Every VAR error: How Arsenal escaped red cards and penalties

Arsenal and Chelsea were the biggest beneficiaries of video assistant referee and on-field errors this season. Arsenal won the Premier League while becoming the first team to go the whole campaign without receiving a red card or conceding a penalty. 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. 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. Bournemouth and Chelsea gained most, with four in their favour. Arsenal gained from three errors, including spot-kicks which should have been awarded to Everton and Brighton. Palace and Everton had the most mistakes against them with three.

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. Brentford gained most with four on-field errors, but also suffered the greatest with five mistakes. Arsenal, Everton and Wolves were the next biggest beneficiaries, with three in their favour.