Kelty Hearts v Edinburgh City — prediction, stats and goal analysis

League Two · Saturday, 19 September 2026. Final score 1–3 (half-time 0–3). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 62% 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 goals62%38%Over
Over 3.5 goals40%60%no pick
Both teams to score62%38%Yes

The result model puts Kelty Hearts at 56%, the draw at 22% and Edinburgh City at 23%, from expected goals of 2.09 and 1.28.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. League Two has produced over 2.5 goals in 57% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Kelty Hearts have 5 in 7 this season (3 of 3 at home), Edinburgh City 5 in 7 (3 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 61% and 61%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 7 and 7 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 61% and 62%.

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 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 66%, from expected goals of 2.09 for Kelty Hearts and 1.28 for Edinburgh City. Folding in 30% of that view gives 62%.

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
Kelty Hearts771%57%71%
Edinburgh City771%57%57%

Head to head

1 Apr 22Edinburgh City 1–1 Kelty HeartsU2.5
15 Jan 22Kelty Hearts 2–2 Edinburgh CityO2.5
15 Oct 21Edinburgh City 2–3 Kelty HeartsO2.5
21 Aug 21Kelty Hearts 1–0 Edinburgh CityU2.5

More: Kelty Hearts season stats · Edinburgh City season stats · League Two table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.