New Premier League table without VAR shows shock for Leeds United, Liverpool & Newcastle United - photos

Newcastle United have been on the receiving end of a couple of major VAR blunders this season as they had a goals controversially ruled out against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest. But they have also benefited from the use of VAR having been awarded a penalty against Bournemouth which was scored by Alexander Isak to rescue a 1-1 draw back in September and seeing Joelinton’s goal given at West Ham United after initially being ruled out for offisde.

Eddie Howe’s side have also been helped by VAR against Manchester City with the awarding of a Miguel Almiron goal and the overturn of a Kieran Trippier red card. Their match at Wolverhampton Wanderers also saw a second goal for the hosts disallowed for a foul in the build-up.

Newcastle benefitted at Fulham with Nathaniel Chalobah’s yellow card upgraded to a red following a VAR check back in October. Against the same opposition in January, VAR awarded a penalty to Fulham at St James’ Park.

But luck would be on The Magpies’ side as Aleksandar Mitrovic slipped resulting in him kicking the ball off his standing foot and the goal was ruled out

Brentford also had an early goal ruled out for offside at St James’s Park following a check after it was initially given as well as another in the reverse fixture last month.

In that same match, Brentford were also awarded a penalty after VAR adjudged Alexander Isak to have handelled the ball inside the area. The decision was heavily criticised a Ivan Toney converted the resulting penalty but The Magpies still went on to win the match 2-1.

Newcastle’s 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa could have been slightly worse had VAR not intervened to rule out Ollie Watkins’ goal for offside. And in the 4-1 win at Everton, Fabian Schar was denied a late goal by VAR while the system didn’t intervene following a challenge inside the area from James Tarkowski on Sean Longstaff.

In United’s recent match against Southampton, Callum Wilson was denied a potenital hat-trick after VAR deemed him offside after a lengthy check. And against Arsenal, Newcastle were denied a penalty after a VAR check overturned the original handball decision against Jakub Kiwior.

Last time out at Leeds United, Newcastle benefitted from a big VAR call as they were awarded a penalty following a check on a Junior Firpo handball. Callum Wilson converted the spot-kick to give Newcastle the lead but the match ended 2-2.

Overall, the consistency of the system’s application and the decisions to come from it has made supporters up and down the country frustrated.

Liverpool have benefitted the most from VAR decisions this season, with nine decisions in their favour and three against. Meanwhile Brighton have had nine calls against them and only two in their favour.

VAR decisions can often have game changing consequences. So what if VAR wasn’t in place this season?

Obviously plenty of decisions remain subjective and referees may refrain from making a decision due to VAR being in place before coming to a decision they would have made anyway.

There is also the matter of red cards and denied penalties which undoubtedly impact matches but have no direct bearing on the score so it is difficult to quantify the number of points VAR sendings off and overturned penalties have cost sides.

So how would the table potentially look? Using photos from key VAR incidents so far this season, we’ve put together a Premier League table based on how things would look if the referee’s decision was final without any VAR interference.