Borussia Mönchengladbach v FSV Mainz 05 — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Bundesliga · Saturday, 19 September 2026. Final score 3–4 (half-time 1–2). 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 goals42%58%no pick
Both teams to score62%38%Yes

The result model puts Borussia Mönchengladbach at 29%, the draw at 23% and FSV Mainz 05 at 48%, from expected goals of 1.47 and 1.94.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Bundesliga has produced over 2.5 goals in 65% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Borussia Mönchengladbach have 3 in 3 this season (1 of 1 at home), FSV Mainz 05 2 in 3 (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 69% and 65%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 3 and 3 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 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 61%.

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 59%.

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 66%, from expected goals of 1.47 for Borussia Mönchengladbach and 1.94 for FSV Mainz 05. 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
Borussia Mönchengladbach3100%67%33%
FSV Mainz 05367%67%33%

Head to head

19 Apr 26Borussia Mönchengladbach 1–1 FSV Mainz 05U2.5
5 Dec 25FSV Mainz 05 0–1 Borussia MönchengladbachU2.5
7 Mar 25Borussia Mönchengladbach 1–3 FSV Mainz 05O2.5
25 Oct 24FSV Mainz 05 1–1 Borussia MönchengladbachU2.5

More: Borussia Mönchengladbach season stats · FSV Mainz 05 season stats · Bundesliga table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.