SHANGHAI SIPG v Chengdu Better City — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Super League · Sunday, 18 October 2026 · 13:00. Final score 3–0 (half-time 0–0). Before kick-off we rated it 59% 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 goals59%41%Over
Over 3.5 goals40%60%no pick
Both teams to score62%38%Yes

The result model puts SHANGHAI SIPG at 34%, the draw at 25% and Chengdu Better City at 41%, from expected goals of 1.4 and 1.55.

Bookmaker prices and where we differ

MarketPriceImpliedOur ratingEdge
Over 2.5 goals1.5063%59%-3%
Under 2.5 goals2.5038%41%+3%
Both teams to score1.4465%62%-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: SHANGHAI SIPG 2.00, draw 3.80, Chengdu Better City 3.10.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Super League has produced over 2.5 goals in 61% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. SHANGHAI SIPG have 16 in 27 this season (7 of 13 at home), Chengdu Better City 14 in 27 (6 of 13 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 60% and 56%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 27 and 27 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 57%.

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 60%.

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 60%.

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 57%, from expected goals of 1.4 for SHANGHAI SIPG and 1.55 for Chengdu Better City. Folding in 30% of that view gives 59%.

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
SHANGHAI SIPG2759%37%70%
Chengdu Better City2752%33%59%

Head to head

19 May 26Chengdu Better City 0–1 SHANGHAI SIPGU2.5
30 Aug 25Chengdu Better City 4–1 SHANGHAI SIPGO2.5
20 Apr 25SHANGHAI SIPG 1–3 Chengdu Better CityO2.5
18 Oct 24Chengdu Better City 3–1 SHANGHAI SIPGO2.5
22 May 24SHANGHAI SIPG 2–0 Chengdu Better CityU2.5
23 Sept 23Chengdu Better City 2–1 SHANGHAI SIPGO2.5

More: SHANGHAI SIPG season stats · Chengdu Better City season stats · Super League table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.