De Graafschap v Waalwijk — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Eerste Divisie · Friday, 23 October 2026 · 19:00. Our rating makes this 66% to go over 2.5 goals, so our lean is over. The Eerste Divisie average is 64%.

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Our ratings for this match

MarketYesNoOur call
Over 2.5 goals66%34%Over
Over 3.5 goals46%54%Over
Both teams to score67%33%Yes

The result model puts De Graafschap at 38%, the draw at 24% and Waalwijk at 38%, from expected goals of 1.67 and 1.66.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Eerste Divisie has produced over 2.5 goals in 64% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. De Graafschap have 8 in 10 this season (4 of 5 at home), Waalwijk 5 in 11 (1 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 69% and 58%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 10 and 11 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 66% and 62%.

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 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 66%.

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 65%, from expected goals of 1.67 for De Graafschap and 1.66 for Waalwijk. Folding in 30% of that view gives 66%.

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
De Graafschap1080%40%80%
Waalwijk1145%36%73%

Head to head

23 Jan 26De Graafschap 2–4 WaalwijkO2.5
9 Nov 25Waalwijk 1–4 De GraafschapO2.5

More: De Graafschap season stats · Waalwijk season stats · Eerste Divisie table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.