How Many VAR Mistakes Have Gone For and Against Every Premier League Club (2024/25)

After a 2023/24 season marked by numerous refereeing controversies, and as has been the case since its introduction, most of them linked to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), the Premier League’s governing bodies wanted to improve their tools to make them as efficient as possible.

From the introduction of the “Referee’s Call”, which gives more weight to the decisions of the match’s central referee, to the use of the Premier League Match Centre on social networks to justify a decision to Internet users, to the forthcoming arrival of semi-automated offside, various means have been put in place to try and reduce the number of controversies.

However, as Howard Webb, Director General of Refereeing, reminded us, no tool today can provide a truly infallible response to a given situation. In other words, VAR can make mistakes. But which clubs benefit most from these? Thanks to a study from ESPN, GIVEMESPORT is now in a position to answer this cardinal question.

What VAR reviews

• Goal/No goal
• Penalty/No penalty
• Direct red card (not second yellow card)
• Mistaken identity (when the wrong player is booked by the referee)

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Newcastle United Biggest Beneficiaries

The Magpies have enjoyed a VAR review on five occasions

No team in the Premier League has seen VAR work so well for them as it has for Newcastle so far this season. As early as the 25th of August, against Bournemouth, it allowed the Magpies to come away from the Vitality Stadium with a point, cancelling out Dango Ouattara’s late goal for a handball.

A little over a month later, Eddie Howe’s men took advantage again, this time twice. Abdoulaye Doucoure was denied for offside, while James Tarkowski’s foul on Sandro Tonali resulted in a penalty for the Toon Army (Anthony Gordon’s effort was later saved by Jordan Pickford).

More recently, their 2-1 defeat at Chelsea was made less bitter thanks to further positive VAR checks – on the cancellation of a Cole Palmer goal and a potential late penalty.

Liverpool Among Top Teams Subject to VAR

But the Reds still have no scandal to deplore

If Liverpool want to return to the top of the Premier League, they will inevitably need a little help from fate. The Reds are currently one of the teams most penalised by VAR so far this season. With a differential of -4, Arne Slot’s men are at the bottom of the table alongside Everton, Aston Villa and Ipswich Town.

And while four teams (Chelsea and Fulham) have already been subjected to VAR four times each, none have had more unfavourable decisions called against them than Everton, Liverpool and Bournemouth (5).

A Title Contender Has Finally Gone Negative

Its biggest rival remains spared for the moment

Having remained 0-0 until the start of matchday 11 in the Premier League, Arsenal saw their fate turned on its head when they travelled to Stamford Bridge. Against Chelsea, the Gunners had the misfortune to have a Kai Havertz goal disallowed for offside, tipping the VAR balance the wrong way.

Tottenham, the north London rivals, no longer have this problem, with a net score of +2. Among the teams in a ‘tie’ with Spurs are Crystal Palace, Manchester City and Chelsea.

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