Fukushima United v Nara Club — prediction, stats and goal analysis

J3 League · Saturday, 29 August 2026. Final score 2–2 (half-time 0–0). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 57% 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 goals57%43%Over
Over 3.5 goals33%67%no pick
Both teams to score60%40%Yes

The result model puts Fukushima United at 52%, the draw at 22% and Nara Club at 26%, from expected goals of 2.06 and 1.42.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. J3 League 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. Fukushima United have 3 in 3 this season (1 of 1 at home), Nara Club 3 in 3 (1 of 1 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 53% and 53%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 3 and 3 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 57% 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 51%.

Head to head. These sides have met 5 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 60%. 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 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 68%, from expected goals of 2.06 for Fukushima United and 1.42 for Nara Club. Folding in 30% of that view gives 57%.

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
Fukushima United3100%33%100%
Nara Club3100%100%100%

Head to head

16 Nov 25Fukushima United 2–1 Nara ClubO2.5
16 Feb 25Nara Club 2–2 Fukushima UnitedO2.5
2 Nov 24Nara Club 1–1 Fukushima UnitedU2.5
6 May 24Fukushima United 2–1 Nara ClubO2.5
14 Oct 23Nara Club 1–1 Fukushima UnitedU2.5
1 Jul 23Fukushima United 0–5 Nara ClubO2.5

More: Fukushima United season stats · Nara Club season stats · J3 League table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.