Preview: Leyton Orient vs Barnsley - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to move clear of the bottom four in the League One table after a crucial win last weekend, Leyton Orient will welcome Barnsley to the BetWright Stadium on Saturday.

The hosts lead the drop zone by two points thanks to a return to winning ways last time out, while their visitors dropped to 15th spot following a defeat.

Match preview

Leyton Orient return to action at the BetWright Stadium on Saturday in search of a second straight win to give their League One survival hopes another major boost.

After only falling short of promotion to the Championship in the playoff final last time around, Richie Wellens's side have enjoyed a much tougher campaign this term, as a five-game winless run which produced just one point left them in the bottom four in mid-February on 33 points from 31 outings.

That is due to their defensive troubles, having conceded a league-high tally of 52 goals at that time, but the O's made a crucial return to winning ways last weekend in a true six-pointer.

Needing to end their rut and escape the drop zone, Wellens's men visited fellow strugglers Northampton Town and led 2-0 through Dominic Ballard and James Morris and stood strong to see out an eventual 2-1 victory after Tom Eaves halved the hosts' deficit on the hour mark.

That win saw Leyton Orient leapfrog Northampton and Wigan Athletic and move a place above the drop zone, but still only leading those sides by two points in the fight for survival, they will hope to build a much-needed cushion with another triumph at the weekend.

In their way stand a visiting side keen to rebound from a setback last weekend and move back within touching distance of the top half.

Barnsley's 2025-26 League One season under the management of Conor Hourihane has been defined by inconsistency, with 41 points on the board from 30 outings courtesy of 11 wins and 11 defeats, while only Saturday's hosts have conceded more than the 52 goals they have allowed.

On the back of a win over Peterborough United, they headed into a meeting with Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town last weekend aiming to continue a climb towards the playoff spots, having trailed their sixth-placed opponents by eight points with four games in hand ahead of the contest.

They were unable to truly move into the top-six picture, though, instead falling to a 2-1 loss at the Accu Stadium despite leading through David McGoldrick, as Ryan Ledson levelled the game and Ryan Hardie scored a 74th-minute winner for the hosts.

Now finding themselves 15th and 11 points off the playoffs while seven above the drop zone, albeit with games in hand on every side in the league, Barnsley will finally hope to find some consistency in the coming weeks and stage a climb towards the right end of the division beginning at the weekend.

Leyton Orient League One form:

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Barnsley League One form:

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Team News

Leyton Orient remain unable to call of Rarmani Edmonds-Green, Idris El Mizouni, Jordan Graham and Aaron Connolly due to ongoing long-term injuries.

Toby Oluwayemi also joined fellow goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann in the treatment room recently, meaning Will Dennis should again get the nod between the sticks.

Talismanic forward Ballard will continue to lead the line, having ended a five-game drought last weekend to move onto 16 goals for the season in League One.

Barnsley head south with a relatively clean bill of health, other than the ongoing absences of Josh Earl and Tawanda Chirewa.

Following the January departure of star forward Davis Keillor-Dunn, veteran David McGoldrick will continue to lead the attack, having netted his ninth league goal of the season last weekend.

Reyes Cleary is a danger man in a supporting trio behind the lone stroker, having managed six goals and 10 assists in the third tier this term, while Adam Phillips will offer further support from the engine room.

Leyton Orient possible starting lineup:

Dennis; Casey, Forrester, Simpson; Craig, Levitt, Clare, Morris; O'Neill, Ballard, Archibald

Barnsley possible starting lineup:

Goodman; O'Keefe, O'Connell, Shepherd, Watson; Phillips, Connell; Banks, Kelly, Cleary; McGoldrick

We say: Leyton Orient 2-2 Barnsley

Given both sides' records at both ends of the pitch this season, particularly as the league's two leakiest defences, we can only envisage Saturday's contest being high scoring.

Barnsley are running out of time in their bid to climb towards the playoff picture, even with their games in hand, and we see the Reds being held by a buoyant Leyton Orient side who picked up a crucial win last time out.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.