Den Bosch v Helmond Sport — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Eerste Divisie · Friday, 18 September 2026. Final score 2–1 (half-time 2–1). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 61% 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 goals61%39%Over
Over 3.5 goals40%60%no pick
Both teams to score61%39%Yes

The result model puts Den Bosch at 60%, the draw at 21% and Helmond Sport at 19%, from expected goals of 2.13 and 1.1.

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. Den Bosch have 4 in 6 this season (2 of 3 at home), Helmond Sport 4 in 6 (2 of 2 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 65% and 65%.

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 67% and 59%.

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 63%.

Head to head. These sides have met 5 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 0%. 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 60%.

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 63%, from expected goals of 2.13 for Den Bosch and 1.1 for Helmond Sport. Folding in 30% of that view gives 61%.

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
Den Bosch667%67%83%
Helmond Sport667%50%100%

Head to head

6 Feb 26Helmond Sport 2–0 Den BoschU2.5
21 Oct 25Den Bosch 1–0 Helmond SportU2.5
2 May 25Den Bosch 1–0 Helmond SportU2.5
6 Dec 24Helmond Sport 0–0 Den BoschU2.5
2 Feb 24Den Bosch 0–0 Helmond SportU2.5
18 Aug 23Helmond Sport 1–0 Den BoschU2.5

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