League One Gameweek 13 brings Burton Albion and Leyton Orient together at the Pirelli Stadium on 24 October 2026. Both sides sit on 14 points, with Burton 14th after 12 games and Orient 12th after 11, so a win for either would push them into the top half. Burton have been defensively solid at home but toothless in front of goal, while Orient have shown they can hurt teams going forward but lost 1-0 at Reading on 21 October, four days after beating Blackpool 2-0, which tells its own story about the inconsistency on the road.
There is not much of a managerial head to head to lean on. Gary Bowyer only took charge in December 2024, replacing Mark Robinson, while Richie Wellens has been in post since March 2022, when he took over from Kenny Jackett. Wellens generally looks to build from an attacking foundation, Bowyer's setups tend to be more structured. How each side adapts to their respective injury lists will probably tell us more than any philosophical difference between the two managers.
Burton arrive having gone D D L D L in their last five league outings, most recently a goalless draw against then leaders Bradford City on 20 October 2026, a disciplined display that still could not produce a goal and a pattern their season is starting to be defined by. Orient are in slightly better shape at L W D L W, including that 2-0 win over Blackpool on 17 October before losing 1-0 at Reading four days later.
This is where it gets complicated for both sides. Burton are without George Evans, who went off against Bradford and is not expected to recover in time and Finn Delap remains sidelined. Losing your holding midfielder and top scorer at the same time is a serious double hit that forces awkward reshuffling in both the defensive and attacking phases. Orient have their own problems: Rarmani Edmonds-Green, Ollie O'Neill and Somto Boniface are all out injured, weakening both defence and midfield and threatening the defensive organisation that has kept them competitive away from home.
Bowyer often uses wing backs or a back three to provide defensive cover without sacrificing width but without Evans and Delap he will likely lean on Toby Sibbick to anchor the defence while Caylan Vickers takes on more creative responsibility from deeper, with recent home form pointing to a compact mid block designed to frustrate before releasing through the channels. Wellens has built Orient around attacking intent backed by solid defensive organisation, with new signing Fin Stevens helping shore up the back line and the injuries may push him toward a more cautious 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, leaning on Jaze Kabia and Dane Scarlett up front. Kabia is Orient's leading scorer and his movement in behind defenders will ask questions of Burton's back four, while Scarlett dropping into pockets between the lines poses a different kind of problem for a Burton midfield already patched up after Evans's injury.
The key question is whether Burton's reorganised defensive structure can absorb what Orient's forward pair throws at it. Burton will likely try to press from the front early but their recent form suggests they tend to sit deeper as the game progresses, at which point Orient's plan of staying compact and hitting in transition, with Stevens stepping into midfield at key moments, could come into its own, with Sibbick versus Kabia's runs in behind the individual contest that matters most.
The last five meetings: Orient 2-2 Burton (May 2026), Burton 0-4 Orient (November 2025), Burton 2-1 Orient (April 2025), Orient 0-0 Burton (December 2024), Orient 1-2 Burton (February 2024). Burton hold two wins to Orient's one across those five, a sequence that includes both a heavy Orient win and a goalless draw, so you would be stretching to call either side the dominant one here.
Set pieces could matter given what both sides are missing. Delap's absence removes a physical presence in the box for Burton, placing more pressure on Sibbick and others to win aerial duels and generate second phase chances, while Orient's injury list also includes defenders who normally organise the back line at dead balls, which could leave them exposed to deliveries aimed at Vickers or late runs from midfield. Both teams have been disciplined recently, so suspensions should not be an issue.
The goalless draw with Bradford showed Burton can be hard to break down at home even when short staffed and Orient's organised defensive shape, reinforced by Stevens at the back, should give them a platform to come away with a draw. Their absences blunt their ability to put games to bed, though and Delap's goals and Evans's control are precisely what Burton would need to push for three points. Without them, this feels like a game that ends 1-1 rather than one that breaks meaningfully in either direction.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
