Sumqayıt v Neftchi Baku — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Premyer Liqa · Sunday, 16 August 2026 · 16:00. Final score 1–3 (half-time 0–2). Before kick-off we rated it 52% under 2.5 goals — the match finished with 4, so that call missed. 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 goals48%52%Under
Over 3.5 goals26%74%no pick
Both teams to score48%52%No

The result model puts Sumqayıt at 40%, the draw at 27% and Neftchi Baku at 33%, from expected goals of 1.29 and 1.15.

Bookmaker prices and where we differ

MarketPriceImpliedOur ratingEdge
Over 2.5 goals2.0047%48%+0%
Under 2.5 goals1.8053%52%0%
Both teams to score1.8350%48%-2%

Implied percentages have the bookmaker's margin removed, so they add to 100 and can be compared with our rating directly. Edge is simply the gap between the two. A positive edge means our model thinks the outcome is likelier than the price suggests — it is not a tip, and a high probability with a negative edge is a poor bet however safe it looks. Prices are a pre-match snapshot from a single bookmaker and move constantly.

Match odds: Sumqayıt 3.75, draw 3.20, Neftchi Baku 1.90.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Premyer Liqa has produced over 2.5 goals in 48% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Sumqayıt have 0 in 0 this season, Neftchi Baku 0 in 0. 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 48% and 48%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 0 and 0 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 56% 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%.

Head to head. These sides have met 11 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 45%. 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 53%.

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 1.29 for Sumqayıt and 1.15 for Neftchi Baku. Folding in 30% of that view gives 50%.

Season opener. One of these sides has not played a league game yet. Openers run about 2.5 points under their league's norm, measured across 2,727 of them, so the rating is docked to 48%.

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
Sumqayıt0
Neftchi Baku0

Head to head

5 Apr 26Sumqayıt 1–3 Neftchi BakuO2.5
15 Dec 25Neftchi Baku 2–2 SumqayıtO2.5
21 Sept 25Sumqayıt 0–2 Neftchi BakuU2.5
28 Apr 25Sumqayıt 2–2 Neftchi BakuO2.5
21 Feb 25Neftchi Baku 1–0 SumqayıtU2.5
8 Dec 24Sumqayıt 2–0 Neftchi BakuU2.5

Things worth knowing

More: Sumqayıt season stats · Neftchi Baku season stats · Premyer Liqa table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.