Gary Lineker responds to bias accusations after Match of the Day decision hated by fans of Premier League club
GARY LINEKER has rubbished suggestions that Match of the Day is biased.
The England legend and his colleagues received criticism from Nottingham Forest supporters on Saturday after the club’s 1-0 win over Liverpool was bumped down to second in the running order.
Aston Villa’s dramatic 3-2 comeback against Everton topped the bill instead, with Lineker claiming it was simply due to the nature of the match and Jhon Duran‘s incredible winning goal.
The broadcaster hit back at complaints on Monday during an episode of The Rest is Football podcast and revealed he was “almost certain” Forest would lead the show before Villa’s win.
He said: “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 we don’t give them their flowers or their petals.
“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.
“I always find it quite amusing that fans think that we could probably be against their particular side and be biased against them.”
He continued: “Rich [Richard Hughes, the editor] 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.”
Nottingham Forest are among five clubs that have not lost a Premier League match this season.
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They currently sit seventh in the table with eight points from four games.
Manchester City are top, with Arsenal just behind in second.