Professional soccer with high training loads is defined with weekly competition. The purpose of this study was to compare external training load data of GPS derived variables that preceded a home versus away match. Twenty-two weeks of a national league meet schedule were analyzed, which included 11 home and 11 away matches. Twelve professional soccer players (age, 28.6 ± 2.7 years; height, 182.1 ± 8.6 cm; BMI, 22.6 ± 0.7 kg/m²) participated in this study. All matches were monitored using GPSPORTS systems Pty Ltd. The following variables were selected: total duration of the matches and training sessions, high-speed running distance (18–23 km h⁻¹), sprint distance (>23 km h⁻¹), maximal speed, body load, metabolic power, accelerations Zone1 (<2 m s⁻²) (AccZ1), accelerations Zone2 (2 –4 m s⁻²) (AccZ2), accelerations Zone3 (>4 m s⁻²) (AccZ3), decelerations Zone1 (<−2 m s⁻²) (DecZ1), decelerations Zone2 (−2 to −4 m s⁻²) (DecZ2) and decelerations Zone3 (>−4 m s⁻²) (DecZ3). The results indicated that metabolic power showed higher values at home than away matches [p = 0.047, ES = 0.53, (−0.28, 1.34)]. Furthermore, there was a higher value in accumulated external training load that preceded away matches for high-speed running and lower value [p < 0.001, ES = −0.95 (−1.79, −0.10)] for DecZ1 than home matches. In conclusion, external load variables had a higher value in home matches. However, the results showed that high-speed running was higher in away matches, which could be the discretion of the coaches to prepare players for different conditions on the opponent’s field.

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Comparison of GPS derived variables based on home versus away matches in the Asian professional soccer team