Arsenal were crowned Premier League champions and could have won the title without the help of VAR, but there would have been major changes elsewhere in the division
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta celebrates with the Premier League trophy (Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images For Premier League)
Research shows that if the sector had not adopted VAR, Arsenal would have been Premier League champions. However, the Gunners could only surpass Manchester City on goal difference.
Mikel Arteta’s side have finally crossed the line, moving from perennial runners-up to deserved champions with one game to spare. Many may also point to VAR’s fortuitous results, such as West Ham being denied a goal that would have secured North London’s three points, but the accusations against “VAR Senal” seem to be missing the point.
According to AceOdds, Tottenham would have stayed comfortably without needing three points on the final day of the season and would have finished nine points out of the relegation zone. The Lilywhites survived with a win over Everton thanks to the performance of Joao Parinha.
Relegated West Ham would have avoided that fate, with Nottingham Forest instead finishing alongside Burnley and Wolves in the bottom three. A 3–0 win over Leeds would have kept the Irons alive, but a draw with Bournemouth meant Forest were sent off on the final day of the season.
Chelsea would have ended a disastrous season in even worse shape. The mid-table Blues would have fallen into the bottom half without the help of VAR. Sunderland, the team on the final day, had an excellent season, finishing seventh and qualifying for the Europa League.
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Without the help of VAR, the Black Cats would still have remained in good form in the Premier League, but would not have achieved the same glory, dropping to 13th place, below local rivals Newcastle.
Bournemouth enjoyed their own fairy tale and qualified for the Europa League in sixth place. Without VAR, they would have leapfrogged Arne Slott’s Liverpool into fifth place by two points, leaving the Anfield side to endure an even bigger comeback from winning the league in 2025.
After the final day’s draw with Brentford, Liverpool manager Slott admitted the Champions League was the minimum result of the Reds’ season. “Today we came here to do the bare minimum, that is the bare minimum and that is to qualify for the Champions League,” he said.
Premier League table without VAR (Image: Aceodds)
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“As you can see in the league table, big clubs don’t qualify for the Champions League or Europe. Big clubs haven’t been able to qualify for Europe in this league for the last few seasons. So we can never take that for granted, but we obviously wanted more.”
Meanwhile, manager Mikel Arteta wants his team to use the momentum from winning the title to advance in the game, rather than following in Liverpool’s footsteps. “What I told the boys is this shirt now stands for something different,” he explained.
“We are champions and that brings a lot of confidence and a different kind of presence and energy. But it also comes with a different kind of responsibility.”
“My job now, and everyone’s job at the club, is to live up to these standards and achieve more, because we believe we can win.”
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