Molde v Valerenga — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Eliteserien · Sunday, 26 April 2026. Final score 5–1 (half-time 1–1). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 60% 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 goals60%40%Over
Over 3.5 goals40%60%no pick
Both teams to score55%45%Yes

The result model puts Molde at 56%, the draw at 23% and Valerenga at 21%, from expected goals of 1.89 and 1.09.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Eliteserien has produced over 2.5 goals in 61% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Molde have 2 in 5 this season (1 of 3 at home), Valerenga 0 in 5 (0 of 2 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 57% and 50%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 5 and 5 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 60% and 59%.

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 60%.

Head to head. These sides have met 4 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 75%. 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 61%.

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 57%, from expected goals of 1.89 for Molde and 1.09 for Valerenga. Folding in 30% of that view gives 60%.

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
Molde540%40%60%
Valerenga50%0%20%

Head to head

28 Sept 25Molde 4–1 ValerengaO2.5
22 Jun 25Valerenga 2–3 MoldeO2.5
19 Aug 23Molde 0–0 ValerengaU2.5
15 Jul 23Valerenga 0–4 MoldeO2.5
13 Nov 22Valerenga 1–2 MoldeO2.5
2 Apr 22Molde 1–0 ValerengaU2.5

More: Molde season stats · Valerenga season stats · Eliteserien table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.