The influence of situational variables on soccer match performance has been widely studied (Gómez, Lago-Peñas, & Pollard, 2013). Specifically, one of the most studied variables is the match location, also known as home advantage (HA). It has a particular interest especially in the competition model with a balanced schedule (same number of games played at home and away). This phenomenon results in teams winning over 50% of total points of their games played at home (Carron et al., 2005). However, some authors suggested that HA effect is not ongoing eliciting that team quality is a weighted variable that may alter somewhat advantage regardless (Lago-Peñas, 2005; Madrigal & James, 1999) and its influence on performance appears to exist at an individual and team level (Tucker, Taylor, & Mellalieu, 2005). Also, performance may be constrained by players’ experience and nationality (Seaton & Campos, 2011; Gai, Volossovitch, & Lago-Peñas, 2019) and player’s role, especially when analysing goalkeepers’ performance (West, 2018). The goalkeeper playing position is considered one of the most peculiar roles amongst all soccer players’ positions (West, 2018). In fact, Perez-Arroniz et al. (2022) , asummed those goalkeepers represent the most specific profile, which requires a more specific focus on match and training in order to protect the goal (West, 2018). This player has a determinant influence on the own team, as well as a high level of proficiency in offensive and defensive actions, with a high impact on final result of the game (Moreno-Pérez et al., 2019). In contrast with this importance, Jara et al. (2020) identified a lack of observational studies analysing goalkeeper´s performance.
For that reason, key performance indicators need to be identified in their own merit rather than as a comparison with on-field players’ positions (Nikolaidis et al., 2015) to identify and explore goalkeepers’ performance profilings (West, 2018). In general, most frequently used were the save and clearences (Sainz De Baranda, Ortega, & Palao, 2008), but these results were analyzed in World Cup competition, and Mackenzie and Cushion (2013) highlighted the importance of considering sport specific context as a variable which migh influence performance in football as others like match location. Although higher offensive actions (64.72%) than defensive actiones (35.28%) where exhibit in a regular competition (Muñoz et al., 2016), the performance is influenced by match location. When analysing the effect of playing at home and away on performance, Liu, Gómez and Lago-Peñas (2015) showed that goalkeepers performed more balls lost and clearences when playing away, and more passing accuracy when playing at home in the Spanish soccer league. López-Gajardo et al. (2020) , observed that goalkeepers exhibit higher clearences, duels, and perform more distributions. However, the situation in which the goalkeeper performs may change in terms of the team quality (Madrigal & James, 1999). Thus, several performance indicators in score and offensive actions vary in terms of team’s ability (Liu et al., 2019). In Women´s Fifa World Cup, goalkeepers from qualified teams show greater offensive actions in contrast with uncalifed teams (Sainz de Baranda et al., 2011) showing than individual performances are considered directly influenced by the team’s quality (Liu et al., 2019). Concerning the players’ nationality, small to trivial differences in Chinese Super League (Gai et al., 2019) and players from English Premier League (EPL) (Bush et al., 2017) were found. In a continental championship like the UEFA Champions League, foreign players scored more goals away than national ones, which seem to exhibit a stable pattern of scoring regardless the match location (Gai et al., 2019; Poulter, 2009). According to these findings the players’ nationality can be considered a player-related constraint that may modify and affect their performance during matches and competitions (Poulter, 2009). Despite the increasing number of research developed around the goalkeeper in last years (García-Angulo & Ortega, 2015), there is still a paucity of knowdlegde that takes into account the effects of situational-related factors (match location, team quality, etc.) and player-related characteristics (nationality) on goalkeepers’ performances. In fact, no previous research has been made about these features in EPL. Therefore, the aim of this research was to analyze the influence of match location, team’s quality and nationality in elite goalkeepers’ technical and tactical performances. These findings might help managers and coaches to attune their decisions while variation in performance may occur as a consequence of contextual- and player-related factors.