Angel City W v Washington Spirit W — prediction, stats and goal analysis

NWSL (W) · Monday, 17 August 2026. Final score 1–1 (half-time 0–0). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 49% 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 goals49%51%Under
Over 3.5 goals27%73%no pick
Both teams to score54%46%Yes

The result model puts Angel City W at 25%, the draw at 28% and Washington Spirit W at 47%, from expected goals of 0.98 and 1.43.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. NWSL (W) has produced over 2.5 goals in 47% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Angel City W have 11 in 17 this season (7 of 9 at home), Washington Spirit W 8 in 19 (4 of 10 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 54% and 45%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 17 and 19 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 51% and 46%.

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 48%.

Head to head. These sides have met 4 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 100%. 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 51%.

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 43%, from expected goals of 0.98 for Angel City W and 1.43 for Washington Spirit W. Folding in 30% of that view gives 49%.

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
Angel City W1765%18%65%
Washington Spirit W1942%21%42%

Head to head

19 Sept 25Angel City W 2–2 Washington Spirit WO2.5
3 May 25Washington Spirit W 3–4 Angel City WO2.5
28 Sept 24Angel City W 1–2 Washington Spirit WO2.5
19 May 24Washington Spirit W 4–2 Angel City WO2.5
11 Jun 23Washington Spirit W 2–1 Angel City WO2.5
14 May 23Angel City W 0–1 Washington Spirit WU2.5

More: Angel City W season stats · Washington Spirit W season stats · NWSL (W) table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.