Fulham, Stoke and Reading most reliant on results at home

By Brian Sears

14 September 2012

The 20 clubs in the Premier League have won 14,570 points between them in their stints in the Premier League in the past 20 years.

Of those, 8,809 points have been won at home, or 60.5 per cent – but some clubs are much more reliant than others on the points they win on their own turf.

Fulham, Stoke and Reading are the most reliant on home points, each having won more than two-thirds of their points at home.

Manchester United win more points at home (56.1 per cent) than away (43.9 per cent) but have the most balanced ratio of all clubs.

See the table below for full details. In general and crude terms, the better a club, the more balanced their points spread. Six of the Premier League’s seven ‘ever present’ clubs are among the seven ‘best’ clubs in this respect – and Wigan are the exception who prove the rule.

Home form has kept Fulham and Stoke feasting at the top table; this is Fulham’s 12th Premier League season of the 21 seasons the league has been in existence, and Stoke’s fifth consecutive season.

Fulham, Stoke and Reading are all at home this weekend, respective hosting West Brom, Manchester City and Tottenham.

Fulham have so far played West Brom six times in the Premier League at Craven Cottage, winning five and drawing one. That draw was a 1-1 scoreline in February. Fulham in contrast have yet to win in their six visits to the Hawthorns (three defeats and three draws.)

Stoke have yet to lose a Premier League game at home to City, with a 1-0 win four seasons ago followed by three 1-1 draws. But Stoke have lost all four games when they have played at City in the Premier League.

Reading have played Tottenham four times in the Premier League. They began with a 3-1 win at their Madejski Stadium in November 2006 but then lost the next three games to Spurs 0-1 (away), 4-6 (away) and 0-1 (at home.)

This weekend’s games for the trio, then, are especially important as history tells us they do not easily make up ground on their travels.

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