The Voice - Match preview #20: Leyton Orient vs Bradford City Saturday 20th December 2025 3:00pm

EFL League One Fixture #20
Saturday 20th December 2025 15:00
Leyton Orient (13th) vs Bradford City (2nd)
Brisbane Road

Record:
Games Won: 15
Games Drawn: 14
Games Lost: 19

Last 5:
23 Feb 2021: Bradford City 1 – 0 Leyton Orient
28 Aug 2021: Leyton Orient 2 – 0 Bradford City
01 Feb 2022: Bradford City 1 – 1 Leyton Orient
03 Dec 2022: Leyton Orient 3 – 0 Bradford City
08 May 2023: Bradford City 1 – 1 Leyton Orient

Leyton Orient:
Last season’s League One playoff finalists Leyton Orient haven’t quite lived up to their billing so far this campaign, and Richie Wellens believes he has identified an area of particular weakness: the defence. Wellens has stated Orient need to ‘bring new life’ into the backline and suggested there has been a lack of aggression at times. That sentiment is perhaps understandable after considering 8 goals in their last 3 games, a run of form that accounts for a 4-0 away defeat at Salford City in the FA Cup, as well as a 3-2 away defeat at Barnsley, a game Wellens feels his side could have won had they not fallen into a trap of trying to defend a 2-1 half time lead.

Prior to that recent run, however, Orient had shown glimpses of last season’s quality. 7 wins in 10 games across both league and cup underpinned an impressive patch of form stretching from early October right through to late November, but things have just dropped off a little recently. A 1-1 draw at home to Luton Town saw Wellens’ side concede a last minute equaliser from Luton’s Gideon Kodua, again no doubt contributing to the Leyton Orient manager’s assessment that his side are just a little bit soft at the back.

At Brisbane Road, Orient have compiled a record of 4 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats, making them the 10th best ‘Home’ side, but that’s a considerable improvement on Orient’s miserable away record of 3 wins and 7 defeats. It will be a concern, then, that as Orient lean on their home form for much of their success, they have failed to win any of their last 3 home games in all competitions. A pair of 1-1 draws against Luton Town and Blackpool sandwich a 1-0 home defeat to Plymouth Argyle in the EFL Trophy, and it feels to have been quite a while since Leyton Orient recorded their impressive 4-0 demolition of Doncaster Rovers in early October – a result that now looks more of an outlier than a representative effort.

Perhaps predictably for a Richie Wellens side, Leyton Orient are a side that enjoy the majority of possession on average, without going full tiki-taka. Sitting 6th in the ‘Possession’ league table, Orient are roughly on par with sides like Barnsley, Doncaster Rovers, Peterborough United and Huddersfield Town with 53.15 % possession as an overall average. In terms of xG, Leyton Orient sit bang-smack in the middle of the League One table with an expected return of 1.35 goals per game, while achieving greater than that with a return of actual goals scored of 1.60 – the joint third highest in the division. That tracks with Orient being joint 2nd highest scorers in League One, tied with Huddersfield Town on 32, behind only Cardiff City (36).

Goals, then, haven’t been too much of a problem, it’s all about the backline – where Orient’s 33 goals conceded is the highest in the division. While Wellens has been known as an attack-minded manager, that kind of statistic acts as a millstone around the neck of the club. Leyton Orient have, shockingly, conceded 20 more goals than 5th place Stevenage…

Dom Ballard (8) and Aaron Connolly (8) are the club’s top league goalscorers, with Idris El Mizouni (4) and Josh Koroma (3) the most likely to contribute from midfield. Ollie O’Neill (2) and Richie’s son Charlie Wellens (2) are the other players with more than 1 league goal this season. Aaron Connolly, the Sky Bet League One Player of the Month for November, has however undergone surgery to address a quad injury, and is expected to be out for four months.

Leyton Orient’s loss should benefit City, but keeping a lid on other attacking threats will be key if City aren’t able to outscore their opponents.

Barnsley 3 – 2 Leyton Orient


Leyton Orient 1 – 1 Luton Town


Bradford City:
Bradford City continued their impressive run of league form with another defensive shut out, this time against last season’s 7th place finishers Reading. Antoni Sarcevic and Bobby Pointon both grabbed their 7th goals of the season, the latter on his 100th appearance in the Bantams’ first team. That puts both Sarcevic and Pointon as the division’s joint 7th top scorers, tied with the likes of Mason Burstow of Bolton Wanderers, Ashley Fletcher of Blackpool, and Jamie Reid of Stevenage – all centre forwards for their respective clubs.

It's quite the achievement for the attacking midfield pair, but their mixture of youth and experience has proven to be the ace up City’s sleeve several times this campaign, and both will be hungry for more. With each player averaging in the region of a goal every other start, Leyton Orient’s fragile backline will have its hands full not only in terms of attacking threat and clean footwork, but also a vaunted high press and a knack for appearing in the right place at the right time – a fixture of City’s best moments this season.

Moreover, it looks like City have now turned the corner, their shaky form throughout October and November behind them after 3 straight league wins and 4 straight league clean sheets. Such patches of form have been a feature of Graham Alexander’s tenure at the Bantams, and should they have managed to steer the ship through unsteady waters and still maintained an automatic promotion place, then things are looking very positive indeed. That does mean that a trip to Leyton Orient will be easy, however, and City will need to rely heavily on their excellent recent defensive record against a side that both score and concede rather too freely, but whose home form has taken a dip lately.

The fitness of players such as Andy Cook, Antoni Sarcevic and Stephen Humphrys was all hinted at by Graham Alexander after last weekend’s win over Reading. Cook is close to fitness but Alexander felt he looked “empty” in training, while Sarcevic’s withdrawal at the weekend sounds to be out of an abundance of caution. Humphrys is one the team have taken to heart a little, the feeling being he wasn’t withdrawn early enough, before “stiffening up”. It might be that he finds his way on to the bench with the ever-diligent Will Swan brought in to freshen things up in attack.

The options are good, but the foundation of the current form is definitely in defence. Shutting out Leyton Orient will be a great achievement – if they can do it.

Bradford City 2 – 0 Reading


Plymouth Argyle 0 – 1 Bradford City


Prediction:
Leyton Orient like to score and they like to concede. Recently, City’s form has been predicated on a solid back line and 4 consecutive league clean sheets. There is scope for things to go wrong; the 3-0 defeat at Bolton Wanderers in the EFL Trophy in the midst of that improved run of form stands as a stark reminder that Bradford City are hardly invulnerable. Against Richie Wellens’ Leyton Orient, that backline will be tested, and the chances are City do concede. One thing the Bantams haven’t had to do of late is out-score an opponent in any serious sense as opponents haven’t been scoring. That will provide an intriguing challenge to the front line if Leyton Orient happen to grab a goal or two.

While I don’t feel City are likely to rifle in 3 or 4, nor would I expect Leyton Orient to tear the City backline to shreds based on recent form and results. I can certainly see Orient grabbing a goal, but the loss of joint-top scorer Aaron Connolly is a major blow to the O’s. While Orient can still lean on Dom Ballard – who has scored 1 more than both Bobby Pointon and Antoni Sarcevic – the forward has scored just 2 in his last 10 outings. A hattrick at home to Doncaster Rovers back in October shows he is capable of great things, but it’s Connolly that was the form player in front of goal, and he will be a huge miss for the next 4 months or so.

It could be a good time to player Leyton Orient, then, but once again their potent attack is not to be underestimated. I do think City can get the better of their opponents even down at Brisbane Road, but it will be a close one. The pick will be a 2-1 win for City, and all eyes on the player that starts at the tip of the trident up front: Pointon and Sarcevic (if the latter is fit to start) are as good as anyone in those attacking midfield spots, but more will be needed from the striker. Whether it’s Swan, Cook or Humphrys, chances should present themselves against the leakiest defence in the division, and this could be a prime opportunity to start a good run of form for one of them on an individual level.

There will be few better chances to get the out-and-out striker firing, and Swan in particular could use a goal after a barren patch.

Final Score:
Leyton Orient 1 – 2 Bradford City