Despite early season optimism, both Cambridge United and Leyton Orient find themselves languishing in mid-table in League Two.
The U’s spent much of the start of the campaign in the automatic promotion places, even topping the league table back in October. Mark Bonner’s side were water-tight at the back and clinical in attack, extending their unbeaten home record into December.
Then it all came crashing down.
As fans returned to The Abbey, Cambridge suffered back-to-back defeats against Mansfield and Oldham as they plummeted out of the top three. Their latest defeat, away at struggling Bradford, means they’ll spend Christmas in ninth, outside of the play-off places.
Leyton Orient have faced similar issues. After a slow start to the season, the O’s form massively picked up and they climbed as high as sixth after a 3-2 win away at Port Vale at the end of November. However, since then, Ross Embleton’s side have lost three of their four last league games and sunk back to 12th in the table.
Despite their recent inconsistencies, both sides remain within touching distance of the play-offs and could massively close the gap with a win at The Abbey on Boxing Day. While the M11 derby isn’t filled with the same hatred and animosity of other rivalries across the country, the added stakes will certainly set up an interesting match.
Josh Coulson’s return to The Abbey also adds another dimension to Saturday’s fixture. The centre-back was born in Cambridge and came through the club’s youth system, going on to make 273 appearances for the U’s over nine years before being shockingly released.
The now 31-year-old joined the O’s while they were in the National League, going on to win the league title and promotion to League Two in 2018-19.
He’ll be tasked with keeping out the division’s top scorer, Paul Mullin. The striker has found the net 16 times in just 18 games, scoring over half of the U’s goals this season. Much of his success has come from the creativity behind him as well, with Norwich City legend Wes Hoolahan and MK Dons loanee Hiram Boateng playing a crucial role going forward.
However, both players have been out of the team in recent weeks due to injury concerns, with Boateng likely to be ruled out until February. Mark Bonner has a lack of midfield options now, with Idris El Mizouni possibly missing the Boxing Day clash due to injury, meaning that centre-back Greg Taylor may be asked to move into midfield once again.
That’s caused a real lack of creativity for the U’s. Mullin has looked isolated up top, even with strike partner Joe Ironside. Playing two defensive-minded midfielders in a 4-4-2 adds a lot of pressure on the wide players going forward, so Cambridge have looked a bit blunt in attack recently which has seen their scintillating run of form grind to a dramatic halt.
While Cambridge’s defensive record is among the best in the division so far this season, they’ll be coming up against another one of the league’s top scorers in Danny Johnson, who’s scored 12 goals in 19 games for Embleton’s men this season. He usually features up front in O’s three-pronged attack alongside Lee Angol and James Brophy, who’ll fancy their chances against a Cambridge defence that have conceded seven goals in their last five league games.
With the whole of Cambridgeshire moving into tier 4 after Christmas, no fans will be allowed in at The Abbey for the foreseeable future. U’s fans may feel surprisingly optimistic that their side can return to the same run of form they showed behind closed doors earlier this season, as they look to make a quick return to the top end of League Two.
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