Maccabi Netanya v Ironi Kiryat Shmona — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Ligat Ha'al · Saturday, 17 October 2026 · 17:15. Final score 1–0 (half-time 0–0). Before kick-off we rated it 58% over 2.5 goals — the match finished with 1, so that call missed. 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 goals58%42%Over
Over 3.5 goals39%61%no pick
Both teams to score58%42%Yes

The result model puts Maccabi Netanya at 47%, the draw at 24% and Ironi Kiryat Shmona at 30%, from expected goals of 1.79 and 1.39.

Bookmaker prices and where we differ

MarketPriceImpliedOur ratingEdge
Over 2.5 goals1.6756%58%+2%
Under 2.5 goals2.1544%42%-2%
Both teams to score1.6756%58%+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: Maccabi Netanya 1.75, draw 3.50, Ironi Kiryat Shmona 3.80.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Ligat Ha'al has produced over 2.5 goals in 56% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Maccabi Netanya have 2 in 6 this season (1 of 3 at home), Ironi Kiryat Shmona 4 in 6 (2 of 3 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 51% and 58%.

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 60% and 59%.

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%.

Head to head. These sides have met 5 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 20%. 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 57%.

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 62%, from expected goals of 1.79 for Maccabi Netanya and 1.39 for Ironi Kiryat Shmona. Folding in 30% of that view gives 58%.

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
Maccabi Netanya633%17%67%
Ironi Kiryat Shmona667%50%50%

Head to head

29 Apr 26Ironi Kiryat Shmona 1–0 Maccabi NetanyaU2.5
7 Feb 26Maccabi Netanya 1–1 Ironi Kiryat ShmonaU2.5
2 Nov 25Ironi Kiryat Shmona 1–2 Maccabi NetanyaO2.5
5 Jan 25Ironi Kiryat Shmona 0–1 Maccabi NetanyaU2.5
21 Sept 24Maccabi Netanya 2–0 Ironi Kiryat ShmonaU2.5
4 Mar 23Ironi Kiryat Shmona 2–2 Maccabi NetanyaO2.5

More: Maccabi Netanya season stats · Ironi Kiryat Shmona season stats · Ligat Ha'al table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.