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United prepare to welcome Leyton Orient to Cumbria this weekend, with the Blues harbouring high hopes of improving on their excellent record against the O's, having chalked up an impressive 13 wins out of 18 previous matches, although the Cumbrians have tasted defeat the last two times they have hosted the East Londoners on home soil.
The most recent of those two games was in late September last season, as both clubs were in the early stages of successful League Two promotion campaigns, with Orient inflicting a 3-2 defeat on United. Brendan McGill gave the Blues an early fourth minute lead only for Gary Alexander to equalise six minutes later on an awful afternoon defensively for United. A Matt Lockwood penalty and a Jabo Ibehre shot gave Orient a 3-1 half-time lead, Peter Murphy's 90th minute goal proving to be little solace for Carlisle on a disappointing afternoon.
Orient manager Martin Ling's first game as O's boss was the 1-0 home win over United in late September 2003, in one of a wretched run of 12 league defeats on the bounce for a Conference-bound Carlisle side. Jabo Ibehre once more scoring against the Blues in the 66th minute to take all three points back down to London. All Cumbrians will prefer to remember the 6-1 hammering of Orient way back in January 2002 though, a day when United were 4-0 up after just 17 minutes and 5-0 to the good at half-time, veteran striker Ian Stevens bagging a hat-trick in front of a paltry crowd in the darkest Michael Knighton days of just 2,955 spectators at an echoey Brunton Park.
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here
| Recent encounters between the teams: | |||||
| 2005/2006 | Sat 11 Feb | Leyton Orient | 0 - 0 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 2005/2006 | Sat 24 Sep | Carlisle | 2 - 3 | Leyton Orient | LGE2 |
| 2003/2004 | Mon 12 Apr | Leyton Orient | 1 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 2003/2004 | Tue 30 Sep | Carlisle | 0 - 1 | Leyton Orient | LGE2 |
| 2002/2003 | Sat 25 Jan | Carlisle | 3 - 0 | Leyton Orient | LGE2 |
| 2002/2003 | Sat 28 Dec | Leyton Orient | 2 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
| 2001/2002 | Sat 12 Jan | Carlisle | 6 - 1 | Leyton Orient | LGE2 |
Recent respective form guides
Carlisle United have an excellent home record, winning five and losing just one of the last six games at Brunton Park, that single defeat coming in a 2-1 reverse against Torquay. A total of ten goals have been scored by the Cumbrians in those six matches, with five conceded.
Leyton Orient have an average recent record on the road, with two wins, two draws, and two defeats in their last six outings away from the Matchroom Stadium. The O's have scored six goals in those games and have let in eight at the other end.
Carlisle's four points from three games, after a win, a draw and a defeat, sees them lie just inside the top half of the table, in 12th position. Leyton Orient's six points from three games, following an away loss then two home wins, puts them three places above the Cumbrians in the League Two standings.
For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here
| Current home and away form guides: | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
| Carlisle | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 8 |
| Leyton Orient | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 9 | 13 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
United are starting to turn Brunton Park into a fortress, but the quality of opposition for this game makes your FootyMad panel believe the teams will share the spoils on this occasion. Score draw
| Sequence statistics: | |
| Carlisle | Ten games since last home draw. |
| Leyton Orient | Last drawn game six outings ago. |