Glossary
Football prediction
glossary
xG, 1X2, both teams to score, over/under, correct score… The statistics terms used in football match analysis, in plain language. Each definition gets to the point, with a concrete example.
- xG (Expected Goals)
- xG, or “expected goals”, measures the quality of a chance: the probability that a given shot ends up in the net, between 0 and 1, based on distance, angle, body part and type of play. A team's total xG over a match estimates how many goals it “should” have scored.
- 1X2 (match result)
- 1X2 refers to the three outcomes of a football match: 1 = home win, X = draw, 2 = away win. A 1X2 prediction gives the probability of each; coherent probabilities must always add up to 100%.
- Both teams to score
- Both teams to score describes whether each side scores at least one goal in the match. A game that ends 2-1 or 1-1 has both teams scoring; one that ends 2-0 or 0-0 does not. The analysis gives the probability of this happening as a percentage: 60% means both teams score in roughly six of ten similar matches.
- Double chance
- Double chance groups two of the three 1X2 outcomes together: 1X (home win or draw), X2 (away win or draw) or 12 (either team wins, no draw). Its probability is the sum of the two outcomes it covers: with a 45% chance of a home win and 28% of a draw, 1X has a probability of 73%.
- Over/Under (total goals)
- Over/Under compares the total number of goals in a match with a line (most common: 2.5). “Over 2.5” means 3 goals or more; “Under 2.5” means 2 goals or fewer. Because the line sits on a half, the total can never equal it, so the two probabilities always add up to 100%.
- Clean sheet
- A clean sheet is a match in which a team concedes no goals. It's a key marker of defensive solidity: a clean sheet is credited to the team (and often the goalkeeper) that finishes without conceding, regardless of how many goals it scores itself.
- Head-to-head (H2H)
- H2H (head-to-head) is the history of matches between the same two teams: who won, the scores, recurring patterns. It helps spot matchup dynamics that overall stats hide — a team that consistently does well against another.
- Correct score
- The correct score is the prediction of a match's precise scoreline (e.g. 2-1). It's the hardest outcome to forecast in football: dozens of scores are possible, each unlikely. So you aim for the MOST likely score, never a certainty.