How the Premier League table would look if VAR wasn't being used

VAR. What’s it good for? Absolutely nothing.

The first few weeks of the Premier League have been dominated by, quite frankly, shocking decisions - mainly surrounding the new controversial handball rule.

Fortunately, it seems the Premier League have seen sense and have now amended how they’re going interpret the rules. But it’s too late for some clubs who have fallen victim to a harshly penalised handball.

Now, we here at GIVEMESPORT have always hated VAR. Last season, we brought you ‘How the Premier League table would look without VAR’ every week. To work this out, we identified all of the overturned VAR decisions and worked out how they impacted the match in question.

Of course, it’s arbitrary but it’s a bit of fun to imagine the world without VAR.

And this season, we’ll do the exact same.

So, how has VAR impacted the Premier League season at this early stage?

Let’s take a look:

1st | Everton | Points: 10 | Points difference: -2

Game: West Brom (H)

Incident: VAR awarded Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal after it was originally ruled offside.

Outcome without VAR (EVERTON WIN): Make no mistake, Calvert Lewin’s equaliser in the 31st-minute was an important one. But Everton went on to win the match 5-2 and we believe they would have been strong enough to get all three points even if they hadn’t levelled through Calvert-Lewin.

Game: Crystal Palace (A)

Incident: Penalty awarded for Joel Ward’s penalty. Richarlison scored the spot-kick.

Outcome without VAR (DRAW): The scores were level at 1-1 with five minutes remaining until half-time. VAR then gave an incredibly harsh decision against Ward to hand Everton a penalty. Everton went on to win the game 2-1 after the penalty was converted and we’re backing it would have been a draw if that decision hadn’t been made.

2nd | Aston Villa | Points: 9 | Points difference: 0

NO OVERTURNED VAR DECISIONS SO FAR THIS SEASON

3rd | Leicester | Points: 9 | Points difference: 0

Game: West Ham (H)

Incident: Harvey Barnes’ 90th-minute goal was disallowed by VAR after Jamie Vardy was offside in the build-up

Outcome without VAR (WEST HAM WIN): West Ham were 3-0 ahead and Barnes’ goal would have been no more than a consolation.

4th | Arsenal | Points: 9 | Points difference: 0

NO OVERTURNED VAR DECISIONS SO FAR THIS SEASON

5th | Tottenham | Points: 9 | Points difference: +2

Game: Southampton (A)

Incident 1: Harry Kane’s 3rd-minute goal was disallowed after VAR spotted an offside in the build-up.
Incident 2: Southampton awarded a late penalty by VAR after Matt Doherty’s handball.

Outcome without VAR (SPURS WIN): Spurs won 5-2 anyway but, without VAR, Kane’ early goal would have stood and Southampton wouldn’t have been awarded a late penalty. Imagine the score without VAR.

Game: Newcastle (H)

Incident: Newcastle awarded injury-time penalty by VAR for Eric Dier’s handball. Callum Wilson equalised with the spot-kick.

Outcome without VAR (SPURS WIN): Pretty obvious this one. We’re pretty sure Spurs would have seen out the remaining few minutes if VAR didn’t give a ridiculous decision.

6th | Liverpool | Points: 9 | Points difference: 0

Game: Chelsea (A)

Incident: Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen was shown a red card after VAR ruled he had denied Sadio Mane a goalscoring opportunity.

Outcome without VAR (LIVERPOOL WIN): There’s no doubting that Andreas Christensen’s red card changed the game but, let’s be honest, the champions were in control anyway. They back them to have gone on to win the match even if it was 11 vs 11 in the second half.

7th | Chelsea | Points: 7 | Points difference: 0

Game: Liverpool (H)

Incident: Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen was shown a red card after VAR ruled he had denied Sadio Mane a goalscoring opportunity.

8th | Leeds United | Points: 7 | Points difference: 0

NO OVERTURNED VAR DECISIONS SO FAR THIS SEASON

9th | Newcastle | Points: 6 | Points difference: -1

Game: Brighton (H)

Incident: Neal Maupay’s 8th-minute goal was initially flagged for offside but was awarded by VAR to put Brighton 2-0 up.
Incident: Yves Bissouma was sent off by VAR for a dangerous challenge on Jamal Lewis in the 86th-minute.

Outcome without VAR (BRIGHTON WIN): So, without VAR, Brighton wouldn’t have been awarded their second goal. By when you consider they actually won 3-0 and dominated the match, we back them to have claimed all three points. Oh and Bissouma wouldn’t have received a late red card.

Game: Tottenham (A)

Incident: Newcastle awarded injury-time penalty by VAR for Eric Dier’s handball. Callum Wilson equalised with the spot-kick.

Outcome without VAR (TOTTENHAM WIN): Pretty obvious this one. We’re pretty sure Spurs would have seen out the remaining few minutes if VAR didn’t give a ridiculous decision.

10th | West Ham | Points: 6 | Points difference: 0

NO OVERTURNED VAR DECISIONS SO FAR THIS SEASON

11th | Southampton | Points: 6 | Points difference: 0

Game: Crystal Palace (A)

Incident: Kyle Walker-Peters had his red card in the 54th-minute rescinded after a VAR check.

Outcome without VAR (Crystal Palace WIN): Palace won the match 1-0 anyway so if Walker-Peters had been sent off, the win would only have been more straightforward if anything.

Game: Tottenham (H)

Incident: Harry Kane’s 3rd-minute goal was disallowed after VAR spotted an offside in the build-up.
Incident: Southampton awarded a late penalty by VAR after Matt Doherty’s handball.

12th | Wolves | Points: 6 | Points difference: 0

NO OVERTURNED VAR DECISIONS SO FAR THIS SEASON

13th | Brighton | Points: 6 | Points difference: +3

Game: Newcastle (A)

Outcome without VAR (BRIGHTON WIN): So, without VAR, Brighton wouldn’t have been awarded their second goal. By when you consider they actually won 3-0 and dominated the match, we back them to have claimed all three points. Oh, and Bissouma wouldn’t have received a late red card.

Game: Manchester United (H)

Incident 1: VAR cancels Brighton’s penalty for Paul Pogba’s foul on Aaron Connolly in the 48th-minute.
Incident 2: Marcus Rashford’s 52nd-minute goal was ruled out by VAR for offside.
Incident 3: VAR awarded United a penalty after full-time for Neal Maupay’s handball which Bruno Fernandes scored.

Outcome without VAR (BRIGHTON WIN): Where do we start? Okay, the decision to give Brighton a 48th-minute would have stood and, assumedly, have gone 2-1 ahead. Brighton would have fancied their chances of going on to win that match considering they were far the better side. Yes, Rashford did have a goal disallowed by VAR but we just think Brighton going 2-1 up just after half-time would have changed the outcome of the match. Obviously, without VAR, United wouldn’t have been given that late penalty.

14th | Crystal Palace | Points: 5 | Points difference: -1

Game: Southampton (H)

Incident: Kyle Walker-Peters had his red card in the 54th-minute rescinded after a VAR check.

Outcome without VAR (Crystal Palace WIN): Palace won the match 1-0 anyway so if Walker-Peters had been sent off, the win would only have been more straightforward if anything.

Game: Manchester United (A)

Incident 1: Palace were awarded a penalty after Jordan Ayew’s shot was handled by Victor Lindelof.
Incident 2: After Ayew missed the penalty, VAR ordered a retake for David de Gea coming off his line. Wilfried Zaha scored the retake.

Outcome without VAR (DRAW): Palace deserved their win but, without VAR, they wouldn’t have been given a penalty with 20 minutes remaining. And we back United to have salvaged a point with that long left to play. Palace did win 3-1 but they only scored their third with United pushing to make it 2-2 late on.

Game: Everton (H)

Incident: Penalty awarded for Joel Ward’s penalty. Richarlison scored the spot-kick.

Outcome without VAR (DRAW): The scores were level at 1-1 with five minutes remaining until half-time. VAR then gave an incredibly harsh decision against Ward to hand Everton a penalty. Everton went on to win the game 2-1 after the penalty was converted and we’re backing it would have been a draw if that decision hadn’t been made.