How the 2020/21 PL table would look if VAR wasn't being used this season

After a long two weeks of international football, the Premier League returned last weekend for gameweek nine.

While we were delighted to see the return of the Premier League, we were less enthused to talk about some more ridiculous VAR decisions.

But as day turns to night, here we are yet again.

As you may know by now, we produce a weekly article revealing how the Premier League table would look without VAR.

To do this, we identify all the overturned VAR decisions from the previous weekend and work out how it impacted the match in question.

We then update the table accordingly.

Gameweek nine saw plenty of overturned decisions with Manchester City having a goal disallowed, Aston Villa being denied a penalty, Nicolas Pepe being sent off for a headbutt and all the goings-on during Manchester United vs West Brom.

But how has all of that impacted our VAR table?

Let’s take a look:

1st | Liverpool | Points: 22 | Points difference: +2

NO OVERTURNED VAR DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 9

2nd | Tottenham | Points: 20 | Points difference: 0

Game: Manchester City (H)

Incident: Man City’s Aymeric Laporte had a 27th-minute equaliser disallowed by VAR for Gabriel Jesus’s handball in the build-up.

Outcome without VAR (DRAW): You could argue that Spurs would still have gone on to win the match even if City’s goal had stood due to them actually winning the match 2-0. But we think a City goal would have changed everything and a draw would have been the most likely outcome.

3rd | Chelsea | Points: 18 | Points difference: 0

NO OVERTURNED VAR DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 9

4th | Southampton | Points: 17 | Points difference: 0

NO OVERTURNED VAR DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 9

5th | Aston Villa | Points: 16 | Points difference: +1

Game: Brighton (H)

Incident: VAR rescinded a 92nd-minute penalty award for Aston Villa after Solly March was adjudged not to have fouled Trezeguet.

Outcome without VAR (DRAW): With the penalty controversy coming in the 92nd-minute, we can only assume Villa would have scored the spot-kick and earned themselves a draw.

6th | Leicester | Points: 16 | Points difference: -2

NO OVERTURNED VAR DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 9

7th | Wolves | Points: 15 | Points difference: +1

NO OVERTURNED VAR DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 9

8th | West Ham | Points: 14 | Points difference: 0

NO OVERTURNED VAR DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 9

9th | Everton | Points: 13 | Points difference: -3

NO OVERTURNED VAR DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 9

10th | Arsenal | Points: 13 | Points difference: 0

Game: Leeds (A)

Incident: Nicolas Pepe was shown a red card by VAR for his headbutt on Ezgjan Alioski in the 51st-minute.

Outcome without VAR (DRAW): Would Arsenal have gone on to win the match if they had 11 men for the final 40 minutes? Considering Leeds fully deserved the three points and were the better side even in the opening 45 minutes, we think it would have ended in a draw anyway.

11th | Manchester City | Points: 13 | Points difference: +1

Game: Tottenham (A)

Incident: Man City’s Aymeric Laporte had a 27th-minute equaliser disallowed by VAR for Gabriel Jesus’s handball in the build-up.

12th | Crystal Palace | Points: 12 | Points difference: -1

NO OVERTURNED VAR DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 9

13th | Leeds United | Points: 11 | Points difference: 0

Game: Arsenal (H)

Incident: Nicolas Pepe was shown a red card by VAR for his headbutt on Ezgjan Alioski in the 51st-minute.

14th | Brighton | Points: 10 | Points difference: +1

Game: Aston Villa (A)

Incident: VAR rescinded a 92nd-minute penalty award for Aston Villa after Solly March was adjudged not to have fouled Trezeguet.

Outcome without VAR (DRAW): With the penalty controversy coming in the 92nd-minute, we can only assume Villa would have scored the spot-kick and earned themselves a draw.

15th | Newcastle | Points: 10 | Points difference: -1

NO OVERTURNED VAR DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 9

16th | Manchester United | Points: 9 | Points difference: -4

Game: West Brom (H)

Incident 1: VAR cancelled the award of West Brom’s penalty after Conor Gallagher was fouled by Bruno Fernandes in the 47th-minute.
Incident 2: VAR ordered a retake of Bruno Fernandes’ penalty after West Brom goalkeeper, Sam Johnstone, came off his line.

Outcome without VAR (DRAW): So, West Brom would have been given - and assumably - scored a penalty to go 1-0 up in the 47th-minute against United. Who’s to say they wouldn’t have held on for all three points? United’s penalty wouldn’t have counted without VAR because Johnstone’s save wouldn’t have been penalised. But we just couldn’t see the Baggies holding out for almost 45 minutes at Old Trafford and think a draw would have been the most likely outcome.