It has been five years since the introduction of Video Assistant Referees in the Premier League, and while they have certainly helped officials with some tricky situations during that time and generally stopped decisions being made on hunches, it has also led to a lot of, shall we say, discussion.
VAR has always been a topic that splits opinion, but it has become more and more of a talking point in the last couple of years, and this season, it seems there has been a talking point around it every weekend.
So, how are teams being affected by it this year? Are there really some teams getting more decisions against them than others?
Football FanCast plans to answer that by looking at how many potential VAR overturns each club have been subject to and whether they have gone for or against them, with the help of data from ESPN.
The list is ordered by the number of calls regarding possible overturns going in a team's favour. We have also highlighted some of the more scandalous calls for some of the more hard-done-by clubs in more detail, venturing into Europe on occasion, which has not escaped the wrath of VAR nay-sayers.
Additionally, West Ham United have not had any calls overturned by VAR at the time of writing, so they are yet to feature on this list.
Fulham
+4
Nottingham Forest
+4
Brentford
+3
Manchester City
+2
Chelsea
+1
Luton Town
+1
Bournemouth
0
Everton
0
Newcastle United
0
Tottenham Hotspur
0
Arsenal
-1
Manchester United
-1
Sheffield United
-1
Wolverhampton Wanderers
-1
Aston Villa
-2
Burnley
-2
Crystal Palace
-2
Liverpool
-2
Brighton & Hove Albion
-3
19 Fulham (+4) 4 for, 0 against
Fulham have had four VAR calls go their way and none against them this season.
Interestingly, all of the Cottagers' luck has come since November, with the first call against Manchester United when Scott McTominay's 8th-minute strike was overturned for an offside against Harry Maguire.
Just a week later in their game with Aston Villa, they had a penalty against Timothy Castagne overturned as it was deemed that he did not handle the ball.
They were also awarded a 90th-minute penalty against Wolverhampton Wanderers recently – which they scored – after it was deemed that Joao Gomes had fouled Harry Wilson.
And at Anfield in early December, Marco Silva's side saw Kenny Tete's goal stand after originally being ruled offside.
Worst Fulham decision: Fulham have had a fair few VAR calls go for them in recent times, but one that will no doubt still make the fans' blood boil will be the Nathan Ake incident, where the Manchester City player clearly obstructs the goalkeeper's view.
18 Nottingham Forest (+4) 4 for, 0 against
Nottingham Forest are the other team to have benefited most from VAR so far this season, with four separate calls going their way and none going against them.
Two of these came in the game against Burnley on 18th September when the Clarets had what could have been an equaliser from Lyle Foster ruled out for offside in the 76th minute before he was sent off in the 94th for violent conduct.
Against Liverpool, they saw Cody Gakpo's 93rd-minute goal disallowed for offside. Then, a month later, they had a penalty awarded against Brighton & Hove Albion for a foul from Morgan Gibbs-White on Callum Hudson Odoi.
Worst Nottingham Forest decision: One that stands out immediately against Forest, as it directly impacted the game and caused them to lose, was Marcus Rashford's dive at Old Trafford which won his side a penalty. Upon replay, it appears to be a dive with minimal contact, if any, which angered many pundits.
17 Brentford (+3) 3 for, 0 against
Heading back to west London, Thomas Frank's Brentford have had a positive experience with VAR this season, with three calls going their way and none against them so far.
They were awarded a penalty in their first game of the season against Tottenham Hotspur when Son Heung-min fouled Mathias Jensen. A month later, they had a penalty against them cancelled when it was ruled that Bryan Mbeumo did not handle the ball against Newcastle.
Finally, they recently saw Leandro Trossard's 42nd-minute header ruled out against Arsenal for offside.
Worst Brentford decision: One that is a little bit more subjective but will no doubt still anger Brentford fans is the penalty decision which came courtesy of Anthony Gordon's potential dive at St James' Park. The Newcastle attacker beat the goalkeeper to the ball but appeared to make a right meal of it with the ball going out of play anyway, with Gordon's track record of diving not helping the situation.
16 Manchester City (+2) 2 for, 0 against
As if Pep Guardiola's Manchester City juggernaut needed any more help, they have had some of the best fortunes when it comes to VAR, with two decisions going their way this season.
The first came against Burnley on the opening day when Anass Zaroury was sent off in the 94th minute for 'serious foul play' on Kyle Walker, albeit with the result in the bag at the time.
The second incident came in the Manchester derby when they were awarded a penalty after the VAR decided that Rasmus Hojlund had fouled Rodri in the 22nd minute.
Worst Manchester City decision: Well, with Manchester City getting the vast majority of VAR calls going their way, we had to pick out an incident that will be fresh in the minds of fans. The decision that led to Erling Haaland going off on an explosive rant, where Simon Hooper failed to play advantage in the clash between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, with Jack Grealish seemingly through on goal.
15 Chelsea (+1) 5 for, 4 against
Chelsea's recent VAR record is also a positive one, if not slightly more chaotic.
The Blues have had an equal number of calls go for and against them so far this season, with two coming in their opening game against Liverpool – one disallowing Mohamed Salah's 29th-minute goal for offside and another that disallowed Ben Chilwell's 39th-minute strike for the same reason.
They also saw Malo Gusto sent off against Aston Villa for serious foul play but then received a penalty against Arsenal for a William Saliba handball in the 11th minute.
Against Spurs, they saw a Raheem Sterling goal disallowed but then saw Cristian Romero sent off a few minutes later.
Chelsea were then served an early double Christmas present from VAR, which awarded and overturned two penalty calls in their favour as they saw off Brighton in early December.
And although Robert Sanchez would end up saving Bruno Fernandes' penalty at Old Trafford, it was a VAR decision that led to it after Enzo Fernandez was deemed to have fouled Antony.
Worst Chelsea decision: One scandal that potentially cost Chelsea three points this season was the incident between Marc Cucurella and Erling Haaland, in which the latter was awarded a penalty for an apparent foul, despite both players fouling each other.
This was something that enraged Jamie Carragher especially, with the Norwegian arguably fouling Cucurella just as much.
14 Luton Town (+1) 1 for, 0 against
There aren't too many teams with positive records when it comes to VAR decisions, but new boys Luton remain one of them (for now).
The Hatters have had one call go their way so far this season, and it was against Crystal Palace just recently when Odsonne Edouard's 66th-minute goal was ruled out for handball.
At least they didn't rule out Michael Olise's spectacular effort from the same game.
13 Bournemouth (0) 1 for, 1 against
Bournemouth hadn't been involved in a critical VAR call until December, but have yet now had decisions in successive weeks. Their first came in their draw against Aston Villa when Diego Carlos' goal was ruled out for an offside, while they were more recently denied a fourth goal at Old Trafford, with Dango Ouattara penalised for handball.
All in all, it's been a quiet season on the south coast…
12 Everton (0) 2 for, 2 against
Everton are never far from the headlines these days, and their experiences with VAR this season have been suitably scattergun, with two calls going for them and two against them.
The first came against Arsenal when Gabriel Martinelli's 19th-minute strike was ruled out for an offside against Eddie Nketiah, but a month later, VAR awarded Liverpool a penalty in the Merseyside derby for a handball by Michael Keane in the 72nd minute.
Lewis Dunk saw his goal against the Toffees ruled out for offside, while they most recently saw Manchester United awarded a penalty following a foul from Ashley Young in the second half.
Worst Everton decision: One decision that will have no doubt angered Everton fans was the incident involving Ibrahima Konate in the Merseyside derby, where the Frenchman was already on a yellow card and cynically took out an Everton player, but received nothing for the challenge, despite the referee sending off Ashley Young for an arguably softer second yellow foul in the first half.
11 Newcastle United (0) 1 for, 1 against
Another team to have broken even on VAR calls is Newcastle United, who have seen one call go for them and one against them.
They had a penalty decision overturned against Brentford when VAR ruled that Bryan Mbeumo did not handle the ball, but a month later, VAR intervened when Jacob Murphy's fourth-minute strike was incorrectly called offside against Crystal Palace.
Worst Newcastle decision: We're going to be cheeky and transition into the Champions League here, with an incident that will no doubt still leave a sour taste in the mouths of Newcastle fans as it arguably proved to be the downfall of their Champions League campaign.
Tino Livramento was deemed to have handled the ball late on in Paris, though a penalty wasn't originally given by the referee. Upon the replay, it clearly shows the ball rebound off the body of the Newcastle player and onto his arm from such close range, which by law should be deemed accidental.
10 Tottenham Hotspur (0) 3 for, 3 against
One-time league leaders Tottenham Hotspur have been affected by six major VAR decisions so far this season, though three of them have gone their way.
They received their first beneficial call against Liverpool when Curtis Jones was sent off, although there might have been some other events that day that stole the headlines.
The most eventful game was against Chelsea, as Raheem Sterling's disallowed goal went their way in the 21st minute before Christian Romero was sent off just six minutes later with the help of the technology.
Also going against them this term was the penalty that Brentford were awarded in their opening game of the season for Son Heung-min's foul on Mathias Jensen, while the second ruling was even worse as Arsenal were awarded a 50th-minute penalty in the North London derby due to a Cristian Romero handball.
However, the Lilywhites' most recent VAR incident did go their way, as Ollie Watkins saw his first effort ruled out for offside in their defeat to Aston Villa.
Ranking the Premier League's worst VAR decisions
Which refereeing decision lives rent-free in your head to this day?
ByMark MarstonNov 28, 2023