FA Cup · Saturday, 7 November 2026 · 15:00. Our rating makes this 63% to go over 2.5 goals, so our lean is over. The FA Cup average is 52%.
Open this match in the app →| Market | Yes | No | Our call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over 2.5 goals | 63% | 37% | Over |
| Over 3.5 goals | 35% | 65% | no pick |
| Both teams to score | 51% | 49% | Yes |
The result model puts Cheltenham at 51%, the draw at 25% and FC Halifax Town at 24%, from expected goals of 1.31 and 1.36.
The league sets the starting point. FA Cup has produced over 2.5 goals in 52% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.
Each side's own record. Cheltenham have 8 in 11 this season (4 of 5 at home), FC Halifax Town 7 in 13 (3 of 6 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 59% and 53%.
Last season still counts, briefly. With 11 and 13 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 52% 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 54%.
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 50%, from expected goals of 1.31 for Cheltenham and 1.36 for FC Halifax Town. Folding in 30% of that view gives 53%.
Cup tie. Domestic cup games have produced more goals than the clubs' league form suggests, more so when the clubs are 1 division apart, so the rating moves to 63%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheltenham | 11 | 73% | 45% | 82% |
| FC Halifax Town | 13 | 54% | 31% | 62% |
More: Cheltenham season stats · FC Halifax Town season stats · FA Cup fixtures. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.