Emmen v De Graafschap — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Eerste Divisie · Friday, 11 September 2026. Final score 1–2 (half-time 1–1). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 68% 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 goals68%32%Over
Over 3.5 goals49%51%Over
Both teams to score65%35%Yes

The result model puts Emmen at 55%, the draw at 20% and De Graafschap at 25%, from expected goals of 2.32 and 1.53.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Eerste Divisie has produced over 2.5 goals in 64% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Emmen have 4 in 5 this season (2 of 3 at home), De Graafschap 4 in 5 (2 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 67% and 67%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 5 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 64% and 66%.

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 65%.

Head to head. These sides have met 5 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 80%. 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 66%.

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 74%, from expected goals of 2.32 for Emmen and 1.53 for De Graafschap. Folding in 30% of that view gives 68%.

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
Emmen580%80%60%
De Graafschap580%60%80%

Head to head

24 Apr 26Emmen 1–0 De GraafschapU2.5
5 Sept 25De Graafschap 2–3 EmmenO2.5
24 Jan 25De Graafschap 4–0 EmmenO2.5
25 Nov 24Emmen 3–0 De GraafschapO2.5
10 May 24Emmen 2–1 De GraafschapO2.5
25 Aug 23De Graafschap 0–1 EmmenU2.5

More: Emmen season stats · De Graafschap season stats · Eerste Divisie table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.