Kilmarnock v Celtic — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Premiership · Sunday, 9 August 2026. Final score 1–5 (half-time 0–3). Before kick-off we rated it 61% over 2.5 goals — the match finished with 6, so that call landed. That rating was frozen into a version-controlled ledger before the game and has not been touched since.

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Our ratings for this match

MarketYesNoOur call
Over 2.5 goals63%37%Over
Over 3.5 goals40%60%no pick
Both teams to score54%46%Yes

The result model puts Kilmarnock at 31%, the draw at 24% and Celtic at 46%, from expected goals of 1.35 and 1.7.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Premiership has produced over 2.5 goals in 52% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Kilmarnock have 1 in 1 this season, Celtic 0 in 1. Those records are pulled toward the league rate with the weight of about 32 matches — enough that two or three unusual games cannot swing a rating — giving 53% and 50%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 1 and 1 games played this season, last season's rates are still blended in and fade out entirely by game 14 — the point at which our testing showed they stop adding accuracy. That moves the two figures to 65% and 67%.

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 63%.

Head to head. These sides have met 10 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 80%. That nudges the number 10% of the way toward the head-to-head pattern — deliberately small, because fixtures change more than reputations do — landing on 65%.

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 59%, from expected goals of 1.35 for Kilmarnock and 1.7 for Celtic. Folding in 30% of that view gives 63%.

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
Kilmarnock1100%100%100%
Celtic10%0%0%

Head to head

15 Feb 26Kilmarnock 2–3 CelticO2.5
9 Nov 25Celtic 4–0 KilmarnockO2.5
14 Sept 25Kilmarnock 1–2 CelticO2.5
12 Apr 25Celtic 5–1 KilmarnockO2.5
10 Nov 24Kilmarnock 0–2 CelticU2.5
4 Aug 24Celtic 4–0 KilmarnockO2.5

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