Arminia Bielefeld v FC St. Pauli — prediction, stats and goal analysis

2. Bundesliga · Friday, 4 September 2026. Final score 2–2 (half-time 1–1). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 59% 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 goals59%41%Over
Over 3.5 goals36%64%no pick
Both teams to score61%39%Yes

The result model puts Arminia Bielefeld at 50%, the draw at 23% and FC St. Pauli at 27%, from expected goals of 1.86 and 1.32.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. 2. Bundesliga has produced over 2.5 goals in 58% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Arminia Bielefeld have 3 in 3 this season (1 of 1 at home), FC St. Pauli 2 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 63% and 59%.

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 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%.

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 62%, from expected goals of 1.86 for Arminia Bielefeld and 1.32 for FC St. Pauli. Folding in 30% of that view gives 59%.

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
Arminia Bielefeld3100%33%67%
FC St. Pauli367%33%100%

Head to head

29 Apr 23FC St. Pauli 2–1 Arminia BielefeldO2.5
22 Oct 22Arminia Bielefeld 2–0 FC St. PauliU2.5

More: Arminia Bielefeld season stats · FC St. Pauli season stats · 2. Bundesliga table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.