- Leyton Orient have won two, drawn two and lost one of their last five.
- Mansfield Town are unbeaten in five with two wins and three draws.
- The last four head-to-head clashes have resulted in three wins for Leyton Orient and one for Mansfield Town, with no draws.
Strugglers face off in late-season clash
Mansfield Town claimed a 4-1 victory in the last meeting between the sides, but that was at home and the Stags have not won away to Leyton Orient in recent meetings. Orient are 15th with 50 points from 41 games, while Mansfield are 12th with 53 from 39 and both sides have work to do to gain momentum in the closing stages of the season.
Richie Wellens has been getting more out of his players in recent weeks with two consecutive 0-0 away draws followed by a narrow 1-2 home loss to Huddersfield Town. Leyton Orient’s home form has been solid, albeit unspectacular, with one win and one defeat from their last two at Brisbane Road, and eight wins, five draws and seven defeats from their 20 home fixtures overall.
Wellens is a true disciple of the football philosophy which prioritises possession, structure and patient build-up play with overloading the middle third to trigger pressing and creating space for one of Orient’s ‘danger men’ to operate in. In Dominic Ballard, they have just the man, with him scoring 21 League One goals in 35 appearances this season. He has scored three of Orient’s last six goals and can be a threat to Mansfield.
Stags are disciplined and can score
Lucas Akins has stepped up recently to score three of Mansfield’s last nine goals, but top scorer Will Evans, with eight goals in 38 games, remains the man to watch when the Stags are at their best. Nigel Clough’s side are another pragmatic unit that can mould into compact, flexible shapes, which makes them difficult to play against and they are always looking to counter or score from set pieces.
Mansfield’s away form has been consistent, with five wins, seven draws and six defeats from 18 away fixtures, scoring an average of 1.00 goals per game. They have won one and drawn one of their last two on the road, with a 4-1 home win over Northampton Town and 2-0 victory at Doncaster Rovers keeping them unbeaten in their last five.
The contrasting styles should make for an intriguing tactical chess match, with Orient trying to probe and dominate possession while Mansfield will sit back and try to counterattack. Both teams have been scoring goals recently and look vulnerable at the back at times, so a goal-filled draw is the most likely outcome here. The draw odds of 5/2 look generous given both teams are hard to beat, while over 2.5 goals is a better price at 4/5 and both teams to score - yes is also an option at 31/50.
