Zalaegerszegi TE v Puskas Academy — prediction, stats and goal analysis

NB I · Sunday, 6 September 2026. Final score 1–0 (half-time 1–0). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 54% 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 goals54%46%Over
Over 3.5 goals32%68%no pick
Both teams to score57%43%no pick

The result model puts Zalaegerszegi TE at 37%, the draw at 27% and Puskas Academy at 36%, from expected goals of 1.33 and 1.32.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. NB I 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. Zalaegerszegi TE have 4 in 6 this season (1 of 2 at home), Puskas Academy 3 in 6 (1 of 3 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 61% and 58%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 6 and 6 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 56%.

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 9 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 44%. 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 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 49%, from expected goals of 1.33 for Zalaegerszegi TE and 1.32 for Puskas Academy. Folding in 30% of that view gives 54%.

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
Zalaegerszegi TE667%33%17%
Puskas Academy650%33%50%

Head to head

1 May 26Zalaegerszegi TE 1–3 Puskas AcademyO2.5
8 Feb 26Puskas Academy 0–1 Zalaegerszegi TEU2.5
19 Oct 25Zalaegerszegi TE 0–1 Puskas AcademyU2.5
16 Mar 25Puskas Academy 2–1 Zalaegerszegi TEO2.5
9 Nov 24Zalaegerszegi TE 4–2 Puskas AcademyO2.5
4 Aug 24Puskas Academy 2–1 Zalaegerszegi TEO2.5

More: Zalaegerszegi TE season stats · Puskas Academy season stats · NB I table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.