New VAR rule for Premier League season will favour strikers and allow more goals

Premier League forwards will benefit from greater leniency in the tightest of offside calls next season as rules have been tweaked to benefit forwards who were marginally offside in attacking moves.

This would mean goals that are ruled offside as a result of an attacking player’s toe being offside would now count – and that would have resulted in 20 goals standing last season, including Sadio Mane’s winner for Liverpool against Everton last October.

The general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) Mike Riley spoke about the changes, saying his team consulted with the game’s stakeholders and made adequate changes to benefit the sport.

“We spent a lot of time last season talking to the clubs, players, managers and to fans’ groups, looking at how we can improve refereeing within the context of Premier League football.

“Some of the things are VAR-related, like marginal offsides, but fundamentally we want the approach to be one that best allows the players to express themselves — allows the Premier League game to flow.

"It means that the refereeing team of referees and VARs don’t intervene for the trivial offences.”

The VAR will still use one-pixel lines to determine the line of offside but will then add the thicker line used by broadcasters to give attacking players and teams the benefit of the doubt.

To some reprieve for defenders, Premier League officials have been instructed to not give penalties that come as a result of the slightest bit of contact, including that given against Denmark for their touch on Raheem Sterling in the Euro 2020 semi-final last month.

What did you make of VAR in the Premier League last season? Let us know in the comments below.

Clubs and players have been warned that if players go down in the box after the slightest bit of contact, then it will be used against them.

The refereeing team admitted that referees were too lenient in their use of VAR when giving penalties, saying that the slightest touch in the box shouldn’t always result in a spot-kick being awarded.

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