Chelsea star among players boosted most by home comforts
It’s the norm in football to place great onus on ‘home advantage’ when relatively evenly matched teams go head-to-head, but some teams, and indeed players, rely on home comforts considerably more than others.
Whether said individuals are just sensational in front of their loyal fans or generally poor travellers we reveal the ten players from Europe’s top five leagues whose WhoScored.com rating has the greatest positive difference when playing at home compared to on the road.
10) Romulo (Genoa/Lazio) - Home rating 7.24 / Away rating 6.31
Having last month joined Lazio on loan from Genoa, Romulo’s new club will be hoping they see the sort of performances that the Brazilian put in at home rather than away following his switch to Rome. The early signs are encouraging having put in a solid display on debut at the Studio Olimpico against Empoli in midweek. The 31-year-old has averaged 2.1 tackles, 1.8 key passes and 1.4 dribbles per 90 minutes in nine home appearances this season compared to 1.1, 1.4 and 0.8 respectively on the road.
9) Arkadiusz Milik (Napoli) - Home rating 7.60 / Away rating 6.67
Injury free and finally back to his best in front of goal, Napoli fans are beginning to fall in love with Milik, and it’s no wonder given his record at the San Paolo. The Poland international has scored nine of 12 league goals at home this season at a rate of a strike every 73.5 minutes, with a modest conversion rate of 12.5 per cent away from home more than doubling to 26.5 per cent in Naples.
8) Thomas Partey (Atletico Madrid) - Home rating 7.72 / Away rating 6.79
Ghanaian international Partey is becoming an increasingly important and popular player in Madrid, and the midfielder has certainly done most of his best work at the Wanda Metroplitano this season. The 25-year-old has two goals and three assists in 19 La Liga appearances, all of which have come in eight outings at home, while he’s averaged 3.4 interceptions per 90 compared to just 1.5 on the road.
7) Gonzalo Higuain (AC Milan/Chelsea) - Home rating 7.34 / Away rating 6.40
If Higuain’s start to life at Chelsea is anything to go by, the Blues fans are going to love him, at least at Stamford Bridge. The 31-year-old bagged a brace on his home league debut last weekend having failed to have a single shot just days earlier at Bournemouth, and that trend has been true all season. Five of the striker’s modest six-goal tally at AC Milan came at San Siro, while his averages for key passes (1.6 from 0.8) and dribbles per 90 (1.6 from 1.1) are both substantially higher when playing at home.
6) Florian Neuhaus (Gladbach) - Home rating 7.28 / Away rating 6.34
21-year-old midfielder Neuhaus has been one of the real breakthrough stars in the Bundesliga this season, and it’s fair to say he’s thriving off the Gladbach home support. The youngster has an impressive seven league assists to his name thus far, six of which have come at Borussia-Park, creating 15 of 19 chances at home, despite having made more appearances when the Foals have been on their travels.
5) Thorgan Hazard (Gladbach) - Home rating 8.34 / Away rating 7.36
As far as Hazard’s appearance in this list is concerned, it’s nothing to do with the fact that the Belgian has failed to deliver away from home this season and everything to do with his stunning form at home. Only Messi, Neymar and Mbappe have a better WhoScored.com rating in home matches this season than the Gladbach star (8.34), who has had a direct hand in 11 goals (six goals, five assists) in just eight league appearances at Borussia-Park.
4) Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham) - Home rating 7.74 / Away rating 6.61
If Fulham were to stay up this season, Mitrovic was always likely to carry much of the goalscoring burden but his struggles on the road thus far have given the Cottagers a lot to do in order to beat the drop. He has just two goals away from home in 13 appearances, the last of which came at the start of September and only one of which earned his side a point. His eight goals at Craven Cottage, by comparison, have directly earned his team 10 of their overall 17-point haul this season.
3) Jonas Hofmann (Gladbach) - Home rating 7.67 / Away rating 6.52
The fact that Hofmann is the third Gladbach player in the leaderboard proves just how pivotal Dieter Hecking’s sides home form has been to their unlikely title tilt. One of just two remaining teams with a 100 per cent win record on home turf, Hofmann has played a big part in that feat, with all five of his league goals coming at Borussia-Park this season. The midfielder’s averages drop across the board in away matches, although he has registered three of four assists on the road.
2) Kylian Mbappe (PSG) - Home rating 8.87 / Away rating 7.50
Simply put, Mbappe’s form at the Parc des Princes this season has been frightening. He is the highest rated player in home matches across Europe’s top five leagues, and it isn’t hard to see why. Tallies of six goals and two assists in nine away appearances are impressive enough but both double to 12 and four respectively from just seven league outings at home. That’s a direct hand in a goal in under 40 minutes on average in Paris.
1) Wahbi Khazri (Saint-Etienne) - Home rating 8.10 / Away rating 6.63
To say that Khazri didn’t win over the Sunderland fans during his time in the North East would be an understatement, but he’s certainly done just that since a permanent transfer to Sainte. The Tunisian has scored 12 goals in Ligue 1 this season, ten of which have come in 11 appearances at home. The 28-year-old is one of just six players to have reached double figures in home league matches this season, with a conversion rate of 25 per cent at the Stade Geoffrey-Guichard compared to just 10.5 per cent away from home.
