SKN ST. Polten v FC BW Linz — prediction, stats and goal analysis

2. Liga · Friday, 14 August 2026. Final score 0–1 (half-time 0–0). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 51% 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.

Open this match in the app →

Our ratings for this match

MarketYesNoOur call
Over 2.5 goals51%49%Over
Over 3.5 goals26%74%no pick
Both teams to score50%50%Yes

The result model puts SKN ST. Polten at 40%, the draw at 28% and FC BW Linz at 32%, from expected goals of 1.3 and 1.12.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. 2. Liga 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. SKN ST. Polten have 0 in 2 this season (0 of 1 at home), FC BW Linz 2 in 2 (1 of 1 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 47% and 55%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 2 and 2 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 55%.

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 54%.

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 44%, from expected goals of 1.3 for SKN ST. Polten and 1.12 for FC BW Linz. Folding in 30% of that view gives 51%.

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
SKN ST. Polten20%0%0%
FC BW Linz2100%0%0%

Head to head

12 May 23SKN ST. Polten 0–2 FC BW LinzU2.5
16 Sept 22FC BW Linz 0–1 SKN ST. PoltenU2.5
25 Feb 22SKN ST. Polten 1–1 FC BW LinzU2.5
6 Aug 21FC BW Linz 1–1 SKN ST. PoltenU2.5

More: SKN ST. Polten season stats · FC BW Linz season stats · 2. Liga table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.