Hapoel Beer Sheva v Maccabi Tel Aviv — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Ligat Ha'al · Monday, 7 September 2026. Final score 1–4 (half-time 1–2). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 62% 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 goals62%38%Over
Over 3.5 goals45%55%no pick
Both teams to score61%39%Yes

The result model puts Hapoel Beer Sheva at 42%, the draw at 22% and Maccabi Tel Aviv at 36%, from expected goals of 2.02 and 1.87.

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. Hapoel Beer Sheva have 2 in 2 this season (1 of 1 at home), Maccabi Tel Aviv 2 in 2 (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 59% and 59%.

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 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 62%.

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 58%.

Head to head. These sides have met 12 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 42%. 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 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 75%, from expected goals of 2.02 for Hapoel Beer Sheva and 1.87 for Maccabi Tel Aviv. Folding in 30% of that view gives 62%.

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
Hapoel Beer Sheva2100%50%100%
Maccabi Tel Aviv2100%100%100%

Head to head

19 May 26Hapoel Beer Sheva 4–2 Maccabi Tel AvivO2.5
28 Apr 26Maccabi Tel Aviv 1–0 Hapoel Beer ShevaU2.5
12 Apr 26Maccabi Tel Aviv 1–3 Hapoel Beer ShevaO2.5
7 Dec 25Hapoel Beer Sheva 1–0 Maccabi Tel AvivU2.5
5 May 25Maccabi Tel Aviv 1–1 Hapoel Beer ShevaU2.5
31 Mar 25Hapoel Beer Sheva 1–3 Maccabi Tel AvivO2.5

More: Hapoel Beer Sheva season stats · Maccabi Tel Aviv 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.