Manchester City may be top of the Premier League – but they’re not top of the VAR table.
It’s been another weekend of video assistant referee controversy, with Liverpool having a clear goal ruled out for offside against Tottenham in their 2-1 defeat in north London. The PGMOL later apologised for a human error, though Reds fans were incensed by two controversial red cards, too. Conspiracy?
At FourFourTwo, we thought we’d tally up all the goals that VAR had a hand in. If VAR ruled out a goal, we’ve added it back; if they awarded a penalty which was later scored, we’ve chalked it off. We’ve not changed red cards, obviously. Here’s how the table looks…
| Header Cell – Column 0 | Header Cell – Column 1 | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 19 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 5 | 12 | 18 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 17 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 16 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 15 |
| 6 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 14 | 6 | 15 |
| 7 | West Ham United | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 13 |
| 8 | Newcastle United | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 7 | 11 | 12 |
| 9 | Crystal Palace | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 11 |
| 10 | Manchester United | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 9 |
| 11 | Fulham | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 10 | -5 | 8 |
| 12 | Nottingham Forest | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 11 | -3 | 7 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 13 | -5 | 7 |
| 14 | Brentford | 7 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 10 | -1 | 5 |
| 15 | Chelsea | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 5 |
| 16 | Everton | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 13 | -7 | 4 |
| 17 | Luton Town | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 12 | -7 | 4 |
| 18 | Bournemouth | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 15 | -10 | 3 |
| 19 | Burnley | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 16 | -11 | 3 |
| 20 | Sheffield United | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 19 | -14 | 1 |
So that’s a surprise. According to some fans, referees have shown some bias to Tottenham lately – but the VAR table doesn’t reflect that, with the Lilywhites denied points in their opening weekend encounter with
Of course, the VAR table also doesn’t account for Luis Diaz’s disallowed strike. Given that the Colombian’s goal was ruled to be offside by the on-field officials, the VAR table doesn’t account for that mistake.
There are other big decisions that haven’t had any impact on the VAR table – and this is where the table itself shows its flaws.
For example, Alejandro Garnacho’s strike against Arsenal was originally given as a goal and would have put Manchester United 2-1 up with minutes to spare at the Emirates Stadium last month.
That the Gunners ran out 3-1 winners means that adding on the one goal for United doesn’t make a difference with our table – though obviously, United would have been very unlikely to surrender two goals, had Garnacho’s finish counted.
Likewise, Rasmus Hojlund’s goal against Brighton & Hove Albion was ruled out by VAR for the ball going out of play. Had that been allowed to stand, it would have been an equaliser just before half-time. Who knows how that game would’ve played out?
Of course, these decisions are supposed to even themselves out…
More VAR stories
Tottenham vs Liverpool: why was Luis Diaz’s goal wrongly disallowed by VAR? Reds boss Jurgen Klopp blasts ‘unfair’ and ‘crazy’ decisions in Saturday’s Premier League clash, while Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou admits he is not a fan of VAR.
