How big of a difference does playing home or away really make? Well, it depends on the squad. In some instances, home and away records for teams are very similar. In other instances, they make a massive difference.
If they had a choice, some squads would choose to play every game at home. Similarly, other teams would choose to play every match away. In this article, we take a look at the home and away records of all the 20 Premier League teams so far this 2024-2025 season.
Home vs. Away: Who has Picked up the Most Points?
When looking at total points, Liverpool are the only team who have picked up the same number of points from home and away matches. They’re also sitting top of league, which makes sense, as performing at both home and away grounds is a must for those teams fighting for top spot.
As expected, the majority of squads pick up more points from home matches than away ones. This makes sense, as home teams have many things playing to their advantage. This includes the obvious one, which are home supporters.
Not only are home supporters a massive advantage for the home team (psychological boost, influence of referee, improve momentum and energy within the ground), they can also been seen as disadvantage for the away team (intimidation of opponents). Other advantages of playing at home are the familiarity of the pitch or the lack of travel required when playing at home.
13 of the 20 Premier League teams have picked up more points at home so far this season than when playing away. Which means that 6 of the Premier League teams have picked up more points away than at home so far this season. To note, those 6 squads represents 30% of the league.
The biggest difference between home and away points can be seen with Brentford and Aston Villa.
Brentford and Villa: Home Heroes or Away Zeros?
Let’s start with Brentford.
If the Premier League season was only based on a squad’s home record, Brentford would be sitting second in the league (in actuality, they are currently sitting in 11th).
At home, Brentford have picked up 22 points, in comparison to the 5 points they have picked up when on the road (17 more points earned at home than away). Said differently, 82% of all of Brentford’s points have been earned at home, at their Gtech Community Stadium.
At home, Brentford have played 10, won 7, drew 1 and lost 2. When on the road, Brentford have played 10, won 1, drew 2, lost 7. Almost a complete opposite, what a difference the home advantage makes in Brentford’s situation.
While not quite as an extreme jump, Aston Villa would be sitting tied for second place (currently 8th as it stands) with Brentford if the Premier League table was only based on a squad’s home record. Of Villa’s total of 32 points earned so far this season, 22 have been picked up at home in comparison to the 10 picked up on the road.
Aston Villa’s record at home is played 11, won 6, drew 4, lost 1. While away, their record is played 9, won 3, drew 1, lost 5. It should be noted that Villa have currently played two more games at home that on the road, so their away record could be improved when those matches equal out.
However, in 9 games on the road, 5 have been losses, with only 1 loss out of 11 home games.
At the other end of the spectrum are Nottingham Forest and Chelsea, who have both picked up 6 more points from playing away than at home. However, it should be noted that both Forest and Chelsea have played 9 home games but 11 away games.
Both squads have lost two games away and two games at home, so it isn’t as clear cut that their away record is really that much better.
Home and Away Points Picked Up – All Premier League Squads
When considering all Premier League squads and the difference between points picked up at home vs. away, the average is 2.25. This means that for all 20 squads, each squad averages 2.25 more points picked up at home than away.
However, Brentford and Aston Villa are both quite considerable outliers, so when excluding those two teams, the average is approximately 0.9 more points picked up by squads at home than when they’re away.
We’ve graphed all 20 Premier League teams so the visual can be seen between the number of points picked up at home when compared to away games. We’ve also split the graphs into two, the top half of the table and the bottom half of the table, so it’s easier to see the details.
First the top half:
Next, the bottom half:
Goal Stats: Home Turf vs. Away Battles
When looking at the number of goals scored for and against squads, depending on whether they are playing home or away, some interesting facts emerge. In general, squads score an average of 0.45 more goals when playing at home than away.
As the outcome results in a zero-sum situation (i.e., the goals scored for one team are the goals against for another team), teams on average concede 0.45 more goals against when playing in away matches.
Top Teams: Where the Goals Really Come From
As of the date of the data used in this article, January 13, 2025, all squads in the top 5 have scored more goals in away matches than when playing at home. This is true for Liverpool, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Newcastle United.
We note again that of those five teams, other that Liverpool, all teams have played 9 home games and 11 away games. So, there is an argument to be made that when the number of home and away matches evens out, the goals scored for home and away matches should also change.
And while that has some merit, if you take the average goals scored each match for each squad, these top 5 teams would still have scored more goals during away matches than at home games.
The squad with the largest delta in favour of away goals is Chelsea, who have scored 9 more goals away than at home.
At the other end of the spectrum are Brentford and Tottenham, who have scored the largest delta in favour of home goals. Brentford have scored 16 more goals at home, while Tottenham have scored 10 more goals at home.
Below we’ve included the graph for all Premier League teams to show the difference between goals scored at home and goals scored away. Similar to above, we’ve split the data into two graphs, the top half and bottom half of the table, so it’s easier to see the details.
First the top half:
Next, the bottom half:
Goals Against Records – What the Numbers Say
When looking at a squad’s goals against record, for visiting teams it appears that the top three easiest grounds to score goals at are St. Mary’s (Southampton), Molineux (Wolves), and London Stadium (West Ham). These three teams have conceded 27, 23 and 22 goals against at home, respectively, so far this Premier League season.
Tottenham is a close fourth, with 21 goals against at home. Interestingly, Tottenham have scored the second highest goals while playing at home, but it appears in those matches they have also conceded a considerable number of goals (3-6 loss to Liverpool, 3-4 loss to Chelsea, etc.).
Arsenal appears to be a defensive rock while playing at home. They have conceded the fewest number of goals at home, with only 6 goals scored against them. Of Arsenal’s 7 clean sheets, 5 of them were at the Emirates Stadium (Arsenal’s home ground).
This impressive records is followed closely by Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, who have both conceded only 7 goals at home. Next is Liverpool at 8 goals against while playing at home, all other teams are in double digits.
A Visual Look at Home and Away Dynamics
The final graph below is the goals for and goals against difference. Squads appear in the graph in the same order as the current league table (data as of January 13, 2025). The value that is being graphed is goals for and goals against differential.
For instance, league leaders, Liverpool, have 47 goals for so far this season and have conceded 19, the difference is 28. At the other end of the spectrum is Southampton, who have scored 12 goals but have conceded 44 goals so far, the difference is -32 (negative 32).
The green background indicates the area where there is a positive difference (more goals for than against) and the red background indicates the opposite (negative difference, more goals conceded than scored).
While there are some outliers, (e.g., Brentford and Tottenham who have scored considerably more home goals than other teams, bringing their total goals for higher), in general, the graph is a rather linear as it moves from the top to the bottom of the Premier League table.
Summary
That’s it for this article. In this post, we take a look at the 20 Premier League squads and how form changes when playing at home in comparison to playing away.
Teams near the top of the table appear to pick up a similar number of points, regardless of whether the game is played at home or away. However, there are definitely some differences observed for teams that aren’t ranked so high on the Premier League table.
As discussed above, the two standout teams were Brentford and Aston Villa, who both have picked up considerably more points in home games than away ones.
Next, we took a deeper look at both goals for and goals against depending on whether matches were played at home or on the road. Similar to the number of points picked up, there were interesting pictures that emerged when digging into the data.
Brentford and Tottenham have scored significantly more goals at home than away. While at the other end of the spectrum, Southampton, Wolves and West Ham have conceded far more goals at home than other teams so far this Premier League season.
Do you think Brentford can maintain their home dominance? Or can Southampton, Wolves and West Ham improve their defensive strategies to concede less goals at home? We’re interested to hear your thoughts, so leave a comment and let us know!
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As always, thanks for taking the time to read these posts!
JC
All data is from fbref.com so, thanks to them!