Lillestrom v Sandefjord — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Eliteserien · Saturday, 16 May 2026. Final score 3–1 (half-time 1–0). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 58% 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 goals58%42%Over
Over 3.5 goals39%61%no pick
Both teams to score54%46%Yes

The result model puts Lillestrom at 43%, the draw at 24% and Sandefjord at 32%, from expected goals of 1.67 and 1.42.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Eliteserien has produced over 2.5 goals in 60% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Lillestrom have 3 in 8 this season (2 of 3 at home), Sandefjord 2 in 8 (2 of 4 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 52%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 8 and 8 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 55% and 61%.

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 58%.

Head to head. These sides have met 4 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 50%. 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 58%.

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 60%, from expected goals of 1.67 for Lillestrom and 1.42 for Sandefjord. Folding in 30% of that view gives 58%.

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
Lillestrom838%38%25%
Sandefjord825%13%25%

Head to head

23 Nov 24Lillestrom 0–3 SandefjordO2.5
21 Apr 24Sandefjord 0–1 LillestromU2.5
3 Dec 23Sandefjord 1–0 LillestromU2.5
16 Jul 23Lillestrom 4–2 SandefjordO2.5
21 Aug 22Lillestrom 3–0 SandefjordO2.5
21 May 22Sandefjord 1–4 LillestromO2.5

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