Groningen v PEC Zwolle — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Eredivisie · Friday, 18 September 2026. Final score 3–0 (half-time 2–0). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 64% 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 goals64%36%Over
Over 3.5 goals42%58%no pick
Both teams to score65%35%Yes

The result model puts Groningen at 56%, the draw at 20% and PEC Zwolle at 24%, from expected goals of 2.28 and 1.44.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Eredivisie 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. Groningen have 5 in 6 this season (3 of 3 at home), PEC Zwolle 4 in 6 (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 68% and 64%.

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 60% and 63%.

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 62%.

Head to head. These sides have met 4 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 25%. 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 72%, from expected goals of 2.28 for Groningen and 1.44 for PEC Zwolle. Folding in 30% of that view gives 64%.

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
Groningen683%67%100%
PEC Zwolle667%67%50%

Head to head

13 Mar 26PEC Zwolle 1–1 GroningenU2.5
23 Nov 25Groningen 2–2 PEC ZwolleO2.5
18 May 25PEC Zwolle 2–0 GroningenU2.5
8 Dec 24Groningen 0–0 PEC ZwolleU2.5
20 Feb 22PEC Zwolle 1–1 GroningenU2.5
3 Dec 21Groningen 1–1 PEC ZwolleU2.5

More: Groningen season stats · PEC Zwolle season stats · Eredivisie table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.