MLS · Sunday, 30 August 2026 · 00:30. Our rating makes this 60% to go over 2.5 goals, so our lean is over. The MLS average is 60%.
Open this match in the app →| Market | Yes | No | Our call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over 2.5 goals | 60% | 40% | Over |
| Over 3.5 goals | 32% | 68% | no pick |
| Both teams to score | 62% | 38% | Yes |
The result model puts Columbus Crew at 43%, the draw at 26% and New England Revolution at 31%, from expected goals of 1.46 and 1.21.
The league sets the starting point. MLS has produced over 2.5 goals in 60% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.
Each side's own record. Columbus Crew have 14 in 20 this season (5 of 10 at home), New England Revolution 13 in 20 (6 of 9 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 61% and 63%.
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 62%.
Head to head. These sides have met 6 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 83%. 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 64%.
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 50%, from expected goals of 1.46 for Columbus Crew and 1.21 for New England Revolution. Folding in 30% of that view gives 60%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus Crew | 20 | 70% | 35% | 75% |
| New England Revolution | 20 | 65% | 25% | 55% |
More: Columbus Crew season stats · New England Revolution season stats · MLS table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.