Scottish Cup · Saturday, 24 October 2026 · 15:00. Our rating makes this 56% to go over 2.5 goals, though we make no pick on this fixture — see below. The Scottish Cup average is 57%.
Open this match in the app →| Market | Yes | No | Our call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over 2.5 goals | 56% | 44% | no pick |
| Over 3.5 goals | 34% | 66% | no pick |
| Both teams to score | 59% | 41% | no pick |
The result model puts Stirling University at 40%, the draw at 24% and Elgin City at 36%, from expected goals of 1.62 and 1.54.
The league sets the starting point. Scottish Cup has produced over 2.5 goals in 57% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.
Each side's own record. Stirling University have 0 in 0 this season, Elgin City 8 in 11 (4 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 57% and 62%.
Last season still counts, briefly. With 0 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 57% and 58%.
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 58%.
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 61%, from expected goals of 1.62 for Stirling University and 1.54 for Elgin City. Folding in 30% of that view gives 59%.
Season opener. One of these sides has not played a league game yet. Openers run about 2.5 points under their league's norm, measured across 2,727 of them, so the rating is docked to 56%.
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.
| Team | Games | O2.5 | O3.5 | BTTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stirling University | 0 | — | — | — |
| Elgin City | 11 | 73% | 55% | 64% |
More: Elgin City season stats · Scottish Cup fixtures. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.