If you want to win at soccer then wear red

LONDON, (Reuters Life!) - British soccer teams Liverpool and Arsenal may have an unfair advantage in the European Champions League -- their red jerseys.

Academics at Durham and Plymouth universities said their research shows that a player's biological response to the color red, a "testosterone-driven signal of male quality", has helped football teams to success.

That might be one reason why Chelsea -- the only non-red-wearing team in the top four of the British Premier League -- is lagging behind table-toppers Arsenal and second place Manchester United.

As well as boosting the players, the color could also help bring in the ticket and memorabilia-buying fans, who are becoming more crucial now that success in the beautiful game depends on how much cash clubs have to pay for top players.

"Over time supporters may have been subconsciously more attracted to a club wearing red, so the club has developed an increasing resource base within its community," said Robert Barton, a professor at Durham University.

Arsenal's dominance of the Premier League may help prove this theory, but FC Barcelona -- whose away kit is yellow -- and the orange-clad Dutch national side may resent the other end of the researchers' findings.

After studying English football league results since 1945, the academics concluded that teams who wear these colors were likely to win the fewest games.

(Reporting by Chloe Fussell, editing by Paul Casciato)