What's better? An extra day of recovery or a shorter journey?

[LondonBristolian]

Sunderland play away at QPR tonight whereas we host Wigan tomorrow.

That gives Sunderland an extra day of recovery BUT they will have had to travel to London and back whereas we'll only have had the trip up to Sunderland.

Which of these gives the biggest edge? Or does it not really matter in the grand scheme of things? 

[GrahamC]

As we play a day later then have to travel to Sunderland I’d suggest the advantage is their’s.

However we have seen plenty of times in the past teams brush this sort of thing off.

Will be tough on Saturday, a point to (hopefully) keep our unbeaten run going would be a good return.

[Merrick's Marvels]

3 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

As we play a day later then have to travel to Sunderland I’d suggest the advantage is their’s.

However we have seen plenty of times in the past teams brush this sort of thing off.

Will be tough on Saturday, a point to (hopefully) keep our unbeaten run going would be a good return.

Careful, we haven't played Wigan yet!

[GrahamC]

1 minute ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

Careful, we haven't played Wigan yet!

Hence the (hopefully), reckon it’ll be a draw.

[Oh Louie louie]

Wouldn't Sunderland fly from Newcastle?

[bcfc01]

3 minutes ago, Oh Louie louie said:

Wouldn't Sunderland fly from Newcastle?

Won't we fly from Bristol ?

Via SL Airways (or whatever its called).

[Oh Louie louie]

Short hop to Newcastle airport shorter hop to west London from Heathrow, Sunderland players be tucked up in bed by 1

[cidercity1987]

One thing I do know is that we are much more likely to have played Wednesday / Saturday versus our opponents Tuesday / Saturday, than vice versa

Any statos prove me wrong?

[phantom]

In this day and age with all the modern planning I can't see there is any difference nowadays

[Rossi the Robin]

It’s the small percentages that make the difference at the top levels

[Super]

Certainly favours them but it certainly can't be used as any excuse.

[Oh Louie louie]

There was a gentleman on TV last year, think he worked for potter at Brighton, he said a 1 per cent data value advantage whatever the term was, is worth up to sixty million pounds in the prem!

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

Injuries aside, if a football player can't recover from a game within 48 hours he ain't much of an athlete. A modern game may last nearer to 100 minutes than 90 but it rarely requires a player to make intense effort over that time. They train ofcourse but no more intently than participants in other sports who must look at footballers and what they earn with dismay. 

[Davefevs]

24 minutes ago, RoystonFoote'snephew said:

Injuries aside, if a football player can't recover from a game within 48 hours he ain't much of an athlete. A modern game may last nearer to 100 minutes than 90 but it rarely requires a player to make intense effort over that time. They train ofcourse but no more intently than participants in other sports who must look at footballers and what they earn with dismay. 

I suspect some in here with a much better appreciation of Sports Science than me will give you chapter and verse on this.

[Lanterne Rouge]

Don`t clubs that fly to games normally get their coach back? I think it`s so the medical staff can work on any knocks picked up straight away which they can`t really do on a plane?

[firstdivision]

3 hours ago, RoystonFoote'snephew said:

Injuries aside, if a football player can't recover from a game within 48 hours he ain't much of an athlete. A modern game may last nearer to 100 minutes than 90 but it rarely requires a player to make intense effort over that time. They train ofcourse but no more intently than participants in other sports who must look at footballers and what they earn with dismay. 

How do you know that (the 48-hour assertion)?  

[RoystonFoote'snephew]

20 minutes ago, firstdivision said:

How do you know that (the 48-hour assertion)?  

I don't pretend that it's scientific but as an example a tennis professional plays every other day in most tournaments and his time on court can be significantly longer than a football match. Yes he gets small breaks between games but the play is frequently more intense and explosive than that required by a footballer.