VAR Decisions tables – More proof of refs Anti-Arsenal bias?

There have been oodles of discussions about whether the referees and PGMOL have an obvious bias against Arsenal, as yet again Arsenal had yet another penalty decision for Bukayo Saka overturned by VAR at the weekend.

Arsenal have had SIX Var revisions given against us these season, and guess how many in our favour? ONE! (And that was a disallowed goal for Aston Villa in a game we lost 3-0 anyway!)

Here is the tweet of the table compiled by ESPN…

And if you look at the table for the net figures (Decisions for minus Decisions against) Only Liverpool have more!

VAR decisions overturned (NET SCORE)

  1. Chelsea +3
  2. Everton +3
  3. Brighton & Hove Albion +2
  4. Burnley +2
  5. Leeds +2
  6. Manchester City +1
  7. Newcastle +1
  8. Sheffield United +1
  9. Southampton +1
  10. Aston Villa 0
  11. Crystal Palace 0
  12. Fulham 0
  13. Leicester City 0
  14. Manchester United 0
  15. West Ham 0
  16. Wolves -1
  17. Tottenham Hotspur -2
  18. Arsenal -4
  19. West Brom -4
  20. Liverpool -5

(Courtesy of DailyCannon)

Now I know a lot of people will say that “things get evened out over the season”, but don’t you think it is a bit worrying that Arsenal get so many decisions decided agains us? Not to even mention the ones that don’t even go to VAR….

Whay do YOU think these figures are telling us?

20 Comments

  1. I don’t think there’s any wisdom in aggregates. Some decisions are overturned correctly, others aren’t. It’s simply a function of the minds of individual referees.

    VAR is a work in progress. Let’s not reach for the tin foil hats just yet.

    1. I think it is extremely naive to think there is no corruption in football. Look no further than ‘Football is fixed’ which is a book centered around this very subject. The bias in England is in the pudding. Sick and tired of these so called refs. Mike f***ing Riley was the worst of them all and he sits at the very top of PGMOL. No coincidence Arsenal is dead last on the bias table. Last 5 seasons: 20th, 20th, 19th, 17th, 15th.

  2. I think the problem with these stats is that they only paint half the picture. They don’t cover what kind of decision they are over-turning.

    How subjective the decision is and which way it is over-turned also factor.

    It’s qualitative but it feels like a lot of subjective decisions awarded to Arsenal get over-turned by VAR (e.g., the Saka penalty against Leeds). This makes up the numbers. However, subjective decisions made against Arsenal (e.g., Luiz’s penalty against Wolves) do not seem to ever get over-turned. Other examples of this are the clear red-card fouls on our players such as Mane’s elbow on Tierney or Bruno’s rake on Xhaka. These aren’t in the above numbers I don’t think.

    Only incorporating subjective decisions into the above and factoring in what doesn’t get over-turned would paint a proper picture.

  3. Far from helping referees, VAR is accentuating their errors and undermining their authority.In addition it is slowing down a game which used to be spontaneous and continuous.The basic concept which I bought into was that it would be used as a form of goal line technology, which would overcome quickly, any dubiety on that issue.It has gone too far and is spoiling the game for fans I’m afraid.It needs to revamped with a view to restricting its use to areas which are not overlapping the subjective decisions made by refs in terms of free kicks and penalties.Otherwise we run the risk of matches being referreed directly from Stockley Park.

    1. Hurray for sound sense but weep for its rarity. VAR is an abomination and harms the game immensely. Why only we thinking fans can see, this hardly a surprise though. Goal line technology, which much predates VAR, works well and is not contoversial. We MUST KEEP THAT, but had I the power, I would banish all the rest, today!

      1. VAR as a technical tool is here to stay and although it can appear petty, I like it’ All who want facts rather than opinions should welcome it. The problems are twofold. The rules it is being told to obey, are either vague or plain stupid, and the clear and obvious error rule which is interpreted in many different ways.. This is where its failing.

        1. Guy, fact over fiction (opinion!!!) anytime for me.

          I note with interest that Grandad says that VAR is showing the referees errors… what is wrongly with that?

          Furthermore, if this is showing the incompetence of referees – two of Mike Dean’s red cards overturned in consecutive games – surely that shows these referees should not be classed as “elite” and instead of answering to no-one, should be demoted down the ranks?

          1. Very true Ken. The standards of on-field refereeing in England these days is abysmal, and although it shouldn’t be so, it’s getting worse post VAR, and so are the standards of the VAR ref. I suppose that as we now need 2 refs rather than one per game we are diluting the gene pool even further. On field refs are either being careless because they think VAR will fix any mistakes, or becoming rabbits in the headlights knowing that every small thing is scrutinsed. All compounded by the (mostly ridiculous) new rules constantly being brought in and total incompetant leadership by Head of Referees Mike Riley.

  4. Always the same, United still the top getting the most good decisions, Arsenal the bottom, followed
    by Manchester City, the two teams who play the best football, not fouling.

  5. All refs are always biased against Arsenal . That is what some Gooners actually believe! What I believe is that most fans – not all, but a clear majority- are so biased themselves towards the club they love that they are quite unable to see the clear truth; which is that refs are NOT biased against their club but almost everyone else connected to the club IS biased.
    As someone who loathes and detests unthinking unfairness and prejudice , I will always challenge this non thinking stupidity.
    I do howver think the general standard of top refs is poor. But biased? NEVER!

    It is the fans themselves who constantly show their OWN bias. That applies to most other clubs too, not just ours. I long for the time when these prejudiced fans discover fair thinking, as I always practise.

  6. The most lame excuse I’ve ever heard. VAR is there to minimise errors that are difficult to see with a naked eye. Do we have to dump VAR for the sake of Arsenal? Hope not

  7. Get rid of var , why change the rules of a game that has
    become the biggest and most watched sport in history ,who needs black and white, grey areas are the talking points of life not the robotic var way , the next stage who needs referees!! Get rid of var and save the game

  8. While the anti bias of arsenal is debatable, the bias towards man u is undeniable over the last 15-20 years, they went TEN YEARS only having three penalties against them at O.T (three in roughly 190 games) not to mention how many penalties they get awarded each year.

  9. People please stop demanding we dump VAR. We all know it will NOT happen. Better to suggest ways to improve how it is used.
    And refs are often incompetant but are NOT biased. Swayed by crowds, offensive or over-offending teams perhaps (subconsciously) in any specific game, or even fooled by teams that are better skilled in the “dark arts” (Man Utd in the 90’s and 00’s, anyone?), but not consciously or continuously biased. Honestly – we are the biased ones when watching Arsenal. And proud to be!

  10. Do we really want success by scoring offside goals? Our level of integrity has significantly subsided. The referees are supposed to turn a blind eye on offsides and deliberate red cards? Discipline should be the name of the game from Arsenal players

  11. Totally misleading article, nothing tells us whether they were all correct over turns or all wrong over turns or its jus random.

  12. You could turn this around – if they were overturning the see decisions in our favour, might that not show that the referees were biased against us? (If VAR was saving us). Depends on how you look at it.
    Ultimately its only biased if the calls were wrong or 50-50s. You can’t read anything into those figures

  13. I don’t think that some of the premier league referees/VAR knows what they are doing in the field especially if Arsenal are playing game.
    89.9% of there decision is very wrong.

  14. Football is big business, and results determine whether a club makes profit or not so VAR is a very good idea of ensuring that no club suffers unjust financial loss. We must get used to VAR and still enjoy our football. After all, how many VAR incidents happen in a match? The problem is with the way referees apply it. All the FA needs do now is to ensure uniform application by all referees. Arsenal has definitely been at the receiving end of referees who refused to go to the screen to confirm obvious cases of red card offenses against their players.

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