Biology of Sport

Abstract

4/2025 vol. 42
Original paper

Contextualized acceleration and deceleration profiles of elite soccer players during English Premier League match-play. The effect of possession, positional demands and opponent ranking

Ryland Morgans 1, 2
,
Mauro Mandorino 3, 4
,
Ben Ryan 2
,
Piotr Zmijewski 5, 6
,
Alexandre Moreira 7
,
Rafael Oliveira 8, 9
  1. School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, UK
  2. Brentford FC Football Research Centre, Brentford FC, London, UK
  3. Performance and Analytics Department, Parma Calcio 1913, 43121 Parma, Italy
  4. Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, 00135 Rome, Italy
  5. Jozef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, 00-809 Warsaw, Poland
  6. Research and Development Center Legia Lab, Legia Warszawa, Poland
  7. Department of Sport, School of Physical Education and Sport, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  8. Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health and Human Development, (CIDESD), Santarém Polytechnic University, 2040-413 Rio Maior, Portugal
  9. Santarém Polytechnic University, School of Sport, 2040-413 Rio Maior, Portugal
Biol Sport. 2025;42(4):67–75
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2025.148540
Online publish date: 2025/04/14
View full text
Confronting perimenopausal women’s knowledge of coronary heart disease with their health behaviours. Controversial role of hormone replacement therapy in the protection of coronary heart disease
This study aimed to compare accelerations (ACC) and decelerations (DEC) when in- (IP) and outof-possession (OP) during official English PremierLeague (EPL) match-play over three consecutive seasonsconsidering playing position, match location and opponent ranking. Match data from 31 male professional soccer players was obtained via an optical tracking system. Playing position significantly influenced ACCIP, DECIP, and DECOP. Ranking difference and match location were significant predictors for DECIP, ACCOP, and DECOP. An increase in ranking difference was associated with higher DECIP. Conversely, in the out-of-possession phase (ACCOP and DECOP), a decrease in these parameters with increasing ranking difference was observed. Regarding match location, positive β coefficientssuggested that DECIP, ACCOP, and DECOP values were significantly higher during away matches compared to home matches. A significant interaction (playing position×ranking difference) was reported for DECOP (β = 0.035, p = 0.013). Interestingly, DECOP actions decreased with increasing ranking difference across all playing positions except for wingers. In conclusion, these findings highlight that distinct contextual factors influence ACC and DEC performance during in- and out-of-possession phases of EPL match-play.

Keywords

Contextual variables, Optical tracking, Match performance, Football, Elite soccer

Share
without publication fees
Integrated with
Editorial Policies
Sarajevo Declaration on Integrity and Visibility of Scholarly Publications