United beat Bournemouth last Saturday, who themselves have had a good run of late with just two defeats in the previous 22 league games and hadn't lost a match at Dean Court since September. That was prior to the Blades visit last weekend and Jamie Murphy's strike (20 minutes) was enough to ensure a 1-0 win and with other results being kind to United it lifted them to top of the league. However a defeat tonight and they could go surging down to sixth place, its that tight at the top.
Blades boss Danny Wilson is expected to name an unchanged side to face Leyton Orient tonight, but on-loan Southampton forward Jonathan Forte (groin) who has missed the previous two matches is expected to miss out through injury whilst Dominic Poleon (on-loan from Leeds United) will be looking to make is first start for the club.
Leyton Orient suffered a 1-0 defeat last weekend against Crawley Town which sent them down to twelfth in the table; former Blade Billy Clarke (11) was on the score-sheet which proved the vital goal in this fixture.
O's boss Russell Slade is likely to name a squad which won't feature midfielder Martin Rowlands (groin), striker Kevin Lisbie (hamstring) and defender Gary Sawyer (knee), the trio are all absent through injury.
Orient have no former Blades on there books, with the exception of defender Elliot Omozusi who appeared for Sheffield United on trial (from Fulham) in September 2009 in a 2-1 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.
:: Head-to-Head ::
Our battles with Leyton Orient post Second World War in October 1956 with a 3-2 defeat at Bramall Lane in the Second Division. United seeked there revenge at Brisbane Road with a 2-1 win later that season. In fact the Blades were to lose their first three meetings with the Orient on home soil before a 4-1 win in January 1961 was enough and weren't beaten again since 1978.
In January 1983 the Blades beat the O's by three goals to nil and in the further two meetings which have concluded that at the Lane have both ended in victory for the hosts; including the 6-3 win in March 1984. At Brisbane Road things were different, United went seven games away from home without defeat and are currently three games without defeat in all competitions on that ground.
There has been only one meeting between the two clubs in the top flight, this came during the 1962-63 season where United drew 2-2 at bottom of the league Orient before beating them 2-0 at the Lane. Unsurprisingly Orient were relegated whilst United finished seventh.
Earlier in the season with United winning one-nil. United came close on a number of occasions but the vital blow came on 59th minute when a cute pass from Dave Kitson found Nick Blackman who turned before firing on his left foot into the top corner. The result stood at 1-0 and the Blades leapfrogged into third place.
Overall it is the Blades who have the upper hand, winning 13 league matches in a total of 27 matches; Orient have nine victories. Away from league action and our only FA Cup game came under the reign of Kevin Blackwell in January 2009 where after the initial game was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch the match was eventually won 4-1 by United.
| League form versus Leyton Orient... | ||||||
| P | W | D | L | F | A | |
| Home | 13 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 29 | 19 |
| Away | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 19 | 20 |
| Total | 27 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 48 | 39 |
* Statistics correct up to and including 18 February 2013
Blades-Mad Prediction: Sheffield United 2-0 Leyton Orient