Newcastle United's place in Premier League table with no VAR compared to Man Utd & Arsenal after Liverpool controversy

Newcastle United suffered another Premier League defeat on Monday night as they were beaten 4-2 by Liverpool at Anfield. The Magpies conceded the biggest xG (expected goals) in Premier League history with 7.53 but looked for large parts to be getting something from the game.

Mohamed Salah missed a first-half penalty after Luis Diaz had a goal ruled out by VAR for an offside in the build-up. Salah put the Reds ahead early in the second half but Alexander Isak hit back with a clinical finish five minutes later. Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo put the hosts 3-1 up before Sven Botman headed in to make it 3-2 with nine minutes remaining. Liverpool were then awarded a second penalty when Diogo Jota went down under a challenge from Martin Dúbravka despite minimal contact from the Newcastle goalkeeper, who produced a fine overall display at Anfield.

Former Premier League referee Mike Dean revealed VAR did not overturn the decision because of the contact between Jota and Dubrakva. He said on Sky Sports: “I think we’ve heard Stuart Attwell just then on VAR, well we have anyway, there’s clear contact by the left elbow of Dubravka on the foot of Jota. So, once he’s given the penalty it is hard to overturn.”

The decision still left Magpies boss Eddie Howe frustrated, along with the majority of Newcastle supporters. Following the latest involvements, or lack of, from VAR we have looked at how the table might look without the use of the technology. Factoring in VAR decisions that led to goals being disallowed or awarded by the technology, including via penalties, here’s how the table might look as things stand...