Categories
Every VAR error: How Arsenal escaped red cards and penalties
Every VAR error: How Arsenal escaped red cards and penalties
Everton were trailing 1-0 against Arsenal and could have been awarded a penalty had there been a VAR intervention for an incident during their game
How nine teams in Europe affects Premier League
Are Premier League clubs flat-track bullies in Europe?
The big VAR debrief - did it deny Bournemouth Champions League spot?
Get news, insight and fan views on your Premier League team
More on this story
Andre for Wolves at Aston Villa
James Garner for Everton at Aston Villa
Rodri for Man City at Tottenham
The 20 missed interventions
Liverpool and Bournemouth were drawing 0-0 when Marcos Senesi should have been sent off through a VAR review
1. Liverpool 4-2 Bournemouth: Senesi red card
Marcos Senesi should have been sent off for denying on obvious goal-scoring opportunity (Dogso), through deliberate handball, in the 13th minute of the opening game of the season.
2. Wolves 2-3 Everton: Bueno denied a penalty
Hugo Bueno tried to jink back inside in the 70th minute, but went down under a challenge from Iliman Ndiaye.
3. Brentford 3-1 Man Utd: Collins escapes red card
Nathan Collins pulled back Bryan Mbeumo as he was about to latch on to a pass in the 71st minute. Referee Craig Pawson gave the penalty but only cautioned Collins, and he should have been sent off.
4. Chelsea 1-3 Brighton: Gusto's high boot
Malo Gusto raised a foot to make a clearance but made contact with the head of Yankuba Minteh. A spot-kick should have been awarded in the 87th minute.
5. Brentford 3-1 Newcastle: Burn trips Ouattara
Dan Burn stood on the foot of Dango Ouattara but the VAR feels the Brentford player theatrically threw himself to the ground. It should have been a penalty in the 61st minute.
6. Bournemouth 2-2 West Ham: Kilman's swipe at the ball
West Ham's Max Kilman should have been sent off for Dogso handball after a 66th-minute penalty had been awarded.
7. Newcastle 2-1 Man City: Penalty for Foden
The game was goalless after 17 minutes when Phil Foden released a shot. He was caught late by Fabian Schar. No penalty was awarded.
8. Wolves 1-4 Man Utd: Agbadou handball penalty
Emmanuel Agbadou angled his body into the path of a shot to stop the ball on 37 minutes, but the VAR did not send the referee to the monitor.
9. Everton 0-1 Arsenal: Saliba fouls Barry but no spot-kick given
Everton were losing 1-0 when William Saliba and Thierno Barry went for a bouncing ball in the penalty area. Barry got there first and was kicked by the Arsenal defender.
10. Chelsea 2-2 Bournemouth: Gusto avoids another penalty
It was 2-2 in the 54th minute when Marcus Tavernier played a long cross to David Brooks. Gusto jumped to head it and the ball landed on his outstretched arm.
Tottenham would have had to play for 10 men for almost 40 minutes had Cristian Romero been sent off
11. Brentford 0-0 Tottenham: Romero escapes red
Igor Thiago ran on to a ball over the top in the 56th minute, with Tottenham defender Cristian Romero making a wild swipe to try to intercept. Romero made no contact on the ball and should have been sent off for Dogso.
12. Wolves 3-0 West Ham: Holding penalty against Krejci
Ladislav Krejci held back Tomas Soucek in the 73rd minute and a penalty should have been awarded.
13. Bournemouth 1-1 Sunderland: Foul by Jimenez on Le Fee
Alex Jimenez bundled Enzo Le Fee to the ground in the third minute and a spot-kick should have been given.
14: Leeds 0-1 Sunderland: Holding by O'Nien on Struijk
Another missed holding penalty after Luke O'Nien held back Pascal Struijk in the 16th minute, placing an arm around the Leeds player's neck.
15. Brighton 0-1 Arsenal: Martinelli pulls down Wieffer
Gabriel Martinelli, who was was not looking at the ball, held onto Mats Wieffer as he moved into the area and prevented the Brighton player from challenging for the ball. A spot-kick should have been awarded.
16. West Ham 2-1 Everton: Handball by Fernandes
Mateus Fernandes touched the ball with his hand in a tussle with Thierno Barry in the 84th minute, and a penalty should have been given.
17: Brentford 3-0 West Ham: Challenge by Lewis-Potter on Soucek
Keane Lewis-Potter held Soucek in a clear non-footballing action which impacted the West Ham player's movement and this should also have been a penalty.
18. Bournemouth 3-0 Crystal Palace: Challenge by Henderson on Senesi
A penalty was awarded on field but the contact by Dean Henderson on Marcos Senesi was minimal and it should have been overturned.
19. Everton 3-3 Man City: Holding by Silva on Rohl
A clear, sustained holding offence by Bernardo Silva on Merlin Rohl which continued after a corner had been taken, so it should have been a penalty.
20. Arsenal 1-0 Burnley: Tackle by Havertz on Ugochukwu
Kai Havertz made a lunging tackle from behind on Lesley Ugochukwu, with the Arsenal player only shown a yellow card. This should have been upgraded to red.
The three incorrect interventions
1. Chelsea 2-0 Fulham: King's goal is disallowed
Josh King's goal was wrongly ruled out through a VAR review for a foul in the build-up by Rodrigo Muniz on Trevoh Chalobah.
2. Crystal Palace 1-3 Chelsea: Handball against Canvot
Jaydee Canvot was penalised for handball but the KMI panel ruled the player's arm was in a normal position.
3. Sunderland 0-5 Nottingham Forest: Ballard's goal is ruled out
Dan Ballard netted a consolation, but the KMI panel said there was no foul by Nordi Mukiele on Matz Sels.
The two wrongly rejected VAR reviews
These two incidents go down as correct VAR interventions, but incorrect final outcomes.
1. Crystal Palace 3-3 Bournemouth: Senesi avoids red again
Referee Jarred Gillett was sent to the pitchside monitor by the VAR, Alex Chilowicz. Gillett rejected the advice that Senesi should be sent off for a Dogso foul on Ismaila Sarr.
2. Man United 3-2 Nottingham Forest: Mbeumo gets away with handball
Bryan Mbeumo controlled the ball with his hand before Matheus Cunha scored, but the referee rejected a review to disallow it.
What about all the other mistakes?
The second category is mistakes on the field which the KMI Panel felt did not reach the threshold for a VAR intervention.
There were 29 this season, compared to 28 in 2024-25.
Man City v Tottenham: Penalty not given for a foul on Oscar Bobb
Brentford v Aston Villa: Goal disallowed for a push on Emiliano Martinez
Arsenal v Leeds: Penalty given for a foul on Max Dowman
Fulham v Man Utd: Goal awarded despite push on Calvin Bassey
Sunderland v Brentford: Penalty not given for Reinildo holding Nathan Collins
West Ham v Tottenham: Disallowed goal for a foul by Micky van de Ven
Man City v Liverpool: Disallowed goal, Andrew Robertson offside and impacting
Sunderland v Bournemouth: Penalty given for a foul on Reinildo
Chelsea v Arsenal: Enzo Fernandez offside and impacting on Trevoh Chalobah goal
Tottenham v Brentford: No Cristian Romero serious foul play red card
Fulham v Crystal Palace: Penalty not given for challenge by Joachim Andersen
Liverpool v Brighton: No serious foul play red card for Diego Gomez
Newcastle v Chelsea: No penalty for challenge on Anthony Gordon
Wolves v Brentford: Penalty award for foul by Caoimhin Kelleher
Brentford v Tottenham: No penalty for a foul on Archie Gray
Burnley v Man United: Goal disallowed for Lisandro Martinez challenge on Kyle Walker
Man United v Man City: No serious foul play red card for Diogo Dalot
Wolves v Chelsea: Penalty not given for Sa challenge on Joao Pedro
Aston Villa v Brighton: Penalty not given for Olivier Boscagli foul on Tammy Abraham
Arsenal v Chelsea: Penalty not given for handball by Declan Rice
Bournemouth v Brentford: Penalty not given and no Dogso red card for Michael Kayode tackle on Marcus Tavernier
Chelsea v Newcastle: Penalty not given for Reece James holding Malick Thiaw
Arsenal v Everton: Penalty not given for Michael Keane challenge on Kai Havertz
Brentford v Wolves: Penalty not given for Andre challenge on Kevin Schade
Everton v Chelsea: Penalty not given for James Tarkowski holding Wesley Fofana
Man City v Arsenal: No violent conduct red card for Gabriel
Brentford v West Ham: No penalty given for Yehor Yarmolyuk holding Pablo
Newcastle v West Ham: No penalty given for handball by Tomas Soucek
If a decision has not appeared on this page then the KMI Panel voted it correct on the field and through VAR.
Missed second yellow cards
The panel ruled that nine players escaped a second caution, compared to seven last season.
This season's list is:
Malick Thiaw for Newcastle at Bournemouth
Aaron Wan-Bissaka for West Ham at Manchester United
Ruben Dias for Manchester City at Nottingham Forest
Mikel Merino for Arsenal at home to Aston Villa
Bryan Brobbey for Sunderland at home to Tottenham
There were also three players who were incorrectly shown a second yellow card. Next season, these decisions will be reviewable by the VAR.
It is a marked improvement to 2024-25 when there were eight wrong second cautions.
Ladislav Krejci for Wolves at Crystal Palace
Jacob Ramsey for Newcastle at home to Man United
Gabriel Gudmundsson for Leeds at Crystal Palace
Arsenal and Chelsea were the biggest beneficiaries of video assistant referee and on-field errors this season.
Mikel Arteta's Gunners won the Premier League while becoming the first team to go the whole campaign without receiving a red card or conceding a penalty.
But data logged by the Premier League's key match incidents (KMI) panel shows that Arsenal should have conceded three penalties and received three red cards.
In total, Arsenal had seven referee mistakes in their favour, while London rivals Chelsea gained from eight.
The Stamford Bridge club received two of the three incorrect VAR interventions, leading to a disallowed goal for Fulham and a penalty against Crystal Palace.
The full judgements, seen by BBC Sport, show there were 25 VAR errors this season, up from the 18 in the 2024-25 campaign
It is still a marked improvement on previous years, with 31 errors in 2023-24 and 38 in 2022-23.
Here, BBC Sport looks how each club was affected and lists every mistake at the end of the article.
Who won and lost with VAR?
This takes into account three aspects: decisions wrongly changed on review - or where the referee incorrectly stuck by his call when at the monitor - and those that should have been fixed but were not.
Bournemouth and Chelsea gained most, with four in their favour.
As well as the Fulham and Palace decisions, the Blues should also have conceded penalties against Brighton and Bournemouth.
The Cherries escaped Marcos Senesi red cards twice, against Liverpool and Palace, and should have conceded a penalty at home to Sunderland. Plus, they got away with a wrongly awarded spot-kick in the return game against the Eagles.
Arsenal gained from three errors, including spot-kicks which should have been awarded to Everton and Brighton.
The third was a missed red card for Kai Havertz's lunging tackle from behind on Burnley's Lesley Ugochukwu earlier this month.
When it comes to the clubs who suffered, Palace and Everton had the most with three mistakes.
The Toffees should have been awarded penalties against Arsenal, West Ham and Manchester City, but did escape a spot-kick against Wolves.
Overall, Chelsea come out on top because they did not suffer any VAR mistakes, followed by Arsenal on a net score of three.
Palace came out worst on -3, with Everton and Brighton on -2.
The on-field errors not for VAR
The KMI panel first votes on the referee's decision, and then considers if a mistake should go to video review.
Each season there is a list of incidents which the KMI panel feels should have been a penalty or a straight red card but they did not reach the threshold for VAR.
The KMI panel also looks at second yellow cards. Should a player have been dismissed? Or did they wrongly escape red?
Brentford gained most with four, but also suffered the greatest with five mistakes.
Arsenal, Everton and Wolves were the next biggest beneficiaries, with three in their favour.
Mikel Merino should have been shown a second yellow for Arsenal against Aston Villa when the score was 2-0 in a game the Gunners would win 4-1.
Gabriel should have seen red against Manchester City, while Arsenal's late penalty against Leeds for a foul on Max Dowman was wrongly awarded.
The Toffees should have given a penalty away against the Gunners and Chelsea, while James Garner escaped a second yellow at Villa.
After Brentford's five mistakes against them, there are then four clubs on four errors: Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Newcastle and Tottenham.
Manchester City suffered from three mistakes. Pep Guardiola's men should have received a penalty against Tottenham while Gabriel and Diogo Dalot both escaped red cards.
Overall it is Everton, Sunderland and Wolves who come out on top on +3. Bournemouth are most affected on -4, with Villa, Leeds and Newcastle on -3.
The overall winners and losers
This takes into account both VAR and on-field errors.
Chelsea and Arsenal benefitted from the most mistakes, on eight and seven respectively.
The two London clubs are then followed by Wolves on six.
Brentford were impacted the most with seven errors, followed by Bournemouth on six.
Once you factor in decisions for and against, Arsenal and Chelsea share the top spot with a score of +5, followed by Wolves on +4.
The club who should have the biggest cause for complaint is Leeds, who have an overall score of -4.
The Elland Road club are the only team not to have any kind of officiating mistake go for them.
Liverpool and Villa are next on -3, with Brighton and Palace on -2.
What do the fans really think of VAR?
The past few months have seen two vastly different supporters' polls about VAR.
A survey of just under 8,000 fans carried out by the Football Supporters' Association (FSA) in March found that 75% of fans of Premier League clubs are against VAR.
But a YouGov poll published on Friday, external found that only 18% of fans wanted the Premier League to stop using VAR entirely, with 68% instead favouring changes being made to how it is used.
The YouGov poll of just over 2,000 people found that 72% of regular viewers felt the game was less enjoyable, but the FSA survey was more than 90%.
The difference can largely be put down to the target audience, as well as the framing of the questions.
What is certain from both surveys is that many fans do not feel VAR has been successful.
Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), which runs refereeing in the professional game, was happy with the season-on-season improvements in recent seasons.
An increase in mistakes is a setback to that progress, but it would argue the overall trend is positive.
One marked improvement has been on serious foul play, with the missed red card in the penultimate gameweek the first error of the campaign. Last season a record four red cards were overturned on appeal after a player had been wrongly sent off.
This season saw the fewest VAR interventions of all seven seasons, and the Premier League continues to have the lowest rate of reviews across Europe's top leagues.
PGMO also says delays have improved, to 47 seconds per game this season from 64 seconds in 2023-24.
How the KMI Panel works
The KMI Panel meets every week to dissect each decision, from goals to penalties to red cards.
It has five members: three former players and coaches, plus one representative each from the Premier League and Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO).
The KMI Panel was created by the Premier League clubs in 2022 to take performance stats out of the hands of the refereeing body.
It is not intended to look at each incident like any fan or manager would. It takes into account the laws of the game and, crucially, how the Premier League expects its games to be refereed.
That is why the list of errors will not be as extensive as supporters would expect.
The KMI Panel first looks at the decision of the on-field referee team, and then of the VAR.
As the VAR is operating to a higher threshold - clear and obvious - there are times when the KMI Panel will say the referee was wrong but the VAR was correct not to intervene.
The KMI Panel also considers second yellow cards which were missed, or incorrectly shown.