Forge v Cavalry FC — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Canadian Premier League · Saturday, 18 April 2026. Final score 0–0 (half-time 0–0). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 53% for over 2.5 goals. This match is older than our frozen ratings ledger, which keeps 30 days, so that figure is a reconstruction from pre-match data rather than a number we published at the time — a distinction worth making, because only the frozen ones prove what we actually said beforehand.

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Our ratings for this match

MarketYesNoOur call
Over 2.5 goals53%47%Over
Over 3.5 goals31%69%no pick
Both teams to score55%45%Yes

The result model puts Forge at 54%, the draw at 26% and Cavalry FC at 21%, from expected goals of 1.59 and 0.88.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Canadian Premier League has produced over 2.5 goals in 59% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Forge have 0 in 2 this season (0 of 1 at home), Cavalry FC 2 in 2 (1 of 1 away). Those records are pulled toward the league rate with the weight of about 24 matches — enough that two or three unusual games cannot swing a rating — giving 55% and 62%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 2 and 2 games played this season, last season's rates are still blended in and fade out entirely by game 40 — the point at which our testing showed they stop adding accuracy. A single season is part luck, so each club's record is first pulled toward the league average by 34 games' weight. That moves the two figures to 53% and 60%.

The mix. Weighted 40% home side, 40% away side and 20% league — the split that beat every alternative across 30,582 matches of testing — that gives 57%.

Head to head. These sides have met 16 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 44%. That nudges the number 5% of the way toward the head-to-head pattern — deliberately small, because fixtures change more than reputations do — landing on 57%.

Goal expectation. Separately a Poisson model built from attack and defence strength — using real expected-goals data where the league has it — puts this match at 45%, from expected goals of 1.59 for Forge and 0.88 for Cavalry FC. Folding in 30% of that view gives 53%.

This breakdown is generated from the same inputs the rating uses, so it cannot describe a calculation we did not perform. The full model is set out in the methodology.

Season form

TeamGamesO2.5O3.5BTTS
Forge20%0%0%
Cavalry FC2100%50%100%

Head to head

2 Nov 25Forge 0–1 Cavalry FCU2.5
11 Oct 25Cavalry FC 1–1 ForgeU2.5
30 Aug 25Cavalry FC 4–1 ForgeO2.5
31 May 25Forge 1–1 Cavalry FCU2.5
5 Apr 25Forge 1–0 Cavalry FCU2.5
9 Nov 24Cavalry FC 2–1 ForgeO2.5

More: Forge season stats · Cavalry FC season stats · Canadian Premier League table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.