“You’re talking about a moment that can decide the history of two massive clubs that are fighting with their lives to achieve their objectives, and the pressure is huge,” Arteta surmised.

If just one VAR intervention had enough power to dramatically change the face of the entire division, think about the impact of all the calls across the whole season made by the officials in Stockley Park.

2025–26 Premier League Table So Far If There Was No VAR

Even if VAR had not been in use across the course of the 2025–26 campaign, Arsenal would still be top of the Premier League—but only just. The Gunners have won five points thanks to decisions made by distant officials and are yet to be cost any from these interventions.

Only one Manchester City fixture, by contrast, has been materially impacted by a VAR overturn. Back in January, Guardiola’s challengers were awarded a first-half penalty which Erling Haaland converted to take a 1–0 lead at home to Brighton & Hove Albion. Kaoru Mitoma’s second-half strike would have earned the visitors all three points rather than just one had the VAR not rightly spotted a blatant trip from Diego Gómez on Jérémy Doku. This has been a common theme for the Seagulls.

Brighton are the side to have suffered most at the clawing tentacles of VAR. “I always say VAR makes football more fair,” Fabian Hürzeler mused at the end of last season. His stance may have shifted this term.

The upwardly mobile South Coast side would be seven points better off in a hypothetical world without VAR, above Liverpool and Aston Villa inside the division’s top four. Brighton have seen their opponents awarded three penalties by VAR and were denied one themselves in a goalless draw with rivals Crystal Palace. Hürzeler’s side have also seen two potential equalizers chalked off by delayed (and correct) offside calls.

Bournemouth have been similarly hampered by VAR this season, sending Andoni Iraola down a number of bitter rabbit holes. After being thwarted by several handball decisions which he argued came off his players’ shoulders rather than their arms, the Basque coach began to question where referees were drawing the line of what constitutes an offense. “We have very short sleeves,” he bizarrely pointed out. “Very, very short sleeves.”

English soccer’s two most successful sides, Manchester United and Liverpool, would both have the exact same points tallies regardless of VAR. Rather than a case of avoiding any controversial officiating, both sides would be denied as many wins as they would gain from a lack of VAR. Not that it feels like that to Arne Slot.

“I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone this season that if there’s a VAR intervention or if there’s something that could be left or right [50-50] then the decision goes against us,” the Liverpool manager fumed after his side conceded a controversial goal at the hands of United’s Benjamin Šeško. “That has been the whole season, every single time the same.” Well, not quite every time.

Putting aside whether Slot deemed these decisions to be just or otherwise, Liverpool’s VAR fortune has actually turned in recent weeks. The Reds saw Brentford beat them in October with a free kick upgraded to a penalty by VAR, while one of Leeds United’s three goals in a 3–3 draw last December was another spot kick awarded from Stockley Park. However, against both Everton and Chelsea this spring, Liverpool have had VAR to thank for flagging offside goals that escaped the attention of the on-pitch assistant referees.

Arsenal’s VAR Fortune

Only Sunderland have gained more points thank to VAR interventions than Arsenal this season. The key calls have come in three games split across six months. The decision to disallow Wilson’s equalizer for the Hammers has been dissected to death and is widely considered to have been the right call. The same cannot be said for events in Arsenal’s 1–0 win over Everton in December.

Viktor Gyökeres’s first-half penalty fell into the “soft” category but was ultimately judged to be a fair award from the VAR. However, the Premier League’s official Key Match Incidents panel ruled that the Toffees were wrongly denied a spot kick of their own in the same game for a clumsy challenge by William Saliba on Thierno Barry.

Arsenal’s Season-Defining VAR Interventions

• Everton 0–1 Arsenal: Arsenal penalty awarded and scored
• Wolves 2–2 Arsenal: Arsenal goal given after offside review
• West Ham 0–1 Arsenal: West Ham goal disallowed for a foul

The decision to award Piero Hincapié’s effort against Wolverhampton Wanderers in February was less contentious—however, it could have been a hot topic in a VAR-less world as the on-pitch officials deemed an offside offense to have occurred. A swift review found that the fullback’s goal was legal, which came in handy when the hosts scored twice to snatch a share of the spoils. Without that VAR intervention, Arsenal would have emerged from Molineux with a defeat.

The Gunners have racked up five extra points thanks to these three VAR calls. Should both Arsenal and City win out across the remainder of the season, the Premier League title will be decided by just two points. Arteta may not be the only one to realize how “big” a referee’s job is.

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