VAR

ASTON VILLA’S unlikely title charge would have been even MORE serious without VAR.A SunSport study of the 54 decisions altered after VAR interventions so far this season shows how Unai Emery’s men, currently second in the Prem table, would be TOP of the table if the Stockley Park video booth did not exist.
Aston Villa’s title charge would be even stronger without VARCredit: Getty
Our “No VAR” table shows how the standings would have looked if every changed decision had remained as it was called on the field by the referee and his assistants.
Given that 15 of the 16 penalties awarded by VAR have been converted, we have also assumed that the five spots kicks initially awarded but then wiped after video intervention would also have been scored.
While Villa have had three changed decisions in their favour and four against, two of those decisions cost them points.
Drawing the lines saw Lucas Digne deemed offside before Diego Carlos “scored” in the 2-2 draw at Bournemouth, while Leon Bailey’s strike was controversially overturned for a foul on Sheffield United keeper Wes Foderingham in last month’s surprise 1-1 draw.
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With both those goals counting, Villa would be on 46 points, up four on their current tally, and heading Liverpool by a point.
The “No VAR” table has Arsenal and Spurs both on 41 points – with Mikel Arteta’s side one point better off and Ange Postecoglou’s outfit up two although Manchester City would leapfrog the pair if they win their game in hand.

But the biggest winners if the technology had not been in place would have been Brighton – while Chelsea’s dismal season would have looked even worse.
Roberto di Zerbi’s Seagulls would be on 36 points – five points and one place higher in the table.
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Chelsea would be even more worse off without VAR
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Chelsea, though, would be SIX points worse off and stand in 12th place, just six points away from the drop zone and 24 points adrift of the pace-setters.
So far 24 goals have been disallowed and only two awarded after video review, while eight players have been dismissed after VAR intervention.
Unsurprisingly, Chelsea have had the most VAR changes so far, with seven in their favour and five against. Luton have seen just two VAR overturns, one for and one against.
Nottingham Forest have been the biggest beneficiaries in terms of decisions, with five changes in their favour and just one against, although the match situation and final outcomes mean they would only be one point worse off without VAR.
Manchester City and Fulham are plus-three in VAR changes, with Brentford joining Chelsea with a plus-two tally.
Liverpool, who have been involved in a number of controversial incidents including the wrongly-disallowed Luis Diaz goal at Spurs and Diogo Jota’s penalty-winning tumble against Newcastle on Monday, stand alone on minus-three VAR changes, with three in their favour and six against.
Those interventions, though, would have made no net change to their points tally, although they would have scored two goals more and conceded the same number over the season to date.
At the other end of the table, the relegation places would be the same but Luton would only be behind Everton – deducted 10 points for financial fair play breaches – on goal difference and Burnley would be two points better off.
Nottingham Forest would have the biggest goal swing without VAR More

THE Premier League hope to bring in new technology next season — but it is unlikely to stop a repeat of Arsenal’s two line-call controversies.Gunners manager Mikel Arteta demanded a better VAR system as his side were hit by another millimetre ruling in the 2-0 home defeat by West Ham on Thursday night.
The Premier League hopes to bring in new technology after West Ham’s controversial goalCredit: Getty
Tomas Soucek’s opener stood after a delay of three minutes and 22 seconds as there was no technology available to conclusively rule if the ball was out of play when Jarrod Bowen crossed.
Arsenal were also on the wrong end of a similar call at Newcastle last month which left  Arteta labelling VAR “embarrassing” and “a disgrace”, leading to an FA charge that was later dismissed.
The Premier League are looking at introducing robot linesmen next term and are trialling different semi-automated systems which will reduce the time of offside VAR decisions and remove the need for humans to draw lines.
PGMOL chief Howard Webb recently stated the trials will be run for the rest of the season, with plans presented to the 20 clubs in the summer.
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The technology uses 12 dedicated tracking cameras mounted underneath the roof of the stadium to track the ball and up to 29 data points of each individual player, 50 times per second, calculating their exact position.
While there is already goal-line technology, it is  more complicated to have a similar system  along the lines of the entire pitch to avoid a repeat of Arsenal’s two incidents.
Even so, the Premier League are not ruling out the possibility and will continue to explore all options to avoid high-profile flashpoints.
Yet like the game at Newcastle, when VAR was unable to rule conclusively whether Chris Willock had not kept the ball in play, the goal involving Bowen was seen as a freak.
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This was because the West Ham forward’s body, along with a post of the goal, were blocking clear views of the cameras.
The Fifa system — developed by Munich-based Kinexon — uses a full version which includes a microchip in the ball.
But it was only designed to work only with an Adidas ball, while the Prem has a long-term Nike deal.
Mikel Arteta was left enraged by the decision to award the goalCredit: AFP More

GARY NEVILLE rubbed salt into Arsenal fans’ wounds with a cheeky post after their title hopes were dented.The Gunners suffered a shock 2-0 defeat to West Ham last night.
West Ham’s goal stood as camera angles could not prove if the ball went outCredit: Amazon Prime
Arsenal were on the end of a similar decision in their loss to NewcastleCredit: Sky Sports
Tomas Soucek opened the scoring for the Hammers – but his goal was not without VAR controversy.
The ball may have gone out of play before Jarrod Bowen squared it to the Czech midfielder.
But officials did not disallow it as they could not find a conclusive angle to show the ball went over the line.
It brought back nightmares of Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle in November when again refs were unable to prove the ball was off the pitch in the build-up to Anthony Gordon’s goal.
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Neville became unpopular with Gunners supporters after winding them up following the Toon defeat.
And he was back at it again last night as he tweeted a picture of him standing by a ball on the line.
It wound up plenty of Arsenal fans as one commented: “You were the worst full-back in the Premier League.”
Neville responded: “Agreed but great at goal line technology.”
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Neville posted this picture online to ‘rattle’ Gunners supportersCredit: Sky Sports
Meanwhile, other supporters laughed: “Gary’s actually rattled everyone.”
More added: “Hahahahah Gary, proper wind up.”
A third said: “He knows what he’s doing here.”
Neville did later tweet: “On a positive note for Arsenal the front three are playing narrower and closer to each other to combine. They look dangerous.” More

ARSENAL have been left fuming after Tomas Soucek scored a controversial goal during West Ham’s 2-0 win.The goal was reviewed by VAR for three minutes and 22 seconds as officials checked if the ball had gone out of play before Jarrod Bowen passed to Soucek to score.
VAR checked if the ball went out of play before Jarrod Bowen’s passCredit: Amazon Prime
Replays could not determine the ball was out so the goal was allowed to stand
Arsenal suffered a similar fate at Newcastle earlier this season

Replays could not show definitive proof as Bowen’s body blocked the ball from the main camera angle.
The camera from the opposite side of the pitch was also unhelpful and that meant VAR told the referee to stick with his on-pitch decision, which was a goal.
Arsenal suffered a similar fate in their 1-0 defeat at Newcastle earlier this season.
On that occasion Joe Willock was judged to have kept the ball in play by a matter of inches, with Anthony Gordon eventually bundling in his cross.
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The incident sparked a meltdown from Mikel Arteta who brandished the officials “embarrassing” for allowing the goal to stand.
Arsenal published a letter after the match calling on the PGMOL to “address the standard of officiating”.
Gunners fans are fuming again with some claiming they have been “robbed” by VAR.
One Gooner said: “VAR hates Arsenal. Clearly out. Happened twice this season.”
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Mikel Arteta fumed over a similar incident at Newcastle earlier this seasonCredit: Getty
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Another added: “The ball was out, it was completely past the post, VAR then moved it a frame forward when it was back in play. Scandalous!”
A third wrote: “Same mistake VAR made against Newcastle. Then what is the use of VAR for crying out loud. Ball out of play 😡”
Arteta’s remarks after the Newcastle match were investigated by the FA and the Spaniard could have been hit with a two-match ban.
But he escaped punishment after it was found he used the Spanish word “desgracia”, which means “misfortune”, in his post-match press conference, rather than “disgrace”.
PGMOL chief Howard Webb later admitted the officials got two decisions wrong in the match – but neither related to Toon’s winner.
Arsenal fans complained Joelinton had pushed Gabriel moments after the ball was kept in play, but Webb only suggested referee Stuart Attwell was wrong in his decision not to red card Kai Havertz and Bruno Guimaraes.
At half-time during the West Ham game Gunners legend Thierry Henry called for more cameras to be introduced which would have given a birds-eye view of the incident.
He said: “Well that is the second time for us, Newcastle away. But if you want to help the referees to have the right angle, if you want to know the ball is out you have to be above the ball.
“That is the only way you can know if the ball is out or not.
“We are in 2023 soon 2024 and we still don’t have a camera that is above, it’s too many times where you don’t know if the ball is out or not.
“So can we have a camera that can be above that can see if the ball is out or not, if not it is just impossible to see it.”
Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg insisted the goal had to stand as officials could not prove the ball went out.
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He said: “There’s no other decision the officials can give.
“The on-field decision is a goal. We cannot be 100 per cent certain that the ball has gone out. As the ball has to be clearly over the line, there’s no conclusive evidence.” More