Bayer Leverkusen v SC Freiburg — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Bundesliga · Sunday, 18 October 2026 · 14:30. Final score 2–1 (half-time 1–1). Before kick-off we rated it 64% over 2.5 goals — the match finished with 3, 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 goals64%36%Over
Over 3.5 goals43%57%no pick
Both teams to score60%40%Yes

The result model puts Bayer Leverkusen at 69%, the draw at 18% and SC Freiburg at 12%, from expected goals of 2.33 and 0.88.

Bookmaker prices and where we differ

MarketPriceImpliedOur ratingEdge
Over 2.5 goals1.4466%64%-1%
Under 2.5 goals2.7534%36%+1%
Both teams to score1.5063%60%-3%

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: Bayer Leverkusen 1.62, draw 4.50, SC Freiburg 4.50.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Bundesliga has produced over 2.5 goals in 65% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Bayer Leverkusen have 4 in 5 this season (1 of 2 at home), SC Freiburg 4 in 5 (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 67% and 67%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 5 and 5 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 63% and 65%.

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 64%.

Head to head. These sides have met 6 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 83%. 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 65%.

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 2.33 for Bayer Leverkusen and 0.88 for SC Freiburg. Folding in 30% of that view gives 64%.

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
Bayer Leverkusen580%80%60%
SC Freiburg580%60%60%

Head to head

7 Mar 26SC Freiburg 3–3 Bayer LeverkusenO2.5
26 Oct 25Bayer Leverkusen 2–0 SC FreiburgU2.5
4 May 25SC Freiburg 2–2 Bayer LeverkusenO2.5
21 Dec 24Bayer Leverkusen 5–1 SC FreiburgO2.5
17 Mar 24SC Freiburg 2–3 Bayer LeverkusenO2.5
29 Oct 23Bayer Leverkusen 2–1 SC FreiburgO2.5

More: Bayer Leverkusen season stats · SC Freiburg season stats · Bundesliga table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.