FORZA Reveals Premier League's Most Entertaining Ground

WREXHAM, Wales - Oct. 26, 2017 - PRLog -- Manchester City's Etihad Stadium is the most action-packed Premier League venue according to new research – with the Old Trafford home of arch-rivals Manchester United the least entertaining top-flight ground.

To mark the relaunch of its new FORZA football equipment website, the UK's biggest-selling goal manufacturer Net World Sports has ranked the division's most gripping grounds based on the combined number of goals, shots, corners, and red cards recorded by home and away teams in Premier League matches since the start of the 2013-14 season, the date which coincided with the debut of its hugely-popular FORZA garden goal.

Net World Sports now sells more than 100,000 FORZA goals a year to customers in 100 plus countries. Its PVC garden goals have been added to by steel and aluminium goalposts in all dimensions from mini football to full-size. Earlier this year its premium FORZA Alu60 and Alu110 models were added to the English Football Association (The FA) list of approved goals after being independently tested to exceed strict BS EN safety standards.

According to the firm's ranking of the most entertaining home grounds, it's spectators at the Etihad Stadium who've had greatest cause to cheer. The 55,097-capacity venue tops the 'FORZA Most Entertaining Premier League Stadium 2013-17' table ahead of Liverpool's home ground Anfield, and Tottenham Hotspur, who are temporarily playing at Wembley while their White Hart Lane site is being redeveloped.

The period of matches analysed covers Manuel Pellegrini's league championship winning 2013-14 campaign, plus subsequent seasons under both the Chilean and current manager Pep Guardiola where the Citizens have combined phenomenal attacking play with somewhat slapdash defending and goalkeeping, keeping home and away fans alike on the edge of their seats.

Matches at the Etihad Stadium have averaged a net-busting 3.46 goals per game, well clear of Liverpool's Anfield (3.08) in second place. The venue has also seen the most total goals (277) a figure matched by Huddersfield Town's John Smiths Stadium, which up until this season had been hosting Championship clashes. Over the period, Man City's fortress has also recorded the most home team goals (209), home team wins (57), total corners (955), and home points accumulated (185) in the Premier League.

But while City fans have been royally entertained in recent seasons, matches at the Old Trafford home of their big rivals Manchester United have been in danger of sending crowds at the 'Theatre of Dreams' to sleep.

The Red Devils' comparative struggles under David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal, and even the 'Special One' Jose Mourinho last term in comparison to the Sir Alex Ferguson glory years sees the famous football cathedral rank bottom for action out of the current 20 Premier League venues, below Burnley's Turf Moor and Swansea City's Liberty Stadium.

Match-goers to Old Trafford have seen the least average total shots per game (23.67), while the stadium hovers around the relegation zone for average goals per game (2.43) too. In fact, only Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park (189) has seen fewer Premier League goals netted than the measly 194 notched at Old Trafford during the last four seasons.

The Eagles' fans have also had their wings clipped the most, with Selhurst Park having recorded the highest number of home defeats (42) since 2013. It's little surprise the next two happiest hunting grounds for visiting Premier League teams over the last four years – Sunderland's Stadium of Light (36 away wins) and Aston Villa's Villa Park (30 away wins) – have both seen their sides suffer recent relegations from the top division.

Visiting strikers have found Swansea City's Liberty Stadium the most welcoming of Premier League venues, with the home team conceding 109 goals in the last four seasons, the leaky Swans just edging out Sunderland (108) and Crystal Palace (105) for that dubious honour. Huddersfield Town's John Smith Stadium and AFC Bournemouth's Vitality Stadium have actually seen more away goals over the course of four seasons (130 and 120 respectively), but those two teams have played a significant number of extra games in the Championship.

While since 2013, tempers have been most likely to fray at whichever stadium West Ham United are hosting matches. Whether it's Upton Park or their new base at the London Stadium, the Hammers' home stadium has seen 20 red cards, 7 for the hosts and 13 for the visitors.

Chris Owens, Communications Manager for Net World Sports, said: "Our new and improved FORZA websites www.forzagoal.co.uk and www.forzagoal.com contain all the essential football equipment to help teams of all ages and abilities score the goals they need to aim for the top of the league, so to celebrate its re-launch we thought we'd find out which elite stadium hosted the most action-packed matches.

"The two Manchester venues claiming top and bottom spots in our league table will certainly be the biggest talking point, especially as it seems City's flair-packed side will go head-to-head with United's somewhat more pragmatic squad for honours this season."

- ENDS –

About the study:

To mark the re-launch of its new FORZA website, Net World Sports analysed statistics covering matches at each home stadium of the 20 current Premier League teams for the seasons 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17. Matches from the current 2017-18 season up to 20 October are also included.

Its alternative league table was calculated by adding the total number of goals, shots, corners, and red cards recorded by the home and away teams at each ground, then dividing by the total number of games played at each venue.