Head-to-Head (H2H) explained

H2H records collect previous meetings between two sides. Squads turn over and managers change, so a 4–0 from three seasons ago describes teams that no longer exist — as a predictor of the next result, H2H history adds almost nothing once current strength is accounted for.

The defensible uses are aggregates: pairings that persistently run high or low on goals across many meetings, or venue-specific patterns with real sample sizes. Context, not signal — our model ignores H2H entirely and works from current scoring rates.