That’s why, every week, we reveal how the Premier League table would look without VAR.
Well, after each gameweek, we look at every overturned VAR decision and work out how it’s impacted the match in question. We then speculate how it’s affected the final result.
Of course, it takes a bit of guesswork but it’s a bit of fun to see what would happen if VAR didn’t exist.
In gameweek 16, we only had two overturned VAR decisions.
The first came in the Manchester derby when the technology awarded Manchester United a penalty for a foul by Bernardo Silva on Marcus Rashford. It was the correct decision but it was a decision that referee Anthony Taylor didn’t award.
Then, on Sunday, Sheffield United’s Chris Basham was sent off but it was downgraded to a yellow card after VAR replays revealed it wasn’t quite as bad as Simon Hooper originally thought.
1st | Liverpool | Points: 44 | Points difference: -2
NO OVERTURNED DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 16
2nd | Man City | Points: 35 | Points difference: +3
Game: Man Utd (H)
Incident: Marcus Rashford was brought down in the box by Bernardo Silva in the 20th-minute but referee Anthony Taylor didn’t give it. VAR did though.
Outcome without VAR (DRAW): What would have happened if United didn’t take a 20th-minute lead? United were the better side in the first-half and – like they did with Anthony Martial’s 29th-minute strike – we think they would have found a way through from open play.
3rd | Leicester | Points: 33 | Points difference: -5
NO OVERTURNED DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 16
4th | Chelsea | Points: 30 | Points difference: +1
NO OVERTURNED DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 16
5th | Wolves | Points: 28 | Points difference: +4
NO OVERTURNED DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 16
6th | Arsenal | Points: 25 | Points difference: +3
NO OVERTURNED DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 16
7th | Tottenham | Points: 23 | Points difference: 0
NO OVERTURNED DECISIONS IN GAMEWEEK 16
8th | Sheffield United | Points: 23 | Points difference: +1
Game: Norwich (A)
Incident: Chris Basham is shown a straight red card by the referee in the 74th-minute but VAR downgrade it to a yellow.
Outcome without VAR (SHEFFIELD UNITED WIN): There were a little more than 15 minutes remaining and Sheffield United lead 2-1 when Basham thought he had been sent off. It would have been backs against the wall for Chris Wilder’s side but given their start to the season, we think they would have held out.