VAR intervenes as West Ham are beaten at Elland Road.placeholder image
VAR intervenes as West Ham are beaten at Elland Road. | AFP via Getty Images
The Video Assistant Referee once again had a role to play in this weekend's Premier League action.
Crystal Palace would leapfrog Manchester United and Chelsea in a Premier League table where VAR didn’t exist this season with the Red Devils and Blues both benefiting from the technology so far this term.
VAR was in action this weekend with overturns in matches between Tottenham Hotspur and Everton, as well as Brentford and Liverpool. There were checks in other top flight clashes but no overturns of referee decisions.
Spurs beat the Toffees by a comfortable 3-0 but the hosts did have a goal chalked off on Merseyside while Brentford netted their penalty against Liverpool with the spot kick being given by VAR. LondonWorld looks at how the Premier League table without VAR fares now.
Premier League table without VAR
1st - Arsenal, 22 points
2nd - Bournemouth, 20 points (+2 points)
Jean-Philippe Mateta had a disallowed goal overturned against AFC Bournemouth in the 3-3 draw with Crystal Palace when deemed to be onside.
3rd - Tottenham Hotspur, 17 points
4th (+1) - Manchester City, 16 points
5th (+2) - Liverpool, 16 points (+1 point)
Liverpool would have picked up a point against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium if the hosts had not been awarded a penalty. A Match Centre statement read: “After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of free-kick to Brentford. Referee announcement: ‘After review, the challenge by Liverpool No 4 is on the line. My final decision is penalty’.”
6th (-2) - Sunderland, 15 points (-2 points)
The Black Cats would have only picked up one point rather than three against Brentford if Bees star Dango Ouattara had not seen his goal chalked off for offside. Sunderland won that match 2-1.
7th (+1) - Aston Villa, 15 points
Crystal Palace leapfrog Manchester United and Chelsea
8th (+2) - Crystal Palace, 14 points (+1 points)
The Eagles would have picked up three points rather than one against Chelsea if Eberechi Eze’s early free kick had not been disallowed. A Match Centre statement read: “After review, away number six is less than one metre away from the wall as the shot is taken. Therefore, it's an indirect free kick and a disallowed goal.”
Crystal Palace wouldn’t have got a point against AFC Bournemouth if Jean-Philippe Mateta’s goal that had been given as offside was judged to be onside by VAR.
9th (-3) - Manchester United, 14 points (-2 points)
The Red Devils would have benefitted from VAR is Bruno Fernandes converted his spot kick against Fulham, following the system’s intervention. However, the Portuguese star missed and his side had to settle for a point.
Fernandes was on target from the spot against Burnley in injury time, after VAR awarded Manchester United a penalty at Old Trafford at the end of August. That secured a late 3-2 win.
10th (-1) - Chelsea, 13 points (-1 point)
Would not have picked up a point against Crystal Palace on the opening day, if Eberechi Eze’s free kick had not been disallowed.
11th (+1) - Newcastle, 12 points
12th (+1) - Brighton, 12 points
13th (-2) - Brentford, 12 points (-1 point)
Brentford would have picked up a point against Sunderland if Ouattara’s goal had not been disallowed. A Match Centre statement read: “VAR checked the referee’s call of goal – and established that Ouattara was in an offside position in the build-up and recommended that the goal was disallowed.”
Also benefitted from VAR when awarded a penalty against Liverpool in October, winning that match 3-2.
14th (-1) - Leeds United, 11 points
15th (-1) - Everton, 11 points
16th - Burnley, 11 points (+1 point)
The Clarets would have picked up a point against Manchester United if VAR had not penalised them late on and awarded the hosts a penalty. The referee announcement was: “After review, Burnley eleven has a sustained pulling action on Manchester United sixteen, which results in a penalty kick. My final decision is yellow card and penalty.”
17th - Fulham, 8 points
18th - Nottingham Forest, 5 points
19th - West Ham, 4 points
20th - Wolves, 2 points
In other news, Gary Neville tells Arsenal what they must do to win Premier League title as 100-point claim made.
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