Home comforts unlikely for EPL's basement boys

Relegation-threatened Premier League clubs who were vehemently against playing at neutral venues may be looking nervously at the German Bundesliga after 56 matches in empty stadiums produced only 12 home wins.

The Premier League returned on Wednesday after a three-month hiatus forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, and data produced by Gracenote from Germany's "ghost games" shows a radical shift where home advantage has been wiped out in empty stadiums.

Since the league restarted last month, home wins have plummeted from 43 percent with fans in attendance earlier in the season to 21 percent behind closed doors.

Brighton& Hove Albion, West Ham United and Watford－all within two points of the Premier League relegation zone－along with 19th-place Aston Villa agreed that resuming the season at neutral venues would affect the integrity of the competition.

Villa chief executive Christian Purslow said neutral venues could be particularly harsh for his club, which has collected 17 of its 25 points at Villa Park in Birmingham.

Purslow told talkSPORT last month: "When you say to any club, 'We want you to agree to a bunch of rule changes that may make it more likely that you get relegated.

"They're not thinking about TV money, they're thinking: 'My goodness, am I going to agree to something that results in me being relegated and losing 200 million pounds ($251 million)?'"

Brighton chief executive Paul Barber was also adamant that the Seagulls host matches at the Amex Stadium, given their remaining five home games include visits from both Manchester clubs, Liverpool, and Arsenal.

But without the hostility of the home crowd, playing away may not be a deal breaker after all.

Brighton manager Graham Potter said that the quality of soccer on the pitch would ultimately decide his team's top-flight future.

"As an away team it's difficult when there's 30, 40, 50, 60,000 people at a game－that's normal," Potter told Sky Sports.

"But it's not there, we haven't got the crowd and you just have to play football as well as you can. That's the challenge now."

Brighton will have cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands at the Amex, and Potter added: "It's hard for a cardboard cutout to generate the same atmosphere that 30,000 in the Amex can, but it's an opportunity for fans to engage.

"To have real-life supporters would be far better, unless they're hurling abuse at me, in which case I'm happy with the cutouts."

Reuters