0-4 Cobblers

Preview Show

We were joined this week by Paul from the Orient Outlook podcast as we look ahead to Saturday’s game: