Premier League Table in 2024/25 Without VAR
As the 2024-25 Premier League season gets underway, the role of VAR continues to be a lightning rod for controversy, influencing outcomes and sparking debates among fans and pundits alike. With the season only three games in, questions are already swirling about how different the league table might look without the intervention – or alleged errors – made by the divisive technology.
During the opening weeks of the current campaign, Squawka asked their followers to vote on each gameweek’s most controversial calls. The results form an alternative table showing us which teams’ fans will be cursing VAR (and which will be secretly pleased the Premier League clubs didn’t vote to get rid of it).
The results already make for interesting reading. Although the PGMOL said that more than 100 errors were corrected by VAR last season, there are already plenty of talking points before the first international break of this campaign. Let’s take a closer look at the table:
Arsenal’s home fixture against in-form Brighton was the biggest game for controversy on the latest Premier League weekend, and the first VAR check was for a potential penalty for the Gunners. It came in the first half as Ben White’s shot hit the arm of Lewis Dunk before going out for a corner.
By the law, this one was pretty cut and dry. Dunk’s arm was close to his body and he made no movement towards the ball. This was never going to be a penalty in the Premier League, though, even if fan opinion was split a lot closer.
In the same game, there was mayhem over Declan Rice’s second booking. He committed a foul and then nudged the ball away, but at the same time, Joel Veltman kicked Rice in a perceived attempt to take a quick free-kick. As the Englishman was deemed to have delayed the restart, a second yellow card was right by the letter of the law. Of course, as a yellow card, this decision wasn’t to be reviewed by VAR.
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