Kristiansund BK v Sarpsborg 08 FF — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Eliteserien · Saturday, 18 July 2026. Final score 0–0 (half-time 0–0). 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 goals38%62%no pick
Both teams to score56%44%Yes

The result model puts Kristiansund BK at 31%, the draw at 25% and Sarpsborg 08 FF at 44%, from expected goals of 1.3 and 1.62.

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. Kristiansund BK have 6 in 12 this season (3 of 5 at home), Sarpsborg 08 FF 6 in 12 (4 of 6 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 57%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 12 and 12 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 59% and 62%.

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 61%.

Head to head. These sides have met 4 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 25%. 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 59%.

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 56%, from expected goals of 1.3 for Kristiansund BK and 1.62 for Sarpsborg 08 FF. 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
Kristiansund BK1250%17%50%
Sarpsborg 08 FF1250%17%58%

Head to head

25 Aug 25Sarpsborg 08 FF 0–1 Kristiansund BKU2.5
13 Jul 25Kristiansund BK 0–0 Sarpsborg 08 FFU2.5
15 Sept 24Sarpsborg 08 FF 0–2 Kristiansund BKU2.5
2 Jun 24Kristiansund BK 3–1 Sarpsborg 08 FFO2.5
6 Nov 22Sarpsborg 08 FF 2–2 Kristiansund BKO2.5
10 Apr 22Kristiansund BK 2–3 Sarpsborg 08 FFO2.5

More: Kristiansund BK season stats · Sarpsborg 08 FF season stats · Eliteserien table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.