Sassuolo W v Napoli W — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Serie A (W) · Saturday, 17 October 2026 · 11:30. Final score 1–4 (half-time 0–2). 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.

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Our ratings for this match

MarketYesNoOur call
Over 2.5 goals48%52%Under
Over 3.5 goals27%73%no pick
Both teams to score48%52%No

The result model puts Sassuolo W at 18%, the draw at 25% and Napoli W at 57%, from expected goals of 0.79 and 1.63.

Bookmaker prices and where we differ

MarketPriceImpliedOur ratingEdge
Over 2.5 goals1.9050%48%-2%
Under 2.5 goals1.9050%52%+2%
Both teams to score1.7354%48%-6%

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: Sassuolo W 2.60, draw 3.30, Napoli W 2.38.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Serie A (W) has produced over 2.5 goals in 51% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Sassuolo W have 1 in 2 this season (1 of 1 at home), Napoli W 2 in 2 (1 of 1 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 55%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 2 and 2 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 50% and 49%.

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 8 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 25%. 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 44%, from expected goals of 0.79 for Sassuolo W and 1.63 for Napoli W. 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
Sassuolo W250%50%50%
Napoli W2100%50%100%

Head to head

17 May 26Napoli W 1–1 Sassuolo WU2.5
25 Jan 26Sassuolo W 0–2 Napoli WU2.5
13 Apr 25Napoli W 0–1 Sassuolo WU2.5
2 Mar 25Sassuolo W 3–1 Napoli WO2.5
7 Dec 24Sassuolo W 2–1 Napoli WO2.5
20 Sept 24Napoli W 1–0 Sassuolo WU2.5

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