Preview: Leyton Orient vs. Bolton Wanderers - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors trail second place by a single point with two games in hand, while their hosts have climbed to 10th spot in England's third tier thanks to an upturn in form.

Match preview

Leyton Orient head into the weekend aiming to continue an impressive run of form in League One, having climbed up to 10th spot in recent weeks after winning promotion from England's fourth tier last time around.

A narrow 3-2 defeat in the reverse fixture away at Bolton Wanderers, in which goals from Shaq Forde and Theo Archibald were not enough to spark a turnaround after Josh Dacres-Cogley, Dion Charles and George Thomason had the hosts 3-0 up inside 10 minutes, left Richie Wellens's side 16th on 25 points from 24 outings, but they have turned their fortunes around in impressive fashion since, adding 10 points to their tally in the last four attempts.

Across those matches, the Os have gone without conceding as they firstly bounced back with a 1-0 victory over Charlton Athletic on Boxing Day, as Omar Beckles netted the only goal of the game 10 minutes from time, before rounding off 2023 with a goalless draw at home to Wycombe Wanderers.

Wellens's men have built impressively on those results with a pair of wins on the road since the turn of the year, too, firstly triumphing 2-0 away at Cambridge United on New Year's Day thanks to second-half goals from Jordan Brown and Dan Agyei before thrashing league leaders Portsmouth 3-0 at Fratton Park with Forde, Brown and Agyei all finding the net before half time.

Now full of confidence having shone at both ends of the pitch in recent weeks and climbed to 10th spot in League One, albeit with a 14-point gap to the playoff places, Leyton Orient will be keen to build on their impressive run with another major scalp at the weekend to further strengthen their standing in the top half.

Their schedule does not get any easier, though, as Bolton Wanderers arrive aiming to continue their own fine run and climb back into the top two in the fight for automatic promotion this term.

From their 24 outings thus far, Ian Evatt's side have managed 51 points, and they succeeded in bouncing back from a pair of league defeats in December with a run of four straight triumphs over the festive period, beating Saturday's opponents, Lincoln City, Fleetwood Town and Burton Albion to solidify their position in the automatic promotion places at the turn of the year.

After then forcing a replay in an impressive goalless draw at Premier League Luton Town in the FA Cup third round and progressing in the EFL Trophy with a 3-1 triumph over Accrington Stanley, the Trotters returned to League One action at home to Cheltenham Town last weekend, but the contest would be abandoned in the first half and subsequently rearranged following the unfortunate passing of a fan in the stand in the first half.

The Lancashire outfit now head back into action at Brisbane Road on the back of a 2-1 defeat at home to Luton Town in their FA Cup replay on Tuesday, despite going ahead through Dion Charles early on, as Tahith Chong levelled the scores in the 15th minute and Chiedozie Ogbene netted the decisive goal around the hour mark.

While they have since dropped to fourth spot with the weekend's game not completed, Bolton Wanderers do sit just a single point behind third-placed Peterborough United and second-placed Derby County with two games in hand and two behind leaders Portsmouth having played three games fewer, and they will bid to return to the top two and strengthen their standing while maintaining games in hand with a fifth straight league win at the weekend.

Leyton Orient League One form:

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Bolton Wanderers League One form:

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Bolton Wanderers form (all competitions):

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Team News

On the back of victories and clean sheets against Cambridge United and Portsmouth, Leyton Orient are bound to field the same starting XI for the third game running in a 4-2-3-1 shape.

Ethan Galbraith, Omar Beckles, Dan Happe and Tom James will continue in an unchanged back four, while Idris El Mizouni will again join Jordan Brown in midfield.

Dan Agyei will get the nod to lead the line again after netting his second goal of the season last time out against Portsmouth, despite competition from Joe Pigott and Ruel Sotiriou, while Shaq Forde and Theo Archibald will aim to continue causing problems from the wings.

Ian Evatt fielded a strong Bolton Wanderers side for their FA Cup replay against Luton Town last time out, and after a valiant effort in their eventual defeat, we should see a similar starting XI at the weekend with Eoin Toal, Ricardo Santos and Will Forrester bound to line up in an unchanged back three.

At the other end of the pitch in their 3-5-2 shape, the line will again be led by star man Dion Charles, who has notched up 17 goals in all competitions so far this term including 13 in 23 League One appearances, while Victor Adeboyejo should get the nod to join him.

Paris Maghoma again featured from the outset in a midfield role against Luton, and he should continue alongside George Thomason and Josh Sheehan despite competition from the likes of Kyle Dempsey and Aaron Morley.

Leyton Orient possible starting lineup:

Brynn; Galbraith, Beckles, Happe, James; El Mizouni, Brown; Forde, Sanders, Archibald; Agyei

Bolton Wanderers possible starting lineup:

Baxter; Toal, Santos, Forrester; Dacres-Cogley, Thomason, Maghoma, Sheehan, Ashworth; Adeboyejo, Charles

We say: Leyton Orient 1-1 Bolton Wanderers

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