Fulham's last-gasp leveller underlines Slot's weak spot

It was a game of fine margins... and rather wide margins.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

Not least the space allowed to Harrison Reed to score one of the goals of the season. That 97th-minute strike denied Liverpool what would have been a rare come-from-behind win. Fulham could reasonably claim this 2-2 draw was the least they deserved, though, as the margin between the actual teams wasn’t that wide.

This is where there are greater questions for Arne Slot.

Marco Silva’s team were often superior, and Liverpool only got back into the game through the tightest offside call possible. Literal millimetres, given the definition.

Florian Wirtz had looked a toe offside as he clipped in a smart finish to make it 1-1, which was exactly the decision given by the assistant referee.

On review, however, he very much benefited from a 2021 law change that was intended to give the attacker the benefit of the doubt. The Premier League at that point expanded the offside line to a wider 5cm to prevent situations where “toenails” get goals ruled out. The consequence was witnessed here. There is an argument that such provisions just move the position for offside but keep the same problem, in that it still comes down to millimetres, except the fair defence from the Premier League would be that it means more of a player's body is actually offside.

“We have to believe in it,” Silva said.