| Updated: A major change in football’s laws is already in a testing phase. The offside rule is set to be reworked, with the famous Arsene Wenger driving the proposal. The former Arsenal manager, now FIFA’s Head of Global Football Development, has argued that the current interpretation has become too strict in the VAR era, where goals are frequently ruled out by centimetres after microscopic reviews of an attacker’s position.
Under Wenger’s proposal, attackers would only be flagged offside if their entire body is beyond the last defender, rather than when any scoring body part is marginally ahead. The idea is already being tested in youth and development competitions in Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden, as football’s lawmakers evaluate whether the change could encourage attacking play and reduce controversial VAR decisions.
Against this backdrop, Sportingpedia examined how frequently teams and players are currently caught offside across Europe’s top five leagues during the 2025/26 season. By analysing both team totals and the forwards triggering the most offside calls, the study highlights which clubs push defensive lines most aggressively and which attackers most often stray beyond them – offering a snapshot of the offside landscape.
The report reveals the contrast between Spain and the rest: La Liga supplies 8 of the 15 teams caught offside most often, while no other league places more than two clubs in that ranking. At the opposite end, Ligue 1 and Serie A dominate the low-offside table, with 8 and 5 teams respectively among the 16 fewest flagged sides. Another curious finding is that Sevilla’s forward Akor Adams alone has been flagged offside more often than any of the teams with the fewest calls, with his 34 offsides exceeding the totals recorded by sides such as Lazio (24) and PSG (26).
Teams in Europe’s Top 5 Leagues
with the Most Offsides in 2025/26 Season
Data Source: Statmuse.com
Sevilla top the ranking across Europe’s top five leagues with 74 offsides, averaging 2.7 per match. The Spanish side clearly stands apart from the rest of the field, highlighting a style built on constant attacking runs behind defensive lines.
Getafe rank second with 65 offsides, confirming La Liga’s strong presence at the top of the list. The first non-Spanish club appears in third place, where Liverpool have been caught offside 61 times, averaging 2.1 per match in the Premier League. Just behind them come the Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich with 60 offsides, matching Liverpool’s aggressive attacking profile in the Bundesliga.
Another La Liga team in Barcelona complete the top five with 59 offsides. Rennes, Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad follow, each record 58 offsides, showing how closely packed the middle of the ranking is.
Further down the list, Mainz, Oviedo, Rayo Vallecano and Villarreal all have been caught 56 times in offside positions, alongside AC Milan, while Bournemouth also record 56 despite a slightly lower per-match average of 1.9. The final club in the top-offside group is Monaco with 55.
Taken together, the numbers point to a clear stylistic contrast. La Liga teams appear to play much closer to the defensive line and attack space behind opponents more aggressively than clubs in the other top five leagues. High offside totals usually reflect repeated attempts to break the line with direct forward runs, and Spain’s overwhelming presence in this ranking suggests that approach is far more widespread there than elsewhere. The fact that no other league places more than two teams among the highest offside totals indicates a different attacking profile in the Premier League, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A, where clubs generally rely more on build-up play, possession sequences and delayed movement rather than constant runs in behind.
Teams in Europe’s Top 5 Leagues
with the Least Offsides in 2025/26 Season
Data Source: Statmuse.com
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Lazio record the lowest offside total among Europe’s top five leagues with just 24, averaging 0.86 per match. The Roman side sits comfortably ahead of the rest of the field.
The reigning French and European champions from PSG rank second with 26 offsides, followed closely by Marseille with 27, placing two French clubs directly behind Lazio. Como come next with 28 offsides, the same total as Toulouse and Brest, forming a tightly packed group consisted only of Serie A and Ligue 1 teams around the 28 offsides mark.
Just outside that cluster, Eintracht Frankfurt record 29 offsides, while Auxerre follow with 30. Another group of teams sits on 31 offsides, including Wolfsburg, Parma and Bayer Leverkusen, all maintaining relatively disciplined attacking positioning.
The ranking concludes with a set of teams on 32 offsides – Lecce, Napoli and Nantes – before Metz and Lille complete the list with 33 each.
Taken together, the low-offside ranking points to a very different attacking profile from the one seen at the top end. Ligue 1 and Serie A dominate this category because their clubs appear far less reliant on constant runs in behind, instead favouring more controlled attacking structures built around possession, shorter combinations and better-timed movement. The absence of both Premier League and La Liga teams is particularly telling. England’s and Spain’s clubs tend to play more aggressively against the defensive line, which naturally increases offside calls, whereas the French and Italian sides in this ranking seem more measured in how they attack space. In other words, fewer offsides do not necessarily signal a lack of attacking intent, but rather a different way of progressing forward – one that depends less on repeated direct runs and more on patience, build-up and positional discipline.
Footballers in Europe’s Top 5 Leagues
Triggering the Most Offside Calls
Data Source: Statmuse.com
At player level, Sevilla’s Akor Adams stands well clear of the rest of the field. The striker has been flagged offside 34 times, the highest total in the dataset, and at a rate of one every 43 minutes, no other forward comes close to matching how regularly he tests the line. His numbers also mirror Sevilla’s position at the top of the team ranking, making him the clearest individual symbol of a side built around aggressive runs in behind.
The gap to second place is already sizeable. Moise Kean follows with 27 offsides for Fiorentina, while Evanilson of Bournemouth and Ransford Konigsdorffer of Hamburg both sit on 23. That group is followed by a trio on 21 offsides – Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Kylian Mbappe and Deniz Undav – showing how tightly packed the chasing pack becomes once Adams is removed from the picture.
Further down, five players share 19 offsides: Gift Orban, Raul Jimenez, Cody Gakpo, Haris Tabakovic and Harry Kane. While their totals are lower than the leaders, they still underline the same attacking instinct – constant attempts to break beyond the last defender and attack space before the pass is played.
The minutes-per-offside figures add another layer to the ranking. Adams is by far the most frequent offender on 43 minutes per offside, which puts him in a category of his own. Behind him, Moise Kean averages one every 69 minutes, while Ransford Konigsdorffer and Deniz Undav are both caught at a similarly high rate, every 73 and 74 minutes respectively. At the lower end of this group, players such as Harry Kane (102 minutes) and Cody Gakpo (104 minutes) reach similar totals through heavier workloads and more playing time, rather than by being flagged as often within shorter spells.