Chicago Fire FC vs Philadelphia Union
Our model puts a Philadelphia Union win at 41.5% in this MLS fixture — close to a three-way split. Expected goals run 1.4 to 1.58.
What this probability has been worth
A number is worth what it has been worth. Across 1,876 predictions published before kick-off and scored against the result afterwards, the calls we priced between 35% and 45% came in 38.7% of the time — 705 fixtures in that band. The model claimed 40.6%, so the two are within 1.9 points of each other. In this range the stated probability has meant roughly what it says.
Where we disagree with the market
Bookmakers price Chicago Fire FC at 2.4, which implies about 41.7%. Our model has it at 34% — 7.7 points lower. That is a wide gap, and it is worth being plain about what it means: it is not a claim that the price is wrong and we are right. It means two methods that usually agree have landed far apart on this one, and only the result will say which of them read it better.
Evenly rated
There is almost nothing between these two on rating — 1519 against 1533, a gap of 14 points. Fixtures this evenly matched are where a model has least to say: the probabilities below are honest, but they are close to a coin weighted only slightly.
Chicago Fire FC are on a run
Chicago Fire FC arrive on 3 straight wins, part of 3 matches unbeaten. Form of that length moves our rating on its own, so it is already reflected in the numbers above rather than being an argument on top of them.