Liverpool’s lead cut to six points, Tottenham drop to 12th – How the Premier League table might have looked without VAR

It seems not a week goes by without VAR providing the main source of controversy in the Premier League.

From the very first set of fixtures way back in August, the sight of blue and red lines overlapping on screen draws groans across the globe.

The promise was for ‘minimum interference and maximum benefit’. But the damning truth is the intrusions on a game-by-game basis from Stockley Park are negatively affecting top-flight football.

On Sunday afternoon at Anfield, 19-year-old Pedro Neto wheeled away in celebration for Wolves after scoring his first goal in the Premier League in front of the Kop against Anfield.

Yet his moment of ecstasy was to be taken away by a soulless and robotic system which deemed his teammate Jonny to have infringed the offside rule through a series of pixelated lines and hastily-drawn boundaries, much to the chagrin of Wolves.

But that is not to say Liverpool themselves have not been victims to VAR, the new technology shows no mercy.

According to The Times, removing VAR from the current Premier League campaign would make a huge difference to both the top and bottom of the table.

Liverpool’s lead of 13 points would be cut to six, with Man City moving up from third, while Tottenham would drop six places to 12th.

Of course, this is not an exact science, but it gives an indication of how VAR has affected each club.

Check out the table below to see where your club might be this season without the intrusion of VAR.

HOW THE TABLE WORKS

Here is how The Times calculated their table

• If a team was awarded a goal by VAR it is removed from their tally (and vice versa).
• If a team scores a penalty that was awarded by VAR, that goal is removed from their tally. Goals scored from retaken penalties awarded by VAR also do not count.
• If a team has had a penalty struck off by VAR, we do not assume the penalty would have been scored without VAR.
• Red cards awarded or struck off by VAR do not affect the table. The effect of red cards is too speculative.