Free State Stars vs Orlando Pirates — Premier Soccer League 2018
Match Prediction
Statistical Prediction
Based on goals from last 36+ matches
Free State Stars29%
Orlando Pirates41%✓ 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: 50.3% correct across 577,253 matches, vs 44.6% for always backing the home side.
Home picks 50.6% 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.
Orlando Pirates creates 24% more chances
Season form · 36 home / 124 away
creates per match
allows per match
finishing
Total goals
- Under67
- Over33
Fewer than 3 goals likely
Both teams score
- No60
- Yes40
One side may not score
Score probability
Probability of each scoreline, %
Free State Stars ↓
Most likely 0–1 (15%) · grid covers 99% 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
Free State Stars at home — creates 0.97, concedes 1.03 · 36 matches
Orlando Pirates away — creates 1.23, concedes 0.85 · 124 matches
⚑ Home and away form are counted separately — the home-field edge is already baked into these numbers.
Expected goals for this match
Free State Stars attack 0.97 + Orlando Pirates defence 0.85 → ÷2 → 0.91
Orlando Pirates attack 1.23 + Free State Stars defence 1.03 → ÷2 → 1.13
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 41%?"
Orlando Pirates at 41% 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 41% does not mean "Orlando Pirates 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.
Match Events
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Cape Town CityIf 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
Free State Stars host Orlando Pirates on Saturday, 1 April 2017 at 16:00. The match is part of the Premier Soccer League 2018/2019 season.
Premier Soccer League: Free State Stars 3–2 Orlando Pirates
Free State Stars beat Orlando Pirates 3-2 in Premier Soccer League on April 1, 2017.
Goals: M. Sekola (4'), P. Masehe (13'), T. Ngobeni (25' o.g.), M. Anas (29'), T. Ndoro (45' pen).
The match was played at James Motlatsi Stadium (Orkney).