VAR slammed by former striker as supercomputer predicts league title winners

Campbell’s rant

Former Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell has given his say on VAR’s failings following the decision to allow Ivan Toney’s goal to stand during the Gunners’ 1-1 draw against Brentford on Saturday.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Campbell said: “I often say to myself, ‘how many things does a VAR official have to do?’, he doesn’t have a lot to do and even when you show the footage, you can see Norgaard trying to get himself back onside so obviously that should catch the eyes of the VAR official. But for the head (Howard Webb) to come out and say that he’s forgotten the lines, it’s either one of two things, you don’t forget to draw the lines, that’s part of your job, so it’s either you’ve deliberately haven’t done it or you’ve forgotten.

“And if you’ve forgotten to do it, you’re not fit to do the job. That’s as far as I’m concerned, and that’s not because I’m an Arsenal fan, that should be across the board.”

Campbell then added: “It’s great to know that there’s an apology but what does that actually do? Because of all the eyeballs that are on (the match), the VAR official, the VAR official has an assistant, etc, what do they see?

“If everyone else could see it, they should be able to see it. More training? Come on. This is crazy stuff, as far as I’m concerned. It’s just people not doing their job properly, it’s as simple as that.”

VAR decision

The Premier League have decided to replace John Brooks as the VAR for Arsenal’s Premier League match against Manchester City on Wednesday evening.

Brooks was on VAR duty on Saturday afternoon during Brighton’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace, accidentally drawing the offside lines on the wrong player for the Eagles’ goal. And it wasn’t the only VAR blunder over the weekend, with Lee Mason forgetting to draw the relevant offside lines in the build-up to Brentford’s equaliser against Arsenal.

Journalist James Benge has since reported that Brooks will no longer be on VAR duty for the Gunners’ potentially title-defining clash against City on Wednesday night. Benge’s tweet read: “John Brooks has been replaced as VAR for Arsenal vs. Manchester City and tonight’s Merseyside derby.

“Andre Marriner and David Coote will assume VAR duties in his place tonight and Wednesday respectively.”

Supercomputer prediction

A Supercomputer has predicted that Manchester City will beat Arsenal to this season’s Premier League title.

The Gunners, who currently lead the league by three points, slipped up for the second successive gameweek, drawing 1-1 with Brentford in a controversial encounter in north London. However, second-placed City made no such mistakes, bouncing back from last Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur by beating Aston Villa 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

The two juggernauts will do battle in north London on Wednesday night in a crucial match at the top of the table. Ahead of the hugely-anticipated clash at the Emirates, BonusCodeBets has used their Supercomputer to predict the end-of-season table, forecasting Pep Guardiola’s side to win their fifth title in six seasons at the expense of Mikel Arteta and co.