Monday 21 December 2015 20:52, UK
Away teams have never been as dominant in English football as they are right now, a Sky Sports study has revealed. Here we inspect the numbers which show home advantage is on the wane in England...
Norwich City, Tottenham, Leicester, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace all won away from home on Saturday - five out of the seven Premier League fixtures that day.
Arsenal, who host Manchester City on Monday Night Football, and league leaders Leicester have been the most successful teams on the road this season, each winning six of their away league fixtures so far.
In total there have been 59 away wins in the Premier League this term. There have only been three more homes wins.
In fact, the Premier League is seeing a continual rise in away wins year-on-year.
In 2010/11 just 23.68 per cent of results were away wins. That increased to 30.53 per cent in 2011/12 and, after a dip in 2012/13, has consistently been above 30 per cent.
This season away wins are at 34.91 per cent. If that percentage is maintained until the end of the season it will be the most dominant season for away teams in the history of English football.
Those percentages reflect a wider trend in the English game, revealed in a Sky Sports study earlier this season.
The stats prove home advantage exists in football. Since 1888/89, excluding this season, teams have won 51 per cent of their home games in the top four tiers on average, losing 24 per cent.
However, there has been a steady decline in home wins over the last 127 years - dropping from its 65 per cent peak in 1895, when 480 games were held across two divisions, to its 2013 low of 42 per cent, when there were 2,036 games across four divisions.
As home wins decline, away wins are on the rise. Last season produced the highest share of away wins since the Football League was founded in 1888. Nearly one-third of all games across England's top four tiers (31 per cent) ended as away wins in 2014/15.
The results were a stark contrast to those recorded in 1901/02 or 1923/24 - in both seasons the visitors were victorious in a mere 17 per cent of games.
