National League · Friday, 28 August 2026 · 19:45. Our rating makes this 53% to go over 2.5 goals, so our lean is over. The National League average is 57%.
Open this match in the app →| Market | Yes | No | Our call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over 2.5 goals | 53% | 47% | Over |
| Over 3.5 goals | 31% | 69% | no pick |
| Both teams to score | 50% | 50% | Yes |
The result model puts Wealdstone at 35%, the draw at 24% and Carlisle at 41%, from expected goals of 1.41 and 1.55.
The league sets the starting point. National League has produced over 2.5 goals in 57% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.
Each side's own record. Wealdstone have 2 in 2 this season (1 of 1 at home), Carlisle 1 in 2 (0 of 1 away). 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 60% 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 14 — the point at which our testing showed they stop adding accuracy. That moves the two figures to 56% and 59%.
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 57%.
Head to head. These sides have met 2 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 0%. 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 52%.
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 57%, from expected goals of 1.41 for Wealdstone and 1.55 for Carlisle. Folding in 30% of that view gives 53%.
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.
| Team | Games | O2.5 | O3.5 | BTTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wealdstone | 2 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Carlisle | 2 | 50% | 50% | 100% |
More: Wealdstone season stats · Carlisle season stats · National League table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.