Before the pandemic, the effect of the supporters on football games was seen as some great, mysterious intangible.
You have your expected goals, your possession percentage and your kilometers ran. What you couldn’t account for was the crowd, who can influence the outcome of a match in spiritual ways.
One year on from the last time football was played in front of full stadiums, the impact of the crowd is seen in a clearer light.
Here are some things we can say for sure about the lack of fans in stadiums. Away teams win more often. Last gasp goals are scored less often. Teams whose fans spur them on more than other teams are in big trouble.
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For the first time in the 132 year history of league football in England, away teams win more often than home teams. This season, away teams have won 40% of games. This is 6% higher than the 34% record in the 2018 – 2019 season.
There has been a sense that games nowadays simply drift. A 1 – 1 draw, which might have seen some late drama in the past, simply fizzles out into a draw. The statistics bear this out too, with goals in the last 15 minutes of games down 16%.
No team has felt the lack of fans more keenly than Liverpool. As is well documented, they have lost a record 6 games in a row at Anfield. Before their first home defeat to Burnley, they had gone 68 games unbeaten in their home ground.
Absent the Anfield faithful, it is just another stadium.
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As well as that, lineup changes by the Big 6 teams are up 13%, demonstrating the physical strain on players in the compacted schedule. Teams did not have a proper preseason to prepare, which explains the inconsistent, sometimes calamitous, sometimes unexplainable results this season.
