Botafogo vs Santa Cruz — Serie A 2026
Match Prediction
Statistical Prediction
Based on goals from last 19+ matches
Botafogo58%
Santa Cruz20%✓ Correct in 50 of 100 matches — 5 more than always backing the home side
The model picks a winner (home or away) for each finished match using only pre-kickoff data, then checks it against the real result: 50.2% correct across 585,598 matches, vs 44.5% for always backing the home side.
Home picks 50.5% correct · Away picks 49.3% correct
Football matches only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Expected goals in this match
What is xG?
Every shot is scored 0–1 by how likely it is to be a goal from that spot — a chance in the middle of the box ≈ 0.4, a long shot from a tight angle ≈ 0.03, a penalty ≈ 0.76. Add them up over a match and that is the xG.
The scoreline can lie: you can win 1-0 on a fluke while creating half the chances. xG shows who was really closer to scoring — and over a season it predicts results better than goals alone.
Botafogo creates 90% more chances
Season form · 249 home / 19 away
creates per match
allows per match
finishing
Total goals
- Over54
- Under46
3+ goals likely
Both teams score
- Yes53
- No47
Both teams likely to score
Score probability
Probability of each scoreline, %
Botafogo ↓
Most likely 1–0 (11%) · grid covers 96% of scorelines
More markets
Total goals
Double chance
Winning margin
Team goals
Draw no bet
Combos
Model probabilities, not odds. For information only.
How is this calculated?
Every number below comes from this match — nothing is made up.
Recent form of each side
Botafogo at home — creates 1.51, concedes 1.02 · 249 matches
Santa Cruz away — creates 0.95, concedes 2.21 · 19 matches
⚑ Home and away form are counted separately — the home-field edge is already baked into these numbers.
Expected goals for this match
Botafogo attack 1.51 + Santa Cruz defence 2.21 → ÷2 → 1.86
Santa Cruz attack 0.95 + Botafogo defence 1.02 → ÷2 → 0.98
Each side's attack is blended with the other's defence, then averaged.
Chance of every scoreline
From those two numbers a Poisson distribution gives the probability of each exact score — the grid shown above.
The answer to "why 58%?"
Botafogo at 58% is simply the biggest of the three — that is the pick.
What the model can't see
It reads only the stats of recent matches. It knows nothing about:
- injuries & suspensions
- the matchday lineup
- motivation — cup, relegation, a title race
- weather & pitch condition
- in-game coaching decisions
So 58% does not mean "Botafogo will win" — it means "on the available stats, this is the most likely result."
Statistical model based on expected goals (xG). For informational purposes only.
Player of the match
Match Events
Head to Head
2 previous meetings · small sample
Palmeiras
Flamengo
Atletico Paranaense
Fluminense
RB Bragantino
Bahia
Corinthians
CruzeiroBotafogo
Coritiba
Vitoria
Sao Paulo
Atletico-MG
Internacional
Santos
Gremio
Vasco DA Gama
Mirassol
Remo
Chapecoense-scIf points are equal: 1. Goal difference 2. Goals scored 3. Head-to-head
P = Played · W = Won · D = Drawn · L = Lost · GF = Goals for · GA = Goals against · GD = Goal difference · Pts = Points
Possession
Shots
Pass accuracy
Statistics
Botafogo host Santa Cruz on Sunday, 3 July 2016 at 19:00. The match is part of the Serie A 2026/2027 season.
Botafogo 2 – 1 Santa Cruz
Botafogo beat Santa Cruz 2-1 in Serie A on July 3, 2016.
Goals: Sassá (2'), Neilton (18'), João Paulo (49').
Santa Cruz controlled possession (55%) and registered 15 shots to 10.
The match was played at Estádio Municipal Radialista Mario Helenio in Juiz de Fora.