Gary Lineker has hit back at claims that BBC Match of the Day is biased against Nottingham Forest following their upset win over Liverpool.
Chatting on The Rest is Football podcast with football legends Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, the presenter tackled the backlash from Forest supporters. They saw Nuno Espirito Santo’s men pull off a historic 1-0 triumph at Anfield, marking their first victory there since 1969, which continued their unbeaten season start.
Despite the significance of the win, Match of the Day didn’t feature the game as its opener on Saturday night, instead opting for Aston Villa‘s dramatic win over Everton, pushing Forest’s Premier League feat down to second place.
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This prompted Lineker to address the bias accusations from the Forest faithful on the show. “It’s interesting with Forest, a lot of their fans think that us on Match of the Day, we really don’t like them and [that] we don’t give them their flowers Micah, or their petals,” he quipped.
“So they complained a lot and they were on again ‘they’re gonna have to say something nice about us, they’ll hate that’ which is quite fun because one of our producers as you know, Finchy, is a big Forest fan and our floor manager Marco is another Forest fan,” he added, reports the Mirror.
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(Image: Getty Images)
He wrapped up by poking fun at the idea of bias in the show. The former Leicester, Everton, Barcelona and Tottenham striker said: “I always find it quite amusing that fans think that we could probably be against their particular side and be biased against them.”
Lineker also spilled the beans about who calls the shots on Match of the Day’s running order, revealing Forest were initially set to top the bill on Saturday’s (September 14) episode. He shared insights from his chat with editor Richard Hughes.
The ex-England forward said: “Rich and myself talk through it but I think it generally picks itself, it looked almost certain that Forest would lead the show yesterday and then obviously another incredible comeback by Villa against Everton with that incredible goal from Duran. If you’re picking the game of the day, that probably just edged Forest, which we thought would definitely lead, but that went second.”
Despite being bumped down, Forest are holding their own in the Premier League, sitting pretty at seventh and remaining unbeaten this season.