Spartans v Kelty Hearts — prediction, stats and goal analysis

League Two · Saturday, 3 October 2026. Final score 0–2 (half-time 0–1). Rebuilt from the season as it stood that morning, our rating would have been 61% for over 2.5 goals. This game was not captured by our pre-kick-off freeze, 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 goals39%61%no pick
Both teams to score62%38%Yes

The result model puts Spartans at 57%, the draw at 21% and Kelty Hearts at 22%, from expected goals of 2.12 and 1.25.

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. Spartans have 6 in 8 this season (4 of 4 at home), Kelty Hearts 6 in 8 (2 of 4 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 62% and 62%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 8 and 8 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 56% 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 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 2.12 for Spartans and 1.25 for Kelty Hearts. 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
Spartans875%63%63%
Kelty Hearts875%63%75%

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