Bologna v Inter — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Serie A · Saturday, 17 October 2026 · 17:00. Final score 1–3 (half-time 1–1). Before kick-off we rated it 51% 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 goals51%49%Over
Over 3.5 goals30%70%no pick
Both teams to score50%50%Yes

The result model puts Bologna at 18%, the draw at 23% and Inter at 59%, from expected goals of 0.92 and 1.87.

Bookmaker prices and where we differ

MarketPriceImpliedOur ratingEdge
Over 2.5 goals1.6259%51%-8%
Under 2.5 goals2.3041%49%+8%
Both teams to score1.6756%50%-5%

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: Bologna 6.00, draw 4.20, Inter 1.55.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Serie A 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. Bologna have 2 in 6 this season (1 of 3 at home), Inter 5 in 6 (1 of 2 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 45% and 55%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 6 and 6 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 46% and 52%.

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 49%.

Head to head. These sides have met 5 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 60%. 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 49%.

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 53%, from expected goals of 0.92 for Bologna and 1.87 for Inter. Folding in 30% of that view gives 50%.

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 51%.

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
Bologna633%17%50%
Inter683%67%67%

Head to head

23 May 26Bologna 3–3 InterO2.5
4 Jan 26Inter 3–1 BolognaO2.5
20 Apr 25Bologna 1–0 InterU2.5
15 Jan 25Inter 2–2 BolognaO2.5
9 Mar 24Bologna 0–1 InterU2.5
20 Dec 23Inter 0–0 BolognaU2.5

More: Bologna season stats · Inter season stats · Serie A table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.