Around the sports: A divided crowd gets a sharp reminder
Newport County v Grimsby Town summed up the week to 2 October 2026: agreement was hard to find, and the least popular outcome landed. The split was Newport County 18%, draw 41%, Grimsby Town 41%. Newport won 2-1. A useful reminder for the group chat: a divided crowd can still leave the winning result well down its list.
League One
Results called right
28%
Up 9 points on the season (19%)
Exact scores nailed
1%
Down 1 points on the season (2%)
League Two
Results called right
19%
Up 1 points on the season (18%)
Exact scores nailed
5%
Up 2 points on the season (3%)
Nations League
Results called right
23%
Down 5 points on the season (28%)
Exact scores nailed
6%
Level with the season (6%)
Women's Super League
Results called right
22%
Up 2 points on the season (20%)
Exact scores nailed
3%
Down 1 points on the season (4%)
When confidence paid off
There were much happier returns elsewhere. New Jersey Devils had 78% crowd backing and beat Philadelphia Flyers 3-2. That was the strongest backing among this week’s best calls, giving the crowd something rather more satisfying to discuss.
San Francisco 49ers delivered a 36-30 win over Arizona Cardinals with 75% behind them. New York Yankees also justified 75% backing, beating Boston Red Sox 9-0. And San Jose Sharks made good on 72% support with a 4-3 victory over Florida Panthers. Plenty of room for a smug nod there.
Crowd vs reality
New Jersey Devils 3-2 Philadelphia Flyers
San Francisco 49ers 36-30 Arizona Cardinals
New York Yankees 9-0 Boston Red Sox
San Jose Sharks 4-3 Florida Panthers
Real Salt Lake 3-0 New England Revolution
Slovenia 0-0 Scotland
Football had other ideas
Real Salt Lake supplied the biggest crowd upset, beating New England Revolution 3-0 with 0% backing for the winning outcome. Not much room for a told-you-so on that one.
The draw between Slovenia and Scotland had just 5% support and finished 0-0. Meanwhile, Fleetwood Town lost 1-2 to Rochdale, an away win backed by 6%. These were results that rewarded the less popular view, rather than the comfort of agreeing with the crowd.
The wider report card
MLB led the weekly result accuracy figures at 55%, ahead of its 52% season mark. NFL, AFL and NHL each returned 50%. The Gallagher Premiership finished at 48%, while Top 14 recorded 42%, both below their 52% season figures.
Football was a tougher puzzle. League One reached 28% result accuracy against 19% for the season. League Two managed 19%, the Nations League 23%, and the Women's Super League 22%. MLS finished at 13%, still above its 7% season figure.
Exact scores remained hard to pin down: the Nations League returned 6%, League Two 5%, and League One 1%. Getting the result right and nailing the score were very different jobs this week. All these crowd figures include every player.
Where the crowd rates teams lower
The crowd table also offers a few talking points beyond the latest results. Wigan Athletic, Crawley Town, West Ham United Women and Sporting Kansas City are all rated lower by the crowd.
Set that alongside this week’s surprises and there is plenty to chew over with your mates. The crowd view is a starting point for the argument, not the final word.
The week ahead
There are no most backed teams listed for the week ahead, so there is no next-round crowd favourite to highlight. After a week of confident successes and awkward surprises, will you follow the crowd or take a different view? Get your mates involved and make your calls.