1899 Hoffenheim v VfB Stuttgart — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Bundesliga · Saturday, 12 September 2026. Final score 2–1 (half-time 1–0). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 71% 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 goals71%29%Over
Over 3.5 goals52%48%Over
Both teams to score67%33%Yes

The result model puts 1899 Hoffenheim at 47%, the draw at 20% and VfB Stuttgart at 33%, from expected goals of 2.42 and 2.02.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Bundesliga 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. 1899 Hoffenheim have 2 in 2 this season (1 of 1 at home), VfB Stuttgart 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 67% and 67%.

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 67% and 69%.

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 67%.

Head to head. These sides have met 6 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 50%. 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 67%.

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 82%, from expected goals of 2.42 for 1899 Hoffenheim and 2.02 for VfB Stuttgart. Folding in 30% of that view gives 71%.

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
1899 Hoffenheim2100%100%100%
VfB Stuttgart2100%100%100%

Head to head

2 May 261899 Hoffenheim 3–3 VfB StuttgartO2.5
20 Dec 25VfB Stuttgart 0–0 1899 HoffenheimU2.5
23 Feb 251899 Hoffenheim 1–1 VfB StuttgartU2.5
6 Oct 24VfB Stuttgart 1–1 1899 HoffenheimU2.5
16 Mar 241899 Hoffenheim 0–3 VfB StuttgartO2.5
28 Oct 23VfB Stuttgart 2–3 1899 HoffenheimO2.5

More: 1899 Hoffenheim season stats · VfB Stuttgart season stats · Bundesliga table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.