Sorry to still be talking about VAR, but we’ve got to do it once again.
The system dominated the headlines on Sunday after playing a huge role in Manchester United’s 1-1 draw against Everton at Goodison Park.
Everton forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin saw a late winner ruled out as Gylfi Sigurdsson, who was lying on the ground, was deemed to have been offside as he was in David de Gea’s line of sight.
It’s not the first time that Man United have benefited from VAR this season and according to a report from ESPN, they have profited from the technology more than any other Premier League club.
In a deep-dive into every overturned decision, Man United came first in the table with nine decisions going in their favour and just one going against them.
That gives Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side a net score of +8. VARchester United, anyone?
In second place is Brighton with a net score of +7.
The results prove that any idea that Liverpool have benefited heavily by VAR is just a myth. Their net score is +1, the same as Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City.
Sheffield United are in bottom place with a score of -6. The Blades have had a host of decisions go against them, including Lys Mousset’s goal against Man City being ruled out for offside on December 29.
The first VAR incident that involved United went against them. Back in September, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal for Arsenal against the Red Devils was initially ruled out for offside but was overturned upon review.
They’ve since had eight calls go their way, including against Liverpool on October 20 when Sadio Mane’s goal was disallowed for handball.
VAR OVERTURNS THIS SEASON (NET SCORE)
- Manchester United +8
- Brighton +7
- Crystal Palace +5
- Burnley +4
- Southampton +3
- Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle, Tottenham +1
- Bournemouth 0
- Watford -1
- Arsenal, Everton -2
- Aston Villa -3
- Chelsea, West Ham -4
- Norwich, Wolves -5
- Sheffield United -6
A week later VAR awarded Man United two penalties against Norwich City, although both were missed.
In December, Solskjaer’s side were given another penalty against Man City for Bernardo Silva’s foul on Marcus Rashford.
Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino saw his goal against United chalked off in January after Virgil van Dijk was deemed to have fouled De Gea.
United had two decisions go their way against Chelsea on February 17, with Kurt Zouma and Olivier Giroud both having goals disallowed.
And in their 3-0 win against Watford, Troy Deeney had a goal wiped out by VAR due to a handball by Craig Dawson.
The eighth decision to go in their favour came on Sunday when Calvert-Lewin’s late goal wasn’t allowed to stand.