The top two sides of Southern Group G in the EFL Trophy go head to head at the Matchroom Stadium on Tuesday evening, with Leyton Orient hosting Charlton Athletic.
Both sides have already confirmed their places in the knockout stages, after each winning both of their previous fixtures against Crawley Town and Southampton Under-21s in the competition.
Match preview
© Reuters
League Two Orient find themselves on a seven-game unbeaten run, as well as losing just one of their last 14 matches across all competitions, heading into the cup tie on Tuesday.
That run has seen Kenny Jackett's side rise to sixth in the table, in what is a tight and competitive top half of the fourth tier.
Although draws have been a problem throughout the season so far, of which there have been eight in their 15 league fixtures, this has not been the case in the EFL Trophy.
A 1-0 win over the Southampton Under-21s was followed by a comprehensive 4-0 victory over fellow League Two side Crawley, to see the O's safely through to the knockout phase.
Jackett will be keen to pick up another win against their League One opposition on Tuesday though, in order to increase his side's chances of picking up a favourable draw in the next phase.
Most recently, Orient were victorious in their third cup competition this season - the FA Cup - with Tuesday's hosts avoiding an upset by defeating National League South side Ebbsfleet United 1-0 at the Matchroom Stadium, thanks to Aaron Drinan's goal midway through the first half.
Meanwhile, Charlton continued their resurgence under caretaker boss Johnnie Jackson by progressing into the second round of the FA Cup themselves on Saturday.
Jayden Stockley netted a brace, along with goals from Josh Davison and Mason Burstow in a 4-0 triumph over National League South side Havant & Waterlooville, with all of the goals arriving in the final quarter of the match.
That result made it three wins and a draw since Jackson took temporary charge, after Nigel Adkins was sacked last month with the Addicks in the relegation zone of League One.
Jackson has done his chances of receiving the job on a full-time basis no harm so far, especially considering two of his four matches have been against promotion-chasing duo Sunderland and Rotherham United.
The upturn in results has seen Charlton rise to 18th in the table of the third tier, and after coming out victorious in one cup competition on Saturday, the caretaker boss will be keen to continue the momentum with another positive result in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday evening.
As mentioned above, Charlton have already won both of their previous two ties this season to see them into the knockout stages, with Adkins achieving a 6-1 win over Crawley and a 4-1 success against Southampton Under-21s earlier in the campaign.
- W
- W
- D
- D
- D
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
Team News
The hosts have no fresh injury concerns to deal with ahead of Tuesday, so Jackett will be free to choose from the same selection of players available at the weekend.
Second-choice goalkeeper Rhys Byrne has been used in the two previous ties, so he should replace Lawrence Vigouroux in between the posts, but a strong lineup is expected from Jackett.
Daniel Happe may get a chance ahead of Omar Beckles in the back three, whilst the likes of Ruel Sotiriou, Jayden Sweeney and Antony Papadopoulos could come into the side.
As for the visitors, they remain without midfielder Jake Forster-Caskey for the trip to Orient, with the 27-year-old yet to feature this season due to a long-term cruciate ligament injury.
Jackson made nine changes for the FA Cup tie on Saturday, and several changes could be expected again before returning to league action next weekend.
Stephen Henderson may retain his place in goal but Akin Famewo could be rested after being one of the two players to retain his place at the weekend, with Jason Pearce potentially deputising for his fellow central defender.
Conor Washington, George Dobson and Ben Watson could be among the players to come into the starting lineup in order to provide some fresh legs.
Leyton Orient possible starting lineup:
Byrne; Clay, Ogie, Happe; James, Kyprianou, Papadopoulos, Sweeney; Sotiriou, Drinan, Kemp
Charlton Athletic possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Gunter, Pearce, Elerewe; Dobson; Jaiyesimi, Watson, Morgan, Purrington; Stockley, Washington
We say: Leyton Orient 1-3 Charlton Athletic
Orient find themselves on a good run at the moment so are likely to put in a spirited performance and look to frustrate their opponents on Tuesday.
However, Charlton's upturn in results means their quality should shine through and see them record a comfortable victory against their fourth-tier hosts.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Leyton Orient win with a probability of 42.81%. A win for Charlton Athletic had a probability of 29.62% and a draw had a probability of 27.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Leyton Orient win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.36%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.55%) and 2-0 (8.16%). The likeliest Charlton Athletic win was 0-1 (9.82%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.95%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 12.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Leyton Orient in this match.
