New Mexico United v Orange County SC — prediction, stats and goal analysis

USL Championship · Sunday, 14 June 2026. Final score 1–1 (half-time 1–1). 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 goals30%70%no pick
Both teams to score53%47%Yes

The result model puts New Mexico United at 49%, the draw at 25% and Orange County SC at 26%, from expected goals of 1.67 and 1.15.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. USL Championship has produced over 2.5 goals in 51% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. New Mexico United have 5 in 10 this season (3 of 5 at home), Orange County SC 3 in 11 (2 of 5 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 50% and 43%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 10 and 11 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 54% and 53%.

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 53%.

Head to head. These sides have met 7 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 43%. 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 52%.

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 53%, from expected goals of 1.67 for New Mexico United and 1.15 for Orange County SC. 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
New Mexico United1050%30%40%
Orange County SC1127%27%45%

Head to head

5 Apr 26Orange County SC 0–1 New Mexico UnitedU2.5
9 Nov 25New Mexico United 2–1 Orange County SCO2.5
12 Oct 25New Mexico United 3–3 Orange County SCO2.5
18 May 25Orange County SC 0–3 New Mexico UnitedO2.5
20 Oct 24Orange County SC 0–0 New Mexico UnitedU2.5
4 Jul 24New Mexico United 2–0 Orange County SCU2.5

More: New Mexico United season stats · Orange County SC season stats · USL Championship table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.