The impact of varying small-sided games’ pitch sizes on replicating official match physical demands during effective playing time in male professional soccer players

Small-sided games (SSGs) are commonly used to replicate or overload official match (OM) demands in soccer, yet they often fail to replicate OM locomotor loads (distance at various speeds). This study examined whether increasing SSGs pitch size can mirror OM physical demands, when adjusted for effective playing time. GPS data were collected from 26 professional players (4v4+GKs) across four pitch sizes (80, 120, 160, and 200 m2 ·player−1) and six OMs (320 m2 ·player−1). Physical metrics included total distance (TD), high-intensity running (HIR, >19.8 km·h−1), high accelerations (Acc, >3 m·s−2), and high decelerations per minute (Dec, < −3 m·s−2), plus max acceleration (Max Acc, m·s−2), max deceleration (Max Dec, m·s−2), and max velocity (Max Vel, km·h−1). Results showed significantly lower TD, Max Acc, Max Dec, and Max Vel (p < 0.001) across all SSGs, with moderate to very large effect sizes. HIR was replicated using the two largest pitch sizes (160 and 200 m2 ·player−1). Acc was significantly higher in all SSGs, while the two largest pitch sizes overloaded Dec demands. These findings indicate that larger SSGs pitches (≥160 m2 ·player−1) can replicate HIR and overload Acc and Dec demands compared to OMs, suggesting fewer additional training methods may be required.