Kagoshima United v Ehime FC — prediction, stats and goal analysis

J3 League · Saturday, 17 October 2026 · 10:00. Final score 4–2 (half-time 2–0). Before kick-off we rated it 54% over 2.5 goals — the match finished with 6, 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 goals54%46%Over
Over 3.5 goals34%66%no pick
Both teams to score56%44%Yes

The result model puts Kagoshima United at 49%, the draw at 25% and Ehime FC at 26%, from expected goals of 1.69 and 1.17.

Bookmaker prices and where we differ

MarketPriceImpliedOur ratingEdge
Over 2.5 goals1.8053%54%+1%
Under 2.5 goals2.0047%46%-1%

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: Kagoshima United 2.00, draw 3.40, Ehime FC 3.00.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. J3 League 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. Kagoshima United have 6 in 10 this season (3 of 5 at home), Ehime FC 7 in 10 (2 of 5 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 52% and 55%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 10 and 10 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 51% and 51%.

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 50%.

Head to head. These sides have met 2 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 100%. 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 53%.

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 55%, from expected goals of 1.69 for Kagoshima United and 1.17 for Ehime FC. Folding in 30% of that view gives 53%.

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 54%.

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
Kagoshima United1060%40%70%
Ehime FC1070%50%70%

Head to head

19 Oct 24Kagoshima United 4–0 Ehime FCO2.5
13 Apr 24Ehime FC 2–2 Kagoshima UnitedO2.5
23 Sept 23Ehime FC 0–2 Kagoshima UnitedU2.5
23 Jul 23Kagoshima United 1–2 Ehime FCO2.5
30 Oct 22Kagoshima United 0–1 Ehime FCU2.5
25 Jun 22Ehime FC 1–0 Kagoshima UnitedU2.5

More: Kagoshima United season stats · Ehime FC season stats · J3 League table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.