Premier League offside rule explained after confusion over Florian Wirtz goal

Liverpool scored a controversial equalizer against Fulham through Florian Wirtz, which initially looked offside but was allowed because of the Premier League's tolerance level

Florian Wirtz looked to be offside as he scored for Liverpool against Fulham.(Image: Shaun Brooks - CameraSport via Getty Images)

Liverpool deserved to collect a point against Fulham on Sunday and might even have squeezed a win over the line had it not been for Harrison Reed's wondergoal, but Florian Wirtz's strike caused plenty of debate.

Wirtz appeared to be offside but the VAR review saw the goal stand, when even the player himself admitted he thought he was set to be denied a second in the Premier League.

"I was sure it was offside so I didn't even celebrate," Wirtz told Sky Sports. "I felt the same. Many people inside the stadium felt the same," Fulham boss Marco Silva added. "It looked offside, but we have to believe the semi-automated technology worked well and did right."

Your eyes were not deceiving you: Wirtz was, in fact, potentially offside. However, a quirk in the Premier League rules — voted on by its clubs — meant that the goal was allowed to stand.

From the start of the 2021-22 season, a tolerance level of about five centimeters was added to the old offside technology, where the lines were being drawn by match officials. Effectively, that means if the two lines touched, the player would be given as onside regardless of the on-field decision.

The thinking was that the technology is not 100 per cent accurate. It is hard to pinpoint the exact split-second moment the ball has been passed, for example, and therefore at one point the lines should be drawn.

Florian Wirtz and his Liverpool teammates celebrate as his goal against Fulham is awarded by VAR(Image: Getty Images)

In effect, a player could be marginally offside according to the technology, but onside when the tolerance level is applied. But while better and more accurate technology is now in place elsewhere, in the Premier League, the clubs voted against changing the way it is applied.

Semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) means that in other leagues, including the top divisions in Germany, Spain and Italy, have gone back to calculating offsides by the millimeter.

That would have meant Wirtz being called as offside in this instance, in all likelihood. But when the Premier League introduced SAOT, it decided to continue with the same tolerance level that was previously in place.

It felt that there were still questions about treating this new technology as being perfect, and so Wirtz was allowed to celebrate his goal, despite him appearing to be off.

"I would love to create more, but if we play with the amount of midfielders we play with and one attacker against a 5-4-1 of Fulham in an away game, I don't know if you can expect chance after chance," said Slot.

"Overall, we have done enough to win the game and we did very well by limiting them to maybe one half chance — but the end result still stands.

"I didn't change as a manager. I would love to play with eight attackers if that's possible defensively as well, but if those eight attackers don't defend enough it's hard to win a game of football.

"My philosophy of football hasn't changed this year compared to all the seasons I was a manager before. But we have to do it with the players that are available."