Bnei Sakhnin v Maccabi Petah Tikva — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Ligat Ha'al · Saturday, 29 August 2026 · 18:00. Our rating makes this 45% to go over 2.5 goals, so our lean is under. The Ligat Ha'al average is 53%.

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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 score51%49%Yes

The result model puts Bnei Sakhnin at 31%, the draw at 27% and Maccabi Petah Tikva at 42%, from expected goals of 1.14 and 1.37.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Ligat Ha'al has produced over 2.5 goals in 53% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Bnei Sakhnin have 15 in 33 this season (7 of 17 at home), Maccabi Petah Tikva 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 53%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 33 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 48% and 48%.

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 49%.

Head to head. These sides have met 5 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 40%. 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 48%.

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 46%, from expected goals of 1.14 for Bnei Sakhnin and 1.37 for Maccabi Petah Tikva. Folding in 30% of that view gives 47%.

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 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
Bnei Sakhnin3345%18%36%
Maccabi Petah Tikva0

Head to head

19 Apr 25Maccabi Petah Tikva 1–2 Bnei SakhninO2.5
14 Dec 24Maccabi Petah Tikva 1–1 Bnei SakhninU2.5
24 Aug 24Bnei Sakhnin 2–0 Maccabi Petah TikvaU2.5
21 Jan 24Bnei Sakhnin 1–1 Maccabi Petah TikvaU2.5
30 Sept 23Maccabi Petah Tikva 5–1 Bnei SakhninO2.5
12 Mar 22Maccabi Petah Tikva 0–1 Bnei SakhninU2.5

Things worth knowing

More: Bnei Sakhnin season stats · Ligat Ha'al table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.