EFL Cup · Tuesday, 15 September 2026 · 19:45. Our rating makes this 50% to go over 2.5 goals, though we make no pick on this fixture — see below. The EFL Cup average is 55%.
Open this match in the app →| Market | Yes | No | Our call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over 2.5 goals | 50% | 50% | no pick |
| Over 3.5 goals | 25% | 75% | no pick |
| Both teams to score | 50% | 50% | no pick |
The result model puts West Ham at 49%, the draw at 25% and Fulham at 26%, from expected goals of 1.57 and 1.07.
The league sets the starting point. EFL Cup 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. West Ham have 0 in 0 this season, Fulham 1 in 2 (0 of 1 away). Those records are pulled toward the league rate with the weight of about 32 matches — enough that two or three unusual games cannot swing a rating — giving 55% and 53%.
Last season still counts, briefly. With 0 and 2 games played this season, last season's rates are still blended in and fade out entirely by game 14 — the point at which our testing showed they stop adding accuracy. That moves the two figures to 61% and 50%.
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 55%.
Head to head. These sides have met 6 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 33%. That nudges the number 10% of the way toward the head-to-head pattern — deliberately small, because fixtures change more than reputations do — landing on 53%.
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 1.57 for West Ham and 1.07 for Fulham. Folding in 30% of that view gives 52%.
Season opener. One of these sides has not played a league game yet. Openers run about 2.5 points under their league's norm, measured across 2,727 of them, so the rating is docked to 50%.
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.
More: West Ham season stats · Fulham season stats · EFL Cup table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.