Maccabi Haifa v Hapoel Petah Tikva — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Ligat Ha'al · Saturday, 5 September 2026 · 18:30. Our rating makes this 58% to go over 2.5 goals, so our lean is over. The Ligat Ha'al average is 55%.

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Our ratings for this match

MarketYesNoOur call
Over 2.5 goals58%42%Over
Over 3.5 goals39%61%no pick
Both teams to score56%44%Yes

The result model puts Maccabi Haifa at 61%, the draw at 20% and Hapoel Petah Tikva at 19%, from expected goals of 2.11 and 1.08.

Bookmaker prices and where we differ

MarketPriceImpliedOur ratingEdge
Over 2.5 goals1.7055%58%+3%
Under 2.5 goals2.1045%42%-3%
Both teams to score1.6756%56%+0%

Implied percentages have the bookmaker's margin removed, so they add to 100 and can be compared with our rating directly. Edge is simply the gap between the two. A positive edge means our model thinks the outcome is likelier than the price suggests — it is not a tip, and a high probability with a negative edge is a poor bet however safe it looks. Prices are a pre-match snapshot from a single bookmaker and move constantly.

Match odds: Maccabi Haifa 1.67, draw 3.60, Hapoel Petah Tikva 4.20.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Ligat Ha'al has produced over 2.5 goals in 55% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Maccabi Haifa have 2 in 2 this season (1 of 1 at home), Hapoel Petah Tikva 0 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 59% and 50%.

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 61% and 55%.

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 6 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 50%. 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 56%.

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 2.11 for Maccabi Haifa and 1.08 for Hapoel Petah Tikva. Folding in 30% of that view gives 58%.

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
Maccabi Haifa2100%50%100%
Hapoel Petah Tikva20%0%0%

Head to head

16 May 26Maccabi Haifa 1–1 Hapoel Petah TikvaU2.5
2 May 26Hapoel Petah Tikva 1–2 Maccabi HaifaO2.5
21 Feb 26Maccabi Haifa 0–1 Hapoel Petah TikvaU2.5
29 Nov 25Hapoel Petah Tikva 0–0 Maccabi HaifaU2.5
3 Jan 24Hapoel Petah Tikva 2–2 Maccabi HaifaO2.5
25 Nov 23Maccabi Haifa 2–1 Hapoel Petah TikvaO2.5

More: Maccabi Haifa season stats · Hapoel Petah Tikva 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.