According to statisticians at ESPN, Newcastle United would drop from third to fourth in the Premier League this season if there wasn’t VAR intervention.
Surprise, surprise, Liverpool have been the biggest winners – they’d be sat in 12th without it – yet Eddie Howe’s side have actually gained two points from the video assisted technology.
Here’s how the Premier League table would’ve look over the World Cup break without VAR:
- Arsenal
- Man City
- Tottenham (+1 place)
- Newcastle (-1 place)
- Brighton (+2 place)
- Man Utd (-1 place)
- Fulham (+2 places)
- Chelsea
- West Ham (+7 places)
- Aston Villa (+2 places
- Bournemouth (+3 places)
- Liverpool (-6 places)
- Leicester
- Leeds (+1 place)
- Crystal Palace (-4 places)
- Brentford (-6 places)
- Everton
- Southampton (+1 place)
- Nottingham Forest (-1 place)
- Wolves
So, the teams who’ve benefited the most from VAR are Liverpool, Brentford and Crystal Palace, while the likes of West Ham, Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Fulham and Brighton have lost the most points via the off-field technology in football.
Many believe that Newcastle United have been hard done to this season – a point that still stands when you look at certain incidents in isolation – yet the stats suggest that we’re actually better off thanks to VAR intervention so far this season.
There have been some baffling calls. Joe Willock’s perfectly good goal against Crystal Palace should’ve stood, Alexander Isak’s emphatic finish at Anfield did not look like a ‘clear and obvious’ offside call and some feel Callum Wilson’s ‘high boot’ at Brighton was unfairly penalized.
On the flip side, VAR handed us a penalty that helped us draw level with Bournemouth at St James’ Park, Callum Wilson’s goal at Tottenham was allowed to stand after a clash with Hugo Lloris, Fulham had Nathaniel Chalobah sent off five minutes into our win at Fulham following a video review and Wolves had a goal disallowed to go 2-0 up in a match that finished all square back in August.
That said, there have been key moments ignored by VAR that could’ve changed everything. Remember John Stones’ clumsy challenge on Fabian Schar in that 3-3 draw with Man City? Matheus Nunes’ blatant tug on Sean Longstaff’s shirt at Wolves and that clear trip on Callum Wilson at Old Trafford that was somehow waved away following a review?
It may not come under VAR, but how can we forget Fabio Carvalho’s 98th-minute winner at Anfield; a goal that should never have stood given five minutes of added time were allocated.
Conclusion
While the Premier League still doesn’t have all the technological innovations seen in the World Cup on its sleeve, it is clear that VAR is already an indispensable part of every match. It will be interesting to see what new advancements will find their way into mainstream football and how they will it affect the table.
