Home teams win more often. But does a midfielder really take more shots at home? Does a full-back make more tackles away, when his team is under pressure? And who picks up the cards?
Our home and away team study looked at teams. This one looks at players. We split 264,162 player performances in 20 European leagues by venue, then compared the same players home and away.
Data: StatPair match database · 20 European domestic leagues · July 2024 to 20 October 2026 · 13,169 league matches · Updated: 21 October 2026
TL;DR
- Shots are the big home effect: 1.31 per 90 at home, 1.07 away (+22%). Shots on target rose by 21%.
- It holds for the same player. For 4,626 players with ten or more games on each side, 2+ shots landed 32.8% of the time at home and 26.7% away.
- Fouls and tackles barely move: fouls committed 1.13 per 90 at home and 1.16 away, tackles 1.54 and 1.57.
- Away players get booked more: a yellow card in 15.4% of home performances and 17.3% of away ones. Strong teams away are booked most.
- Away goalkeepers are busier: 3.19 saves away, 2.67 at home. Saves 3+ landed in 58.9% of away games and 47.5% of home games.
- Team strength doesn't change the shots gap: strong and weak teams' players all shot 21-23% more at home.
How we measured it
We took every player appearance in 20 European domestic leagues (league matches only) and assigned each player to the home or away side from his club record, using transfer dates where he had played for both teams. The 1.2% of rows we couldn't assign were dropped.
The main sample is players with 60+ minutes, so minutes risk is mostly removed. That leaves 238,226 outfield performances (119,634 home, 118,592 away) from 10,959 players, and 25,936 goalkeeper performances (12,977 home, 12,959 away). For each stat we show the rate per 90 minutes and the hit rate for common prop lines. Positions come from player profiles.
Venue barely changed minutes. Outfield players reached 60 minutes in 63.1% of home appearances and 62.4% of away ones. Starters in 2025/26 and 2026/27 (when our start data is complete) came off before the hour in 8.8% of home starts and 9.6% of away starts.
Step 1: what changes at home
| Outfield players, 60+ minutes | Home | Away | Difference |
|---|
| Shots per 90 | 1.31 | 1.07 | +22% |
| Shots on target per 90 | 0.44 | 0.36 | +21% |
| Fouls committed per 90 | 1.13 | 1.16 | −3% |
| Fouls won per 90 | 1.12 | 1.08 | +4% |
| Tackles per 90 | 1.54 | 1.57 | −2% |
| Shots 1+ / 2+ | 61.4% / 32.3% | 54.9% / 25.9% | +6.5 / +6.4 pts |
| Shots on target 1+ | 30.4% | 26.1% | +4.3 pts |
| Fouls committed 1+ / 2+ | 62.8% / 28.3% | 63.7% / 29.3% | −0.9 / −1.0 pts |
| Fouls won 1+ / 2+ | 60.0% / 27.9% | 58.8% / 26.6% | +1.2 / +1.3 pts |
| Tackles 1+ / 2+ | 69.9% / 39.5% | 70.3% / 40.1% | −0.4 / −0.6 pts |
| Yellow card | 15.4% | 17.3% | −2.0 pts |
Attacking stats move a lot with venue. Defensive stats hardly move.
The tackles result surprised us. Away teams usually have less of the ball, so you might expect away players to tackle more. They made just 0.03 more per 90, and the 2+ line was almost identical.
It isn't a scoreline effect. In drawn matches alone (62,597 performances), players took 21.5% more shots per 90 at home. The gap was also steady across seasons: 1.28 against 1.05 in 2024/25, 1.31 against 1.07 in 2025/26 and 1.40 against 1.16 in 2026/27 so far.
Step 2: the same player, home and away
If good teams' best shooters happened to play more home games, pooled numbers would mislead. So we took the 4,626 outfield players with at least ten 60-minute games at home and ten away (184,437 performances) and compared each with himself.
| Same player | Home | Away | Difference (standard error) | Players higher at home |
|---|
| Shots per 90 | 1.34 | 1.11 | +0.23 (0.01) | 72.2% |
| Shots 2+ | 32.8% | 26.7% | +6.1 pts (0.2) | 64.3% |
| Shots on target 1+ | 30.8% | 26.7% | +4.0 pts (0.2) | 59.7% |
| Fouls committed per 90 | 1.13 | 1.16 | −0.04 (0.01) | 47.0% |
| Fouls won per 90 | 1.13 | 1.10 | +0.03 (0.01) | 52.5% |
| Tackles per 90 | 1.53 | 1.55 | −0.02 (0.01) | 48.7% |
| Yellow card | 15.6% | 17.5% | −2.0 pts (0.2) | 41.5% |
Averages of each player's own home and away figures.
The results match the pooled ones, so this isn't a selection effect. The typical player shoots about a fifth more at home, and nearly three in four did so. Fouls, fouls won and tackles shift by a few hundredths per 90: measurable at this sample size, but too small to matter for a 1.5 line.
Step 3: by position
| Position (home / away) | Performances | Shots per 90 | Shots 2+ | Shots on target 1+ | Yellow card |
|---|
| Defenders | 47,485 / 47,555 | 0.65 / 0.51 | 14.2% / 9.8% | 15.8% / 12.6% | 16.7% / 19.1% |
| Midfielders | 54,215 / 53,548 | 1.53 / 1.27 | 38.3% / 31.3% | 34.5% / 30.0% | 15.3% / 17.2% |
| Forwards | 17,926 / 17,479 | 2.53 / 2.12 | 62.1% / 53.2% | 56.8% / 50.7% | 11.8% / 13.1% |
Defenders have the biggest relative gain (+28% shots per 90), but from a low base. Forwards gain the most in absolute terms: their 2+ shots line hit 62.1% at home and 53.2% away. For the same 670 forwards, it was 63.7% against 55.1%, and 77.6% of them shot more often at home.
Tackles were flat for midfielders (1.70 against 1.71 per 90) and forwards (0.85 against 0.84). Defenders tackled slightly more away (1.66 against 1.61).
High-volume shooters
For the 928 players averaging 2.0+ shots per 90, with ten or more games on each side (18,165 home and 17,564 away performances):
| 2.0+ shots per 90 players | Home | Away |
|---|
| Shots per 90 | 2.87 | 2.42 |
| Shots 2+ | 71.1% | 62.4% |
| Shots 3+ | 46.9% | 37.1% |
| Shots on target 1+ | 61.8% | 56.1% |
The 3+ shots line moves by almost 10 points. For current names, see our 2026/27 shots on target cheat sheet.
Step 4: goalkeepers
| Goalkeepers, 60+ minutes | Home | Away |
|---|
| Saves per match | 2.67 | 3.19 |
| Saves 2+ | 70.4% | 79.1% |
| Saves 3+ | 47.5% | 58.9% |
| Saves 4+ | 28.7% | 38.9% |
| Yellow card | 4.8% | 7.1% |
Away keepers made 19% more saves. For the 463 keepers with ten or more games on each side, the same keeper made 2.68 saves at home and 3.20 away, and 81.2% of them made more away.
| Keeper's team (season points per game) | Saves at home | Saves away | 3+ saves at home | 3+ saves away |
|---|
| Top third | 2.37 | 2.89 | 41.0% | 53.0% |
| Middle third | 2.74 | 3.25 | 49.3% | 60.1% |
| Bottom third | 2.93 | 3.46 | 52.9% | 64.2% |
4,072 to 4,563 performances per cell.
Venue is worth about half a save in every group. A bottom-third keeper at home (2.93) made about as many saves as a top-third keeper away (2.89). More in our goalkeeper props guide.
Step 5: strong teams vs weak teams
We ranked teams by points per game within each league season and split players into thirds.
| Player's team (home / away) | Performances | Shots per 90 | Shots 2+ | Yellow card |
|---|
| Top third | 42,329 / 41,958 | 1.49 / 1.21 | 36.7% / 30.0% | 14.1% / 17.0% |
| Middle third | 40,093 / 39,649 | 1.25 / 1.03 | 30.9% / 25.0% | 15.8% / 17.4% |
| Bottom third | 37,212 / 36,985 | 1.17 / 0.95 | 28.9% / 22.3% | 16.3% / 17.6% |
The shots gap is the same for every type of team: +23%, +21% and +23% per 90. Strong teams shoot more everywhere, but their venue boost is no bigger than a relegation side's.
Cards are where team strength matters. When a player's team was the favourite (0.3+ points per game better than the opponent), he was booked in 13.0% of home games (36,087) and 16.0% of away games (35,776), 23% more often away. For underdogs it was 17.1% at home and 17.7% away. Favourites also committed 5% more fouls per 90 away (1.14 against 1.08); underdogs' fouls were unchanged.
For 940 heavy foulers (1.5+ fouls per 90), the 2+ fouls rate barely moved (49.7% home, 50.8% away), but the yellow card rate rose from 20.8% to 23.0%. Away players get booked more for roughly the same fouls.
Step 6: by league
| League | Shots per 90 (home / away) | Shots gap | Yellows per 90 (home / away) |
|---|
| Championship | 1.32 / 1.02 | +29% | 0.15 / 0.18 |
| Segunda División | 1.28 / 0.99 | +29% | 0.20 / 0.22 |
| La Liga | 1.29 / 1.01 | +28% | 0.17 / 0.19 |
| Süper Lig | 1.36 / 1.06 | +28% | 0.19 / 0.20 |
| Greek Super League 1 | 1.24 / 0.97 | +27% | 0.21 / 0.24 |
| Eredivisie | 1.44 / 1.14 | +26% | 0.11 / 0.16 |
| Bundesliga | 1.37 / 1.10 | +25% | 0.16 / 0.17 |
| Belgian First Division A | 1.36 / 1.11 | +23% | 0.15 / 0.18 |
| Serie A | 1.26 / 1.05 | +21% | 0.15 / 0.17 |
| Premier League | 1.32 / 1.10 | +20% | 0.16 / 0.19 |
| Czech Liga | 1.32 / 1.10 | +20% | 0.13 / 0.18 |
| Ligue 1 | 1.26 / 1.05 | +19% | 0.16 / 0.17 |
| Serie B | 1.31 / 1.09 | +19% | 0.18 / 0.20 |
| Scottish Premiership | 1.30 / 1.09 | +19% | 0.15 / 0.19 |
| Liga I | 1.30 / 1.09 | +19% | 0.16 / 0.19 |
| HNL | 1.28 / 1.08 | +18% | 0.16 / 0.18 |
| Primeira Liga | 1.21 / 1.03 | +17% | 0.20 / 0.21 |
| Danish Superliga | 1.33 / 1.17 | +14% | 0.14 / 0.16 |
| Ekstraklasa | 1.40 / 1.24 | +13% | 0.16 / 0.18 |
| Ligat Ha'al | 1.23 / 1.13 | +9% | 0.20 / 0.21 |
Outfield players, 60+ minutes; 3,428 (Czech Liga) to 22,531 (Championship) performances per league. Gaps use unrounded rates.
Every league has a home shots boost, from 9% in Israel to 29% in the Championship and Segunda División, and away players were booked more often in all 20. Fouls committed, fouls won and tackles stayed within about 10% in every league. HNL and Czech Liga have the smallest samples.
What this means for betting
A season average blends home and away games. For a typical forward, 2+ shots hit 62.1% at home and 53.2% away. The blend, about 57.7%, is fair at 1.73. At home the fair price is 1.61; away it's 1.88.
Bookmakers know about home advantage, and we don't hold their odds, so we can't say how fully lines adjust. But a 20% venue swing in shots is too big to leave out of your own estimate, especially on 3+ lines. See how bookmakers set player prop lines and our shots on target analysis.
Fouls and tackles: ignore the venue story
"He'll be busy away from home" is a common argument for tackles overs. Our data doesn't back it: the 2+ tackles line moved by under a point. The opponent's style matters far more, as our tackles and defensive props guide shows.
Cards: lean to the away side, especially favourites
Away players were booked more in every league at about the same foul rate. The gap was biggest for favourites playing away. For underdogs, venue made little difference.
Goalkeeper saves: venue plus team strength
Away keepers made half a save more per game. A weak team's keeper away reached 3+ saves in 64.2% of games.
Method notes
- Leagues: Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Championship, Segunda División, Serie B, Eredivisie, Primeira Liga, Belgian First Division A, Scottish Premiership, Süper Lig, Greek Super League 1, Danish Superliga, Liga I, Ekstraklasa, HNL, Czech Liga and Ligat Ha'al, from July 2024 to 20 October 2026. Ekstraklasa, HNL and Czech Liga coverage starts later. No cups, European games or play-offs.
- Sample: 411,509 player rows; 4,978 couldn't be assigned to a side, and six matches without full player data on both sides were dropped.
- Venue is the fixture's listed home team. Positions come from current player profiles.
- Team strength is full-season points per game in that league season, including the match itself; for 2026/27, only matches played so far.
- Robustness: for all starters in 2025/26 onwards (149,593 performances, any minutes), results were almost identical: 1.32 against 1.09 shots per 90, and 15.1% against 17.1% yellow cards.
- No xG in StatPair, so attacking output means shots and shots on target. This is a descriptive study, not a test of bookmaker prices.
How to check this with StatPair
- Open a player's match-by-match history and switch the Venue filter between home and away before trusting his season average.
- For keepers, check the opponent's shots on target with the opponent filter, then adjust for venue.
- Set Trends Finder to home or away to find players hitting a shots line at that venue.
- Check referee stats for card props, and save players with big splits in your Notebook.
Try StatPair free for 7 days → · Shots on target props → · Goalkeeper saves props →
FAQ
Q: Do players take more shots at home?
A: Yes. Across 238,226 outfield performances of 60+ minutes, players took 1.31 shots per 90 at home and 1.07 away, 22% more. For the same 4,626 players compared home and away, it was 1.34 against 1.11.
Q: Do players make more tackles away from home?
A: Barely. Outfield players made 1.54 tackles per 90 at home and 1.57 away, and the 2+ tackles line hit 39.5% at home against 40.1% away.
Q: Do away players get more yellow cards?
A: Yes. Players with 60+ minutes were booked in 15.4% of home performances and 17.3% of away ones, in all 20 leagues. Favourites playing away were booked in 16.0% of games, against 13.0% at home.
Q: Do goalkeepers make more saves away from home?
A: Yes. Keepers averaged 3.19 saves away and 2.67 at home, and 3+ saves landed in 58.9% of away games against 47.5% at home.
Q: Is the home shots boost bigger for strong teams?
A: No. Players from top-third teams shot 23% more per 90 at home, middle-third teams 21% and bottom-third teams 23%.
Bottom line
Venue matters for shots, cards and saves, and hardly at all for fouls and tackles. Players shoot about a fifth more at home, for the same player, in every league and for strong and weak teams alike. Away players get booked more, favourites most of all, and away keepers make half a save more per game. Check the home and away split, not just the season average.