Rayo Vallecano v Alaves — prediction, stats and goal analysis

La Liga · Thursday, 20 August 2026 · 20:00. Our rating makes this 45% to go over 2.5 goals, so our lean is under. The La Liga average is 50%.

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Our ratings for this match

MarketYesNoOur call
Over 2.5 goals45%55%Under
Over 3.5 goals22%78%no pick
Both teams to score52%48%Yes

The result model puts Rayo Vallecano at 52%, the draw at 24% and Alaves at 24%, from expected goals of 1.68 and 1.08.

Bookmaker prices and where we differ

MarketPriceImpliedOur ratingEdge
Over 2.5 goals2.7534%45%+11%
Under 2.5 goals1.4466%55%-11%
Both teams to score2.2042%52%+9%

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: Rayo Vallecano 2.20, draw 3.20, Alaves 3.30.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. La Liga has produced over 2.5 goals in 50% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Rayo Vallecano have 1 in 1 this season, Alaves 1 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 52% and 52%.

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 38% and 50%.

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 45%.

Head to head. These sides have met 6 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 17%. 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 42%.

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 52%, from expected goals of 1.68 for Rayo Vallecano and 1.08 for Alaves. Folding in 30% of that view gives 45%.

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
Rayo Vallecano1100%0%100%
Alaves1100%0%0%

Head to head

23 May 26Alaves 1–2 Rayo VallecanoO2.5
14 Jan 26Alaves 2–0 Rayo VallecanoU2.5
26 Oct 25Rayo Vallecano 1–0 AlavesU2.5
29 Mar 25Alaves 0–2 Rayo VallecanoU2.5
26 Oct 24Rayo Vallecano 1–0 AlavesU2.5
10 Mar 24Alaves 1–0 Rayo VallecanoU2.5

More: Rayo Vallecano season stats · Alaves season stats · La Liga table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.