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JOURNAL
OF
SPORTS SCIENCE &
MEDICINE
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Research
article
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GAME LOCATION AND TEAM QUALITY EFFECTS ON PERFORMANCE PROFILES IN PROFESSIONAL SOCCER |
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Carlos Lago-Peñas and Joaquin Lago-Ballesteros  |
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Faculty of Education and Sports Sciences, University of Vigo, Pontevedra, Spain |
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© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2011) 10, 465 - 471 |
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| ABSTRACT | |||
| Home advantage in team sports has an important role in determining
the outcome of a game. The aim of the present study was to identify the
soccer game- related statistics that best discriminate home and visiting
teams according to the team quality. The sample included all 380 games of
the Spanish professional men's league. The independent variables were game
location (home or away) and the team quality. Teams were classified into
four groups according to their final ranking at the end of the league. The
game-related statistics registered were divided into three groups: (i) variables
related to goals scored; (ii) variables related to offense and (iii) variables
related to defense. A univariate (t-test and Mann-Whitney U) and multivariate
(discriminant analysis) analysis of data was done. Results showed that home
teams have significantly higher means for goal scored, total shots, shots
on goal, attacking moves, box moves, crosses, offsides committed, assists,
passes made, successful passes, dribbles made, successful dribbles, ball
possession, and gains of possession, while visiting teams presented higher
means for losses of possession and yellow cards. In addition, the findings
of the current study confirm that game location and team quality are important
in determining technical and tactical performances in matches. Teams described
as superior and those described as inferior did not experience the same
home advantage. Future research should consider the influence of other confounding
variables such as weather conditions, game status and team form. Key words: Association football, home advantage, game-related statistics, match analysis, discriminant analysis. |
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