One of the key features of this weekend’s League One action sees two sides both hoping for a playoff spot come the end of the season, battle it out at the Kassam Stadium.
Leyton Orient, are the visitors, as they hope to continue their rapid rise up the table following their promotion from League Two which now sees them sat in ninth in the division. That move up the table has been down to their incredible run of form post-Christmas, which has seen them lose only two games since Santa visited.
However, those two losses have come in their past three matches, as they fell short in games away at Barnsley and at home to Burton Albion.
Oxford United on the other hand have seen their season’s fortunes dwindle compared to the early stages. Liam Manning had the side sitting in the automatic promotion spots when he moved on to Bristol City in the Championship. Oxford then brought in new Head Coach Des Buckingham, with the hope he could keep those promotion aspirations going. The start of his tenure was not as successful as he may have hoped.
Inconsistency followed, however, they have now gone on a six-game unbeaten run, albeit five of those being draws. A home win could see Oxford cement their position in the top six, whereas an away victory could see Leyton Orient’s playoff hopes strengthened.
Here is how two of The Real EFL’s writing team see it going…
Charlie Beeston
“Taking the visitors first, they will be seeing this as a game they could be winning. With the slight blip in form they have shown recently, a win against a team above them this weekend could really galvanise both the squad and the fans for the season run-in. However, that recent form does create a cause for concern going into this one.
Oxford will be wanting to keep their unbeaten streak going, but they know that they will need to start picking up more wins rather than draws, as one point per game will not be enough to see them reach the playoffs. With that last-gasp equaliser from Northampton on Tuesday night likely to have knocked the side, Des Buckingham will really need to motivate his team in this crunch match. However, I suspect they will not be able to shake their recent title of ‘draw specialists’ as I predict this will end in a score draw.”
Oxford United 1-1 Leyton Orient
Ivan Newsome
“Both teams still have chances of making the playoffs and although one side’s is greater than the others, they’ll both be targeting a spot in the top-six come the end of the season.
Oxford are by no means definitely in the playoffs just yet, despite sitting fifth, and they have just a four-point gap to Stevenage in seventh. Having played two games more, they had to take their chance in their midweek game with Northampton but would throw the game away in added time to come away with just a single point.
As a result, that may well impact their chances in this, and Leyton Orient will come into this better rested. Currently eight points off of Peterborough in sixth, Orient are still in the hunt, and three points here will be huge for any promotion ambitions they have.
I actually see them picking up all three points here, and think that Oxford are one of the teams in the play-offs who the teams below should be targeting.”
Oxford United 1-2 Leyton Orient
