Offside rule unclear as Trent Alexander-Arnold is flagged offside for no reason

After a controversial Manchester derby which saw a Bruno Fernandes goal stand despite teammate Marcus Rashford being offside in the build up, Trent Alexander-Arnold has been called offside leaving many fans clueless.

The Premier League, pundits and even former referees stand by the Manchester United goal which despite Rashford's position which is why many are confused as to why the Liverpool right back is deemed offside in a shocking decision.

Trent is clearly leaving the ball after the deflection off the Brighton defender led to a Liverpool throw-in, there was no way a Brighton player could get to it so the young defender leaves it to go out.

However, the referee and linesman believe he has interacted with the ball enough to be offside which leads many to believe that there aren't just inconsistencies in decision making but that the officials do not know the offside rule after Rashford's goal was ruled onside just hours before the game.

As you can see from the video below the 24-year-old does not interact with the ball enough to be offside:

Trent just been flagged offside for this. Doesn’t touch it. Just letting it go for our throw-in. What’s the difference? pic.twitter.com/31RrC1d2RF

— Ben Kelly (@bkelly776) January 14, 2023

Liverpool went on to lose the game 3-0 thanks to two wonderful strikes from Solly March then later on a Danny Welbeck finish which saw him dink it over the head of substitute Joe Gomez before firing it past a helpless Alisson Becker.

Obviously there is no way of knowing whether or not this offside which was early on in the first half would have helped the Reds out but it does show that despite the mass of technology there can still be human error in the game from officials who are not consistent.

With their 3-0 Liverpool drop behind both Fulham and Brighton into eighth in the Premier League and with Jurgen Klopp's side facing Chelsea next week he will have to get his plans together soon.