Average Offsides per Match by League (2025/26): Full Table, Home vs Away and Halves (9,545 Matches Analysed)

Quick answer: a league match averages 3.38 offsides. Across 9,545 matches in 29 leagues, the home side was caught offside 1.75 times and the away side 1.63 times. The median match had 3. Over 2.5 offsides (three or more) landed in 62.2% of matches. Over 3.5 landed in 42.6%. Over 4.5 landed in 26.6%.

The league range is a bit more than one offside, from 3.95 in the Saudi Pro League to 2.72 in the Eredivisie. Unlike goals and corners, the second half is not busier: 1.68 offsides before the break and 1.70 after, on every one of the 9,545 matches. The teams that shoot most are not the teams caught offside most. Across teams, shots per game and offsides per game correlated at 0.06.

Data: StatPair team statistics · 29 domestic leagues with at least 150 matches · 2025/26 season, or 2025 for calendar-year leagues · 9,545 league matches, the same set as the shots and fouls tables · big five: 3.35 offsides per match over 1,715 games · Updated: 31 October 2026

TL;DR

• 3.38 offsides per match (9,545). Median 3. Home 1.75, away 1.63. The home side was caught more often in 42.0% of matches, the away side in 37.1%, and the counts were level in 20.9%.
• The total is usually 2, 3 or 4. Those three totals cover 55.1% of matches. A match with no offsides at all was 5.0% (477 games). Twelve or more happened 13 times. The high in this sample was 14, Damac 8 and Al Nassr 6 on 21 January 2026.
• Lines: over 1.5 (two or more) 81.7%, over 2.5 62.2%, over 3.5 42.6%, over 4.5 26.6%, over 5.5 14.9%. A no-margin price of over 3.5 is about 2.35.
• By league: Saudi Pro League 3.95 (268), Segunda División 3.94 (460), Belgian Pro League and La Liga 3.79. Lowest: Eredivisie 2.72 (301), Ekstraklasa and Liga MX 2.94.
• Halves split 1.68 / 1.70. The half totals add up to the match total in all 9,545 games. There is no second-half offside angle of the kind that exists for goals and corners.
• Shots do not predict offsides at team level (correlation 0.06). Across leagues the link even runs the other way (correlation -0.39): the Eredivisie is a high-shot, low-offside league. Team offside rates correlate at 0.36 year to year, and the highest fifth fell from 2.29 per game to 1.87.

How we measured it

What counts. Offsides awarded against each team, over 90 minutes plus added time, summed to a match total. A team "caught" three times and an opponent caught once is a match total of four. First-half and second-half figures come from the half statistics. In this sample they add up to the full-time total in every match, so there is no missing-goal style gap to adjust for.

Which matches. Domestic leagues with at least 150 matches in the season: 2025/26, or calendar 2025 for MLS, Argentina, Japan and both Brazilian divisions. Cups and European ties are out. This is the same 9,545-match frame as the shots-by-league article, which is why the shot average here (25.3 per match) matches that study's 25.3.

Big five. Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 averaged 3.35 offsides across all 1,715 of their 2025/26 matches in this database. Our offsides tactics guide quoted 3.1 for the big five. That was a rounder, earlier cut. The full-season figure on every match we hold is 3.35, and the league table below is the one to use.

Average offsides per match by league

Home and away, and the two halves, are rounded to two decimals and can miss the match total by 0.01.

The Saudi Pro League averages 3.95, and over 3.5 landed in 53.0% of 268 matches. The Segunda División is next at 3.94, with the highest over 3.5 rate, 55.0% of 460, and the highest home figure, 2.13. The Premier League is below the global average at 3.11, and over 3.5 there landed 40.9% of the time.

The Eredivisie is lowest at 2.72, with over 3.5 at 31.9% and over 4.5 at 14.6%, against 37.7% over 4.5 in Saudi Arabia. It is also the league that leads the shots table. The A-League is the clearest case of the away side being caught more often (1.84 against 1.66). Primeira Liga is the other (1.52 away, 1.47 home). Overall the home share of offsides is 51.8%.

How many offsides are there in a match?

Three is the most common total. From 2 to 4 is 55.1% of matches (5,255). Over 2.5 is 62.2%. Over 3.5 is 42.6%. The average of 3.38 sits between those two lines.

Per team the average is 1.69. On 19,090 team-matches, over 0.5 hit 77.4%, over 1.5 hit 47.7%, and over 2.5 hit 24.7%. The tactics guide blends a team's own rate with the opponent's line. These frequencies are what that blend has to land on. The halves are flat: 1.68 then 1.70, reconciling in all 9,545 matches. A first-half offside line sits near half the match total.

Offsides are not a shot chart

A league's shots per match and its offsides per match correlated at -0.39. The Eredivisie shoots the most and is caught offside the least. For teams with at least 30 matches, shots per game and own offsides per game correlated at 0.06. The shot table is a poor stand-in for the offside count.

Team rates carry a little, then shrink. For 304 teams with 30 or more matches in both seasons, offsides per game correlated at 0.36. The top fifth (60 teams) fell from 2.29 to 1.87. The bottom fifth rose from 1.17 to 1.45. League averages correlated at 0.44 across 28 leagues.

Clubs at the extremes in the latest season, minimum 30 matches:

"Caught" is the team's own offsides. "Opponents caught" is the count against the other side. Al Nassr were caught 2.78 times and caught opponents 3.81 times, the highest forced rate in the group. Sevilla were caught 2.70 times, and opponents were caught only 0.78. Cluj at 0.67 over 39 matches is a season-long fact that the regression row pulls toward about 1.2 next year. The record in the sample is 14: Damac 8, Al Nassr 6, on 21 January 2026. Thirteen matches reached 12 or more.

What this means for betting

Over 2.5 is a 62.2% event, a no-margin price near 1.61. Over 3.5 is 42.6%, near 2.35. Over 4.5 is 26.6%, near 3.76. Saudi Arabia clears over 3.5 in 53% of matches. The Eredivisie clears it in 32%.

Shots do not stand in for that number (team correlation 0.06, league correlation -0.39). Use each club's own offside rate and the rate at which opponents are caught, then shrink a hot season: the top fifth fell from 2.29 to 1.87. Price each half near half the match total (1.68 then 1.70). A personal offside is a smaller slice again: in the hit-rate by position study, 31.9% of forward appearances of 60 minutes or more included at least one offside, against 10.7% of midfielders and 5.3% of defenders.

Method notes

• Counts are offsides against each side, summed. Zero is a real zero in this feed: 477 matches, and both teams have a recorded offside value in all 9,545.
• Halves come from match-level half statistics and add up to the team-sum total in every match of this sample. Team-level half rows also add up.
• Shots are the same team shot totals as the shots-by-league article. The league correlation uses the 29 league averages. The team correlation uses clubs with at least 30 matches.
• Persistence compares the previous season with this one, 304 clubs, 30 or more matches each season. Each fifth is 60 clubs. League correlation is 28 leagues present twice.
• No offside timestamps. We cannot say whether a flag arrived in the first minute of a half. StatPair does not store odds or xG.

How to check this with StatPair

1. Take the league average and the over 3.5 rate from the table.
2. Open both clubs and read offsides with the home/away filter on, so a home trap-line is not mixed with away games. Home sides were caught 1.75 times, away sides 1.63.
3. Read the opponent's "offsides won" the same way. Sevilla's opponents were caught 0.78 times a game. Al Nassr's were caught 3.81. Those are different defences.
4. Use Trends Finder for clubs far above the league row, then shrink the number toward the league. The top fifth of teams last season were at 2.29 and came back at 1.87.

Try StatPair free for 7 days → · How team tactics drive offside counts → · Average fouls per match by league →

FAQ

Q: What is the average number of offsides in a football match?
A: 3.38, across 9,545 league matches in 29 leagues. The median was 3. Home teams were caught 1.75 times and away teams 1.63 times. The big five averaged 3.35 over 1,715 matches in 2025/26.

Q: Which league has the most offsides per game?
A: The Saudi Pro League, at 3.95 per match (268 games), with over 3.5 landing 53.0% of the time. Spain's Segunda División was at 3.94 (460 games). The Eredivisie was lowest at 2.72 (301 games). The Premier League averaged 3.11 (374 games).

Q: How often do matches go over 3.5 offsides?
A: In 42.6% of these 9,545 matches. Over 2.5 landed 62.2% of the time and over 4.5 landed 26.6% of the time. A match with no offsides at all was 5.0% (477 matches). Per team, over 1.5 offsides landed in 47.7% of 19,090 team-matches.

Q: Are there more offsides in the second half?
A: No. The first half averaged 1.68 offsides and the second half 1.70, and the two halves added up to the match total in all 9,545 games. That is a different pattern from goals and corners, which both lean toward the second half.

Q: Do teams that shoot more get caught offside more?
A: Not in this sample. Across teams with 30 or more matches, shots per game and offsides per game correlated at 0.06. Across the 29 leagues the correlation was -0.39. Team offside rates correlated at 0.36 from one season to the next, and the highest fifth fell from 2.29 per game to 1.87.

Bottom line

A league match has about 3.4 offsides, almost evenly split by half and slightly tilted toward the home side. Saudi Arabia and Spain's second division live near 4. The Eredivisie lives at 2.7, even though it is the highest-shot league we track. Over 3.5 is a 43% event overall and a 53% event in Saudi Arabia. Team offside rates repeat modestly and then shrink, and they do not come along for free with the shot count. Price the match from the league row and from the two clubs' own flags, not from how much they attack.