Home and Away, does it matter, should it matter?

[Top Eleven Blogger]

I've had a couple of scenarios now where I have faced teams I've expected to annihilate, but end up barely escaping with a small margin win, or draw or worst case a loss, and I have noticed them to be mostly while playing away from home.
I've not found any thread catering or hinting towards this topic, and frankly am just a little curious, so I'm asking any experienced players to drop a few cool pearls of wisdom on these burning questions.
Is there any difference in team performances based on home and away? (other than the possession stat.)
Should I alter my strategy based on the venue ? (especially if the quality of my opponent's team matches mine)
And if not, shouldn't this feature be present ??? To make this "football" simulation game more realistic ?
Thanks in advance.