With Europe’s respective league seasons now around a third of the way through their duration, every team in the top 5 leagues has had the chance to build up a decent run of form, be it at home or away. However, WhoScored investigates the teams who will be damning their form on the road having racked up the points on home soil.
With this in mind we look at England's Premier League, Italy's Serie A and Spain's La Liga, where one team from each stands out as letting themselves down away from home. The three teams analysed have the greatest points difference between their home and away games in each division, proving that if they could carry impressive home efforts with them on away days, they would be significantly higher up the table.
Premier League - Sinking Swans
While few predicted the all but impenetrable force that is Swansea at the Liberty Stadium, many will not be surprised of their plight away from home. Perhaps Brendan Rodgers' side's main downfall is their tendency to leak goals - a feature of their game that is all but opposite whilst in front of their own fans. Swansea have conceded just 2 goals in 7 games at home this season, yet 14 in 6 away from home. Undoubtedly a key aspect of this is their shot prevention whilst at the Liberty, conceding just 11.7 per game on average compared to almost double that (21.5) on the road.
Swansea tend to dominate possession when playing at home, having controlled the play an impressive 60% of the time on average. They still hold over half of the possession away from home, though 51.5% is significantly lower than their average in when in Wales. There is little difference between their shooting and tackling stats, with Rodgers' men far from prolific thus far with just 12 goals in 13 games.
However, if Swansea could maintain their points per game ratio when playing as hosts (1.71), they could have amassed an overall points tally of 22 by now - placing them just behind the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool. Admittedly, if they played as poorly at home as they do away (0.33 points per game), they could have as few as 4 points, proving that home form will be crucial in the promoted side's fight for survival in the Premier League.
Serie A - The Plight of Palermo
Many would suggest that, having finished 8th last season, Palermo have little to worry about this term as they are currently placed 5th. However, the difference between their form at the Stadio Renzo Barbera compared to their away form is staggering.
A perfect record of 6 wins out of 6 on home soil, scoring 16 goals in the process, hints at the most potent of attacking forces. On their travels it is an altogether different story. A failure to score in 6 away games is now the only record of its kind remaining across Europe, and it is one that Head Coach Devis Mangia will be desperate to be rid of. Just 1 draw and 5 defeats has led to Palermo picking up 17 more points in front of their home fans than the travelling away support.
Interestingly, the side's stats both home and away are pretty similar. In fact, the Rosanero hold more possession on the road (43.8% to 42.3%) as well as maintaining a better pass accuracy (77.5% to 74.6%). This may suggest that Palermo have been a little unfortunate in away games or perhaps, due to fairly meagre figures in both regards, somewhat fortunate at home. While they have faltered in terms of finishing in away games, Palermo have been clinical at home, hitting the target with 42% of their attempts, with only Genoa accurate in front of their own fans more often.
La Liga - Not So Atletico!
If there is one team in all of Europe who appear to be a completely different outfit on their travels, it may well be Atletico Madrid. Having finished 5th last season and with seemingly intelligent signings in place to counteract the loss of the likes of Forlan and Aguero, Atletico fans will be frustrated to see their side languishing in mid-table mediocrity so far (11th).
However, when studying Manzano's men's home form, only Real Madrid and Barcelona are better. Despite this, Atletico's away from - like Swansea and Palermo's - is the worst in their respective division. The main cause seems to be a willingness to concede shots, and in turn goals. While the Spanish outfit have conceded just 8.3 shots at home, they have allowed opponents to strike 15.5 efforts per game away.
A clear drop in dominance sees Atletico only control 47.2% of possession on their travels compared to an impressive 61% at the Calderon, but perhaps the biggest decline and the answer to their problems lays in their lack of confidence to shoot away from home. Attempting a league-high of 20.4 shots in front of their home fans, Manzano's side try their luck almost half as much away from home (10.8 per game), with some of their aforementioned new recruits impressing at home, only to fade away.
Key Culprits for Torrid Travellers
Each of the analysed sides have an attacking asset who is failing to shine on the road despite putting in confident performances at home, with Scott Sinclair, Fabrizio Miccoli and Falcao's WhoScored ratings away from home all way down on their figures when playing as hosts.
Swansea winger Scott Sinclair has played 7 games at home, scoring 3 and assisting 1, though he has failed to contribute to a goal away from the Liberty. A willingness to try his luck at home has seen him fire off 4.3 shots per game compared to 2.5 when playing on the visiting side, while his chance creation has also faltered, with 0.7 down on 1.3 per game at home.
Veteran Palermo forward Fabrizio Miccoli has proven his worth to the side at home with 4 goals and 3 assists key to their perfect start when hosting opponents. However, a failure to score or assist in as many away games shows the ageing Italian has far less of an impact on the road. An average of 2.4 shots and 1 key pass per game is down from home figures of 4 and 1.4 respectively, leaving the 32-year-old with a home rating of 7.69 compared to an away figure of 6.07.
Having become the all-time top scorer in a single Europa Cup campaign under Andre Villas-Boas last season, Colombian striker Falcao looked set to join the boss at Chelsea. However, after a move failed to materialize, Atletico were quick to get their man and he hit the ground running at home, scoring 6 goals in 5 games. Striking a hefty 5.4 shots per game at the Calderon, Falcao is significantly less confident on his travels, attempting just 1.2 per game on average and finding the net just once in the process. The difference between his WhoScored home and away ratings (7.93 to 6.03) is remarkable and indicative of his struggle to impose himself away from home.
