Brighton & Hove Albion sit far clear in first place, with a net total of 27 decisions in their favor
Newcastle United & Crystal Palace rank second and third, with 20 and 17 net calls in their favor, respectively
Premier League VAR data was analyzed from the season of implementation (2019/20) through to the 2024/25 season.
By analyzing decisions for, as well as against, a new study has revealed which teams really have benefitted the most from the implementation of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology back in the 2019/20 season through to the previous 2024/25 season.
The study, by Online Slots Site talkSPORT BET, analysed detailed statistics on VSR decisions both for and against every team that has participated in the premier league since its implementation in the 2019/2020 season, resulting in a “Net decision” score used to rank, by deducting the calls against from the calls for.
In first place are Brighton & Hove Albion, who – since 2019/2020 to 24/25 – have seen a total of 49 decisions AWARDED to them, and only 22 AGAINST, resulting in a net decision score of +27 VAR decisions given to them
Second place goes to Newcastle United. Spending every season analysed in the English top flight, with 44 decisions awarded, and 24 against, resulting in a net score of +20
Third place goes to Crystal Palace, who have seen the benefit from 38 VAR decisions for, and 21 against, giving them a net total score of +17.
Manchester United and Chelsea are both tied for fourth place. Manchester United have seen 39 VAR decisions go in their favour and 23 against, giving them a net total of +16. Chelsea have had 38 decisions for, and 22 against, also leaving them with a net total of +16.
In sixth place is Aston Villa, who saw 38 VAR calls go in their favour and 23 against, giving them a net decision score of +15.
The remainder of the list features yet another two-way tie, this time between West Ham United, and Tottenham Hotspur in eighth place. Both constant top-flight teams, West Ham saw 41 VAR decisions for and 29 against, resulting in a net decision score of +12 in favour, while Tottenham Hotspur saw 39 decisions for and 27 against, giving them +12 net score overall.
Ninth place is yet another tie, but between Brentford and Everton in this case.
Brentford had 25 decisions awarded for and 14 against, whilst Everton – another top flight mainstay – saw 30 VAR decisions awarded, and 19 against – a net decision score for both Brentford, and Everton of +11.
Rounding out the list in tenth place on the list goes to Southampton FC, staying in England’s top flight for two seasons (2022/23, and 2023/24), who have seen 29 VAR decisions go in their favour, with 19 against, for a net decision score of +10 only one decision away from a three-way tie with the prior rankings.
Interestingly, Norwich City – who have only been in the Premier league for two of the seasons analysed (2019/20, and 2021/22) are placed firmly at the bottom of the full table, with just 7 decisions for, and having seen 20 against – resulting in a net decision score of -13 – over double that of the second-last placed team, West Bromwich Albion, with just one analysed season in the top flight, and a net decision score of -6.
A full table of every Premier League clubs that have been impacted by VAR, from 2019/20 to 2024/25:
| Rank | Club | VAR Decisions (For) | VAR Decisions (Against) | Net decision score |
| 1. | Brighton & Hove Albion | 49 | 22 | +27 |
| 2. | Newcastle United | 44 | 24 | +20 |
| 3. | Crystal Palace | 38 | 21 | +17 |
| 4. (=) | Manchester United | 39 | 23 | +16 |
| 4. (=) | Chelsea | 38 | 22 | +16 |
| 6. | Aston Villa | 38 | 23 | +15 |
| 7. (=) | Tottenham Hotspur | 39 | 27 | +12 |
| 7. (=) | West Ham United | 41 | 29 | +12 |
| 9. (=) | Everton | 30 | 19 | +11 |
| 9. (=) | Brentford | 25 | 14 | +11 |
| 11. | Southampton FC | 29 | 19 | +10 |
| 12. | Manchester City | 35 | 27 | +8 |
| 13. (=) | Leicester City | 32 | 25 | +7 |
| 13. (=) | Liverpool | 33 | 26 | +7 |
| 15. (=) | Burnley | 20 | 14 | +6 |
| 15. (=) | Fulham | 23 | 17 | +6 |
| 17. (=) | Leeds United | 16 | 12 | +4 |
| 17. (=) | Ipswich Town | 5 | 1 | +4 |
| 19. (=) | Bournemouth | 19 | 16 | +3 |
| 19. (=) | Nottingham Forest | 14 | 11 | +3 |
| 21. | Luton Town | 3 | 1 | +2 |
| 22. (=) | Arsenal | 29 | 28 | +1 |
| 22. (=) | Watford | 8 | 7 | +1 |
| 24. | Sheffield United | 15 | 15 | 0 |
| 25. | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 21 | 28 | -7 |
| 26. | West Bromwich Albion | 3 | 9 | -6 |
| 27. | Norwich City | 7 | 20 | -13 |
A spokesperson for talkSPORT BET commented on the findings, saying:
“The findings offer an interesting reflection on how Video Assistant Referee technology has influenced outcomes across multiple Premier League seasons.”
“While VAR was introduced to enhance fairness and accuracy, the data highlights that certain clubs have consistently seen more decisions go in their favour than others. This underlines the ongoing impact that technology continues to have on match dynamics and the balance of key moments – with some fans even claiming clear bias.”
“The results also highlight the evolving relationship between officiating and technology that remains one of the most talked-about aspects of the modern game.”
Source:
Methodology:
- Data was collected for each season (2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25) from ESPN’s detailed tracking of VAR incidents.
- This data was split into seasons, with decisions against being subtracted from decisions for, resulting in a net score for each team during each season.
- These seasons were then combined into a single table, with duplicate teams (Mismatched names) being merged, and total season decisions for, against, and a “net decision score” being calculated.
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