Home advantage has long been treated as one of football’s few reliable constants. Familiar surroundings, vocal support and the absence of travel are all expected to give the hosts an edge. However, the opening weeks of the 2026/27 Premier League season suggest that edge may be getting smaller.
Through 59 completed matches, home teams had won only 37% of fixtures. Draws accounted for approximately 32%, leaving away sides with a similar share of victories. Earlier in the campaign, after 50 matches, the home-win rate was even lower at 36%, placing it below every previous Premier League season at the equivalent headline level.
It is still too early to declare home advantage dead. Nevertheless, the figures continue a longer-term pattern that raises an important question: are Premier League grounds becoming less intimidating places to visit?
Home Teams Are Dropping More Points
The rise in draws is central to the trend. After the first 50 matches, 16 had finished level, representing 32% of all fixtures. Rather than away teams simply dominating, visiting clubs were becoming harder to beat.
Matchweek four offered a particularly striking example. Leeds United’s 4-1 victory over Newcastle United was the only home win across the 10 fixtures. Four games ended in draws and the other five were won by the visitors.
Had Leeds failed to win, it would have been only the fourth Premier League matchweek without a home victory and the first since September 2000.
There has also been less security in taking the lead. A team scored first in 45 of the opening 50 matches, but only 29 went on to win. That conversion rate of 64.4% was the second lowest across the previous 14 seasons and the fourth lowest in Premier League history.
For home teams, therefore, scoring first has not always been enough to restore the traditional sense of control.
Visiting Teams Are Better Prepared
One explanation is that away teams are now more comfortable playing without the ball. Clubs have become highly organised when defending in compact shapes, while detailed video analysis enables coaches to prepare precisely for an opponent’s movements, passing patterns and set…
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