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Premier League switches to classic yellow winter ball

  /  autty

Football fans will notice the familiar return of the classic winter ball this weekend, as the Premier League officially ticks over into winter season.

The new ball, released by sports giants Nike, features a throwback old school design to acknowledge the 'Total 90' era.

Winter balls first came into use in the Premier League 15 years ago during the 2004/5 season, and have become a permanent fixture at the end of the calendar year ever since.

And for those of you are thinking is it simply a colour change, well for certain Premier League stars it is much more.

Statistics show several top flight stars perform much better once the high-vis ball comes into play, and have the goalscoring figures to match.

During his record-breaking debut season with Liverpool, Mohamed Salah really caught fire once the ball switched from customary white to a flash of neon yellow.

Finding the back of the net at an alarming rate... for his opponents at least... Salah averaged a goal-per-game ratio during his first season on Merseyside, when the yellow ball was in use.

Stats also show that Harry Kane features in second place boasting a 0.84 per match goals ratio, while Arsenal legend Thierry Henry racked up a 0.71 average and Cristiano Ronaldo, during his Manchester United days, 0.63.

'The latest iteration of the Premier League Hi-Vis Merlin footballs pays homage to the iconic heritage of the Total 90 Aerow football with a T90 logo featured on one of the panels,' say Nike of their latest creation.

'It marks the first time in the competition’s history that the Hi-Vis football will have a different design to the regular season Merlin.'