Every VAR error in 2025-26 Premier League: How Arsenal escaped red cards and penalties

Arsenal and Chelsea were the biggest beneficiaries of video assistant referee and on-field errors this season.

Mikel Arteta's Gunners won the Premier League while becoming the first team to go the whole campaign without receiving a red card or conceding a penalty.

But data logged by the Premier League's key match incidents (KMI) panel shows that Arsenal should have conceded three penalties and received three red cards.

In total, Arsenal had seven referee mistakes in their favour, while London rivals Chelsea gained from eight.

The Stamford Bridge club received two of the three incorrect VAR interventions, leading to a disallowed goal for Fulham and a penalty against Crystal Palace.

The full judgements, seen by BBC Sport, show there were 25 VAR errors this season, up from the 18 in the 2024-25 campaign

It is still a marked improvement on previous years, with 31 errors in 2023-24 and 38 in 2022-23.

Here, BBC Sport looks how each club was affected and lists every mistake at the end of the article.

This takes into account three aspects: decisions wrongly changed on review - or where the referee incorrectly stuck by his call when at the monitor - and those that should have been fixed but were not.

Bournemouth and Chelsea gained most, with four in their favour.

As well as the Fulham and Palace decisions, the Blues should also have conceded penalties against Brighton and Bournemouth.

The Cherries escaped Marcos Senesi red cards twice, against Liverpool and Palace, and should have conceded a penalty at home to Sunderland. Plus, they got away with a wrongly awarded spot-kick in the return game against the Eagles.

Arsenal gained from three errors, including spot-kicks which should have been awarded to Everton and Brighton.

When it comes to the clubs who suffered, Palace and Everton had the most with three mistakes.

The Toffees should have been awarded penalties against Arsenal, West Ham and Manchester City, but did escape a spot-kick against Wolves.

Overall, Chelsea come out on top because they did not suffer any VAR mistakes, followed by Arsenal on a net score of two.

Palace came out worst on -3, with Everton and Brighton on -2.

The KMI panel first votes on the referee's decision, and then considers if a mistake should go to video review.

Each season there is a list of incidents which the KMI panel feels should have been a penalty or a straight red card but they did not reach the threshold for VAR.

The KMI panel also looks at second yellow cards. Should a player have been dismissed? Or did they wrongly escape red?

Brentford gained most with four, but also suffered the greatest with five mistakes.

Arsenal, Everton and Wolves were the next biggest beneficiaries, with three in their favour.

Mikel Merino should have been shown a second yellow for Arsenal against Aston Villa when the score was 0-0 in a game the Gunners would win 4-1.

Gabriel should have seen red against Manchester City, while Arsenal's late penalty against Leeds for a foul on Max Dowman was wrongly awarded.

The Toffees should have given a penalty away against the Gunners and Chelsea, while James Garner escaped a second yellow at Villa.

After Brentford's five mistakes against them, there are then four clubs on four errors: Aston Villa, Manchester City, Newcastle and Tottenham.

Pep Guardiola's men should have received a penalty against Tottenham and a Liverpool goal should have been chalked off for offside. Gabriel and Diogo Dalot both escaped red cards.

Overall it is Everton, Sunderland and Wolves who come out on top on +3. Bournemouth are most affected on -4, with Villa, Leeds and Newcastle on -3.

This takes into account both VAR and on-field errors.

Chelsea and Arsenal benefitted from the most mistakes, on eight and seven respectively.

The two London clubs are then followed by Wolves on six.

Brentford were impacted the most with seven errors, followed by Bournemouth on six and Manchester City on five.

Once you factor in decisions for and against, Arsenal and Chelsea share the top spot with a score of +5, followed by Wolves on +4.

The club who should have the biggest cause for complaint is Leeds, who have an overall score of -4.

The Elland Road club are the only team not to have any kind of officiating mistake go for them.

Villa are next on -3, with Brighton and Palace on -2.

The past few months have seen two vastly different supporters' polls about VAR.

A survey of just under 8,000 fans carried out by the Football Supporters' Association (FSA) in March found that 75% of fans of Premier League clubs are against VAR.

But a YouGov poll published on Friday, external found that only 18% of fans wanted the Premier League to stop using VAR entirely, with 68% instead favouring changes being made to how it is used.

The YouGov poll of just over 2,000 people found that 72% of regular viewers felt the game was less enjoyable, but the FSA survey was more than 90%.

The difference can largely be put down to the target audience, as well as the framing of the questions.

What is certain from both is that all fans do not feel VAR has been successful.

Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), which runs refereeing in the professional game, was happy with the season-on-season improvements in recent seasons.

An increase in mistakes is a setback to that progress, but it would argue the overall trend is positive.

One marked improvement has been on serious foul play, with the missed red card in the penultimate gameweek the first error of the campaign. Last season a record four red cards were overturned on appeal after a player had been wrongly sent off.

This season saw the fewest VAR interventions of all seven seasons, and the Premier League continues to have the lowest rate of reviews across Europe's top leagues.

PGMO also says delays have improved, to 47 seconds per game this season from 64 seconds in 2023-24.

The KMI Panel meets every week to dissect each decision, from goals to penalties to red cards.

It has five members: three former players and coaches, plus one representative each from the Premier League and Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO).

The KMI Panel was created by the Premier League clubs in 2022 to take performance stats out of the hands of the refereeing body.

Crucially, it is not intended to look at each incident like any fan or manager would. It takes into account the laws of the game and, crucially, how the Premier League expects its games to be refereed.

That is why the list of errors will not be as extensive as supporters would expect.

The KMI Panel first looks at the decision of the on-field referee team, and then of the VAR.

As the VAR is operating to a higher threshold - clear and obvious - there are times when the KMI Panel will say the referee was wrong but the VAR was correct not to intervene.

The KMI Panel also considers second yellow cards which were missed, or incorrectly shown.

1. Liverpool 4-2 Bournemouth: Senesi red card

Marcos Senesi should have been sent off for denying on obvious goal-scoring opportunity (Dogso), through deliberate handball, in the 13th minute of the opening game of the season.

On-field vote: 1-4

VAR vote: 1-4

2. Wolves 2-3 Everton: Bueno denied a penalty

Hugo Bueno tried to jink back inside in the 70th minute, but went down under a challenge from Iliman Ndiaye.

On-field vote: 1-4

VAR vote: 2-3

3. Brentford 3-1 Man Utd: Collins escapes red card

Nathan Collins pulled back Bryan Mbeumo as he was about to latch on to a pass in the 71st minute. Referee Craig Pawson gave the penalty but only cautioned Collins, and he should have been sent off.

On-field vote: 0-5

VAR vote: 0-5

4. Chelsea 1-3 Brighton: Gusto's high boot

Malo Gusto raised a foot to make a clearance but made contact with the head of Yankuba Minteh. A spot-kick should have been awarded in the 87th minute.

On-field vote: 0-5

VAR vote: 0-5

5. Brentford 3-1 Newcastle: Burn trips Ouattara

Dan Burn stood on the foot of Dango Ouattara but the VAR feels the Brentford player theatrically threw himself to the ground. It should have been a penalty in the 61st minute.

On-field vote: 0-5

VAR vote: 2-3

6. Bournemouth 2-2 West Ham: Kilman's swipe at the ball

West Ham's Max Kilman should have been sent off for Dogso handball after a 66th-minute penalty had been awarded.

On-field vote: 0-5

VAR vote: 1-4

7. Newcastle 2-1 Man City: Penalty for Foden

The game was goalless after 17 minutes when Phil Foden released a shot. He was caught late by Fabian Schar. No penalty was awarded.

On-field vote: 2-3

VAR vote: 2-3

8. Wolves 1-4 Man Utd: Agbadou handball penalty

Emmanuel Agbadou angled his body into the path of a shot to stop the ball on 37 minutes, but the VAR did not send the referee to the monitor.

On-field vote: 0-5

VAR vote: 1-4

9. Everton 0-1 Arsenal: Saliba fouls Barry but no spot-kick given

Everton were losing 1-0 when William Saliba and Thierno Barry went for a bouncing ball in the penalty area. Barry got there first and was kicked by the Arsenal defender.

On-field vote: 2-3

VAR vote: 2-3

10. Chelsea 2-2 Bournemouth: Gusto avoids another penalty

It was 2-2 in the 54th minute when Marcus Tavernier played a long cross to David Brooks. Gusto jumped to head it and the ball landed on his outstretched arm.

On-field vote: 1-4

VAR vote: 2-3

11. Brentford 0-0 Tottenham: Romero escapes red

Igor Thiago ran on to a ball over the top in the 56th minute, with Tottenham defender Cristian Romero making a wild swipe to try to intercept. Romero made no contact on the ball and should have been sent off for Dogso.

On-field vote: 2-3

VAR vote: 2-3

12. Wolves 3-0 West Ham: Holding penalty against Krejci

Ladislav Krejci held back Tomas Soucek in the 73rd minute and a penalty should have been awarded.

On-field vote: 1-4

VAR vote: 2-3

13. Bournemouth 1-1 Sunderland: Foul by Jimenez on Le Fee

Alex Jimenez bundled Enzo Le Fee to the ground in the third minute and a spot-kick should have been given.

On-field vote: 0-5

VAR vote: 1-4

14: Leeds 0-1 Sunderland: Holding by O'Nien on Struijk

Another missed holding penalty after Luke O'Nien held back Pascal Struijk in the 16th minute, placing an arm around the Leeds player's neck.

On-field vote: 0-5

VAR vote: 1-4

15. Brighton 0-1 Arsenal: Martinelli pulls down Wieffer

Gabriel Martinelli, who was was not looking at the ball, held onto Mats Wieffer as he moved into the area and prevented the Brighton player from challenging for the ball. A spot-kick should have been awarded.

On-field vote: 1-4

VAR vote: 2-3

16. West Ham 2-1 Everton: Handball by Fernandes

Mateus Fernandes touched the ball with his hand in a tussle with Thierno Barry in the 84th minute, and a penalty should have been given.

On-field vote: 1-4

VAR vote: 1-4

17: Brentford 3-0 West Ham: Challenge by Lewis-Potter on Soucek

Keane Lewis-Potter held Soucek in a clear non-footballing action which impacted the West Ham player's movement and this should also have been a penalty.

On-field vote: 0-5

VAR vote: 0-5

18. Bournemouth 3-0 Crystal Palace: Challenge by Henderson on Senesi

A penalty was awarded on field but the contact by Dean Henderson on Marcos Senesi was minimal and it should have been overturned.

On-field vote: 0-5

VAR vote: 0-5

19. Everton 3-3 Man City: Holding by Silva on Rohl

A clear, sustained holding offence by Bernardo Silva on Merlin Rohl which continued after a corner had been taken, so it should have been a penalty.

On-field vote: 0-5

VAR vote: 0-5

20. Arsenal 1-0 Burnley: Tackle by Havertz on Ugochukwu

Kai Havertz made a lunging tackle from behind on Lesley Ugochukwu, with the Arsenal player only shown a yellow card. This should have been upgraded to red.

On-field vote: 0-5

VAR vote: 1-4

The second category is mistakes on the field which the KMI Panel felt did not reach the threshold for a VAR intervention.

There were 29 this season, compared to 28 in 2024-25.

The 29 are:

Man City v Tottenham: Penalty not given for a foul on Oscar Bobb

Brentford v Aston Villa: Goal disallowed for a push on Emiliano Martinez

Arsenal v Leeds: Penalty given for a foul on Max Dowman

Fulham v Man Utd: Goal awarded despite push on Calvin Bassey

Sunderland v Brentford: Penalty not given for Reinildo holding Nathan Collins

West Ham v Tottenham: Disallowed goal for a foul by Micky van de Ven

Man City v Liverpool: Disallowed goal, Andrew Robertson offside and impacting

Sunderland v Bournemouth: Penalty given for a foul on Reinildo

Chelsea v Arsenal: Enzo Fernandez offside and impacting on Trevoh Chalobah goal

Tottenham v Brentford: No Cristian Romero serious foul play red card

Fulham v Crystal Palace: Penalty not given for challenge by Joachim Andersen

Liverpool v Brighton: No serious foul play red card for Diego Gomez

Newcastle v Chelsea: No penalty for challenge on Anthony Gordon

Wolves v Brentford: Penalty award for foul by Caoimhin Kelleher

Brentford v Tottenham: No penalty for a foul on Archie Gray

Burnley v Man United: Goal disallowed for Lisandro Martinez challenge on Kyle Walker

Man United v Man City: No serious foul play red card for Diogo Dalot

Wolves v Chelsea: Penalty not given for Sa challenge on Joao Pedro

Aston Villa v Brighton: Penalty not given for Olivier Boscagli foul on Tammy Abraham

Arsenal v Chelsea: Penalty not given for handball by Declan Rice

Bournemouth v Brentford: Penalty not given and no Dogso red card for Michael Kayode tackle on Marcus Tavernier

Chelsea v Newcastle: Penalty not given for Reece James holding Malick Thiaw

Arsenal v Everton: Penalty not given for Michael Keane challenge on Kai Havertz

Brentford v Wolves: Penalty not given for Andre challenge on Kevin Schade

Everton v Chelsea: Penalty not given for James Tarkowski holding Wesley Fofana

Man City v Arsenal: No violent conduct red card for Gabriel

Brentford v West Ham: No penalty given for Yehor Yarmolyuk holding Pablo

Newcastle v West Ham: No penalty given for handball by Tomas Soucek

If a decision has not appeared on this page then the KMI Panel voted it correct on the field and through VAR.

The panel ruled that nine players escaped a second caution, compared to seven last season.

This season's list is:

Malick Thiaw for Newcastle at Bournemouth

Andre for Wolves at Aston Villa

Aaron Wan-Bissaka for West Ham at Manchester United

Ruben Dias for Manchester City at Nottingham Forest

Mikel Merino for Arsenal at home to Aston Villa

James Garner for Everton at Aston Villa

Rodri for Man City at Tottenham

Cole Palmer for Chelsea at home to Leeds

Bryan Brobbey for Sunderland at home to Tottenham

There were also three players who were incorrectly shown a second yellow card. Next season, these decisions will be reviewable by the VAR.

It is a marked improvement to 2024-25 when there were eight wrong second cautions.

Ladislav Krejci for Wolves at Crystal Palace

Jacob Ramsey for Newcastle at home to Man United

Gabriel Gudmundsson for Leeds at Crystal Palace

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