Premier League Table without VAR 2025/26

The Premier League introduced the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) during the 2018-2019 season, and its use and impact have faced significant scrutiny ever since.

Here, we examine how the 2025-2026 Premier League table would look if VAR had never been implemented, with all on-field decisions remaining final.

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What’s happened so far?

Man City vs Liverpool

Arne Slot’s side struggled to compete at the Etihad in Gameweek 11, and were sent back to Liverpool licking their wounds after a 3-0 defeat to Man City. A controversial goal was disallowed however; Virgil van Dijk thought he equalised in the first half, but the linesman and VAR deemed Andy Robertson to be in an offside position, and crucially, was interfering with player, as he ducked to allow the ball to hit the back of the net.

Given that we don’t feel Gianluigi Donnarumma’s line of sight to Van Dijk was impaired, and Robertson was actually stood away from the goalkeeper’s view of the header, we’re giving Liverpool the benefit of the doubt on this one.

Nottingham Forest vs Man United

Manchester United’s visit to the City Ground in Gameweek 10 was filled with controversy. Bryan Mbeumo’s cross was headed clear by Nottingham Forest defender Nicolò Savona, and the ball bobbled towards the corner flag. At a first glance, it looked as if Savona managed to keep the ball in play after sprinting towards the by-line. However, the assistant referee disagreed and awarded a corner kick in United’s favour. The resulting corner kick produced Casemiro’s headed goal, putting the Red Devils 1-0 up. After closer examination, fans have insisted the ball did not go out of play, arguing the curvature of the ball kept it in on the pitch. Frankly, we hold the same view and feel it necessary to take one goal away from the visitors, handing Forest a 2-1 victory.

Brentford vs Liverpool

Brentford extended Liverpool’s miserable patch of form in the Premier League in gameweek 9, beating the champions 3-2 on Sunday evening. When the score was 2-1, the hosts were awarded a penalty after review, as Virgil van Dijk was deemed to have fouled Dango Outtara in the 18-yard box – after the original on-field decision was a free-kick. Igor Thiago converted from the spot, extending the Bees’ lead to two goals. However, the foul itself was dubbed as dubious by many fans, with two factors at play: whether van Dijk’s contact on Outtara warranted a foul in the first place, and if the foul was indeed inside the box. Given the context of both of those reasons, we’re chalking off the goal, and predicting the result as a 2-2 draw.

Liverpool vs Man United

Manchester United’s historic win at Anfield on Sunday could’ve gone very differently had Bryan Mbeumo’s early goal been ruled out due to a foul in the build-up. Alexis Mac Allister went down with an apparent head injury after an aerial challenge between himself, Mbeumo, and Virgil van Dijk. Michael Oliver allowed play to continue, leading to the United forward placing the ball into the back of the net. The standard procedure in the Premier League is top stop play immediately if a player is believed to have a head injury, which is causing Liverpool fans to question the decision, and indeed VAR for not intervening to disallow the goal. Having occurred so early into the game, it’s impossible to predict the outcome of the match had the goal been chalked off, but we’ll give the reigning champions the benefit of the doubt, and hand each side a point.

Chelsea vs Fulham

Josh King broke the deadlock for Fulham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday in Gameweek Three, but his goal was ruled out after VAR decided Rodrigo Muniz fouled Trevoh Chalobah in the build-up. In full speed, there really does not appear to be much in the challenge, but upon closer inspection, VAR believed Muniz’ stamp on Chalobah was enough to warrant an overturn.

Fulham fans were understandably unhappy, arguing the slow-motion replays removed the context from the situation, adding that VAR put too much emphasis on Muniz’s foot landing on the boot of Chalobah, rather than taking into account the full picture.

Given our rule of factoring in what the scoreline was at the time of the intervention and what it would’ve been had VAR not intervened, Fulham’s one-goal advantage might’ve been enough to see them take home all three points.

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