Edinburgh City v Spartans — prediction, stats and goal analysis

League Two · Saturday, 10 October 2026. Final score 1–3 (half-time 1–1). Before kick-off we rated it 64% over 2.5 goals — the match finished with 4, so that call landed. That rating was frozen into a version-controlled ledger before the game and has not been touched since.

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Our ratings for this match

MarketYesNoOur call
Over 2.5 goals64%36%Over
Over 3.5 goals43%57%no pick
Both teams to score63%37%Yes

The result model puts Edinburgh City at 23%, the draw at 19% and Spartans at 58%, from expected goals of 1.56 and 2.49.

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. Edinburgh City have 6 in 9 this season (2 of 4 at home), Spartans 6 in 9 (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 60% and 60%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 9 and 9 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 56%.

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 58%.

Head to head. These sides have met 9 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 56%. 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 58%.

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 77%, from expected goals of 1.56 for Edinburgh City and 2.49 for Spartans. 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
Edinburgh City967%56%56%
Spartans967%56%56%

Head to head

8 Aug 26Spartans 2–2 Edinburgh CityO2.5
4 Apr 26Edinburgh City 0–3 SpartansO2.5
14 Feb 26Spartans 0–0 Edinburgh CityU2.5
27 Dec 25Edinburgh City 1–3 SpartansO2.5
4 Oct 25Spartans 0–1 Edinburgh CityU2.5
3 May 25Spartans 3–1 Edinburgh CityO2.5

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