New statistics on the use of VAR in the Premier League this season have shown that Liverpool are the worst affected club in the division.
As revealed by ESPN, there have been 20 errors arising from the technology in the current top-flight campaign, four of which have gone against Jurgen Klopp’s side. Brighton and Wolves are the next biggest ‘losers’, being hit by three mistakes each.
Aston Villa have been the biggest beneficiaries from VAR errors, with three going in their favour, while Arsenal have an even split of two falling their way and two costing them.
The Premier League’s chief football officer Tony Scholes has conceded that there have been ‘too many checks’ this season and that the process is ‘taking too long’, but is reluctant to bring in a time limit for decisions if it’s at the cost of accuracy.
Liverpool’s detractors readily reach for one pathetic and – as we can now see – inaccurate phrase whenever a contentious refereeing decision goes in our favour, snidely labelling the club as ‘LiVARpool‘.
More than four months on from the wrongly disallowed Luis Diaz goal at Tottenham, and the shambolic VAR process which ensued, that utter farce of a situation continues to sting, while thankfully the erroneous call to chalk off Harvey Elliott’s strike at Burnley after Mo Salah was pushed offside didn’t cost us in the end.
As for Martin Odegaard getting away with the clearest handball you could wish to see at Anfield, it boggles the mind how he wasn’t penalised for that even after it was reviewed.
In the interests of balance, some controversial moments have gone our way, too, such as the lack of a penalty when Virgil van Dijk clipped Christopher Nkunku in last week’s 4-1 win over Chelsea.
However, it’s simply not acceptable that there’s been as many as 20 incorrect VAR decisions already this season in what we’re repeatedly told is the ‘best league in the world’.
Some aspects of the technology will always be subjective, and striving for complete accuracy is unrealistic, but all football fans ask is that it cuts out blatant errors and can be used in an efficient manner, rather than the drawn-out, slipshod process we’ve seen all too often.
If Liverpool end up missing out on the Premier League title by fine margins such as goal difference or a single point, it’ll be hard not to feel that the failings of officials will have played its part.
#Ep100 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️
We all know we are targeted by the referees so why act surprised?