Home and Away: Which Serie A side benefit most from playing at home?

Date: 13th April 2020 at 3:58pm
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Playing in front of a packed stadium in front of thousands of loyal supporters has its obvious advantages whether fighting for the Scudetto or Serie A survival, but just how important has home advantage been during the 2019/20 campaign so far?

We’ve dug into each Serie A side’s home and away performances this season and done the maths to see which of Italy’s top tier sides benefits the most from playing in familiar surroundings.

No place like home

As reigning Serie A champions you would expect Juventus to take as many points away from home as they do back in Turin.

The reality, however, is that the Bianconeri pick up an average of 0.85 points more per game when playing in their home city.

Home comforts ensuring survival

Whilst among the relegation favourites at the beginning of the season, the dependence on home advantage of Udinese and Hellas Verona is playing a huge part in keeping the duo clear of the relegation trapdoor.

The Zebrette collect 0.77 points per game more when playing as hosts in Friuli, whereas the Gialloblu win 0.67 more per game in Verona.

Look what you could have won

Although both Lazio and Sassuolo are performing above expectation, challenging for the title and European qualification respectively, they could be doing even better had their home form improved.

Home advantage is less than half that of Juventus’ 0.85 per game average, with the Biancocelesti recording 0.40 points more per game at home and the Neroverdi 0.38.

Not so different after all

As city cousins Genoa and Sampdoria share the Stadio Luigi Ferraris stadium, it should probably come as no surprise that the Genovese rivals both secure 0.23 points more per game when hosting opposition within the city walls.

Small margins

The difference between victory and failure can often be very fine and Torino, Parma and Cagliari have the finest of advantages when entertaining supporters in their own homes.

When playing at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino the Granata collect just 0.17 points more than playing away, just like the Gialloblu and Sardinians at 0.13 and 0.06 more per game respectively when playing at home.

Your place or mine?

Despite one of the most stunningly beautiful stadiums on the peninsula, the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara has no additional benefit to the Bologna players, with the Rossoblu averaging 1.31 points per game whether home or away.

Weight of expectation

It cannot go unnoticed that a number of the traditional superpowers of Serie A collect more points on the road than they do when hosting at their own stadium, such as AC Milan, Inter, Fiorentina and Roma,

The Milanese duo both collect 0.15 points fewer playing in the stadium they share in Milan than they do away.

As do La Viola when appearing in Florence, while Il Lupi fare even worse at their home in the capital, winning 0.23 more points outside of Rome.

Is it okay if we come over?

Both Brescia and Napoli would have hoped to have given better accounts of themselves this season while looking to fight off relegation and challenge at the top half of the table, but poor home records have seen them struggle.

The Lombardy-based side picked up 0.31 points fewer when at home, whereas the Partenopei surprisingly secured 0.38 fewer points when playing at the often intimidating Stadio San Paolo in Naples.

Permanently homeless

After starting the season away from their home stadium in Bergamo it is hardly a surprise that Atalanta collect more points away on average than they do at home, yet the crowd at the Gewiss Stadium create one of Serie A’s best atmospheres.

However, La Dea secure 0.49 points fewer per game on average than when they are the visiting team.

Nonetheless, the Bergamaschi are defying the odds again and are in the running for a second consecutive qualification for the Champions League.

 

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