Queen of the South v Airdrie United — prediction, stats and goal analysis

League One · Saturday, 5 September 2026. Final score 2–1 (half-time 0–1). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 49% 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 goals49%51%Under
Over 3.5 goals29%71%no pick
Both teams to score52%48%Yes

The result model puts Queen of the South at 41%, the draw at 27% and Airdrie United at 31%, from expected goals of 1.37 and 1.16.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. League One has produced over 2.5 goals in 49% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Queen of the South have 2 in 4 this season (0 of 2 at home), Airdrie United 2 in 5 (1 of 2 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 50% and 48%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 4 and 5 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 51% 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%.

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 1.37 for Queen of the South and 1.16 for Airdrie United. Folding in 30% of that view gives 48%.

Calibration. Tested against 97,729 past matches, our ratings below 55% have run consistently too pessimistic — a figure in the high 30s, for instance, has come in about four points higher. So ratings in that range are lifted part-way back, giving 49%.

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
Queen of the South450%25%50%
Airdrie United540%40%40%

Head to head

29 Apr 23Airdrie United 1–3 Queen of the SouthO2.5
4 Mar 23Queen of the South 3–2 Airdrie UnitedO2.5
8 Oct 22Airdrie United 3–3 Queen of the SouthO2.5
13 Aug 22Queen of the South 1–1 Airdrie UnitedU2.5

More: Queen of the South season stats · Airdrie United season stats · League One table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.