Şamaxı FK v Safa Baku — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Premyer Liqa · Friday, 16 October 2026 · 12:00. Final score 3–2 (half-time 0–1). Before kick-off we rated it 52% under 2.5 goals — the match finished with 5, so that call missed. That rating was frozen into a version-controlled ledger before the game and has not been touched since.

Open this match in the app →

Our ratings for this match

MarketYesNoOur call
Over 2.5 goals48%52%Under
Over 3.5 goals24%76%no pick
Both teams to score48%52%No

The result model puts Şamaxı FK at 48%, the draw at 27% and Safa Baku at 25%, from expected goals of 1.46 and 0.98.

Bookmaker prices and where we differ

MarketPriceImpliedOur ratingEdge
Over 2.5 goals2.0546%48%+2%
Under 2.5 goals1.7554%52%-2%
Both teams to score1.8350%48%-2%

Implied percentages have the bookmaker's margin removed, so they add to 100 and can be compared with our rating directly. Edge is simply the gap between the two. A positive edge means our model thinks the outcome is likelier than the price suggests — it is not a tip, and a high probability with a negative edge is a poor bet however safe it looks. Prices are a pre-match snapshot from a single bookmaker and move constantly.

Match odds: Şamaxı FK 1.62, draw 3.25, Safa Baku 5.25.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Premyer Liqa has produced over 2.5 goals in 48% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Şamaxı FK have 3 in 7 this season (1 of 1 at home), Safa Baku 2 in 7 (1 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 47% and 43%.

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 47% and 48%.

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 48%.

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 44%, from expected goals of 1.46 for Şamaxı FK and 0.98 for Safa Baku. Folding in 30% of that view gives 47%.

Calibration. Tested against 97,729 past matches, our ratings below 55% have run consistently too pessimistic — a figure in the high 30s, for instance, has come in about four points higher. So ratings in that range are lifted part-way back, giving 48%.

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
Şamaxı FK743%29%71%
Safa Baku729%14%14%

More: Şamaxı FK season stats · Safa Baku season stats · Premyer Liqa table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.