# Home Advantage in Football: Exploring Its Effect on Individual Performance
## 3 Results  
The descriptive analysis of individual footballers' performance (_Tackles_, _Inter_, _Fouls_, _Goals_, _Assists_, and _KeyP_) based on team location (home vs. away) is presented in Table 2, while the performance comparison based on playing position (defender, midfielder, and forward) when playing at home or away is shown in Figure 1.  
The data in Table 2 show that a higher number of _Tackles_ per match is recorded when playing away (mean = 1.93 away vs. 1.87 home; median = 1.90 away vs. 1.80 home; SD = 0.88 away vs. 0.89 home). As for the _Inter_ variable per match, it is slightly higher when playing away as well (mean = 1.79 away vs. 1.74 home; median = 1.7 away vs. 1.7 home; SD = 0.92 away vs. 0.91 home). For the _Fouls_ variable, the data show slightly higher values for away teams (mean = 1.12 away vs. 1.10 home; median = 1.10 away vs. 1.00 home; SD = 0.53 away vs. 0.54 home). In the _Goals_ variable, home players have a higher average and SD (mean = 1.18 away vs. 1.85 home; median = 0.00 away vs. 1.00 home; SD = 2.28 away vs. 3.23 home). _Assists_ are also higher in home matches (mean = 0.95 away vs. 1.23 home; median = 0.00 away vs 1.00 home; SD = 1.45 away vs. 1.72 home). Finally, _KeyP_ is more numerous in home matches as well (mean = 0.65 away vs. 0.80 home; median = 0.40 away vs. 0.60 home; SD = 0.63 away vs. 0.75 home. In Figure 1, a box plot is shown for each variable and position, where the median, first and third quartile, and outliers of each variable are represented. In relation to the comparison of playing at home or away, Table 3 presents a study of the statistical significance of the results shown. Specifically, for each variable, the value of the statistic, the \(p\)-value, and the ES are displayed. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Team Location** & **N** & **Mean** & **Median** & **SD** \\ \hline Tackles & Away & 2108 & 1.93 & 1.9 & 0.88 \\  & Home & 2229 & 1.86 & 1.8 & 0.88 \\ Inter & Away & 2108 & 1.79 & 1.7 & 0.92 \\  & Home & 2229 & 1.74 & 1.7 & 0.91 \\ Fouls & Away & 2108 & 1.11 & 1.1 & 0.53 \\  & Home & 2229 & 1.09 & 1 & 0.54 \\ Goals & Away & 2108 & 1.18 & 0 & 2.28 \\  & Home & 2229 & 1.84 & 1 & 3.23 \\ Assists & Away & 2108 & 0.95 & 0 & 1.45 \\  & Home & 2229 & 1.23 & 1 & 1.71 \\ KeyP & Away & 2108 & 0.65 & 0.4 & 0.62 \\  & Home & 2229 & 0.8 & 0.6 & 0.74 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Descriptive statistics of the variables _Tackles_, _Inter_, _Fouls_, _Goals_, _Assists_, and _KeyP_. Figure 1: Comparison of home vs. away statistics for _Tackles_, _Inter_, _Fouls_, _Goals_, _Assists_, and _KeyP_ by position. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline  & & **Statistical** & \(P\) & **ES (Interpretation)** \\ \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Tackles} & Stricker & 29,074 & 0.389 & 0.04 (trivial) \\  & Midfielder & 134,676 & 0.918 & 0.00 (trivial) \\  & Defender & 942,471 & 0.081 & 0.03 (trivial) \\ Inter & Stricker & 29,158 & 0.418 & 0.04 (trivial) \\  & Midfielder & 133,006 & 0.654 & 0.01 (trivial) \\  & Defender & 966,478 & 0.536 & 0.01 (trivial) \\ Fouls & Stricker & 29,547 & 0.573 & 0.02 (trivial) \\  & Midfielder & 129,378 & 0.231 & 0.04 (trivial) \\  & Defender & 919,318 & 0.005 & 0.06 (trivial) \\ Goals & Stricker & 24,216 & **\textless{0.001}** & 0.20 (trivial) \\  & Midfielder & 111,977 & **\textless{0.001}** & 0.17 (trivial) \\  & Defender & 848,845 & **\textless{0.001}** & 0.13 (trivial) \\ Assists & Stricker & 26,301 & 0.008 & 0.13 (trivial) \\  & Midfielder & 124,942 & 0.029 & 0.07 (trivial) \\  & Defender & 893,186 & **\textless{0.001}** & 0.08 (trivial) \\ KeyP & Stricker & 25,062 & **\textless{0.001}** & 0.17 (trivial) \\  & Midfielder & 119,877 & 0.002 & 0.11 (trivial) \\  & Defender & 854,860 & **\textless{0.001}** & 0.12 (trivial) \\ \hline \end{tabular} Note: In the text, bold is used to indicate a statistically significant value.  
\end{table} 
Table 3: Mann–Whitney U test for _Tackles_, _Inter_, _Fouls_, _Goals_, _Assists_, and _KeyP_ along positions.