Gary Lineker responds to Match of the Day bias accusations after Liverpool decision

Gary Lineker has addressed the murmurs of Match of the Day bias against Nottingham Forest following their shock win over Liverpool . Speaking alongside Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, he tackled the discontent from Forest supporters head-on.

Despite a historic 1-0 triumph at Anfield their first since 1969 Forest's feat was not the lead story on Match of the Day, instead playing second fiddle to Aston Villa's dramatic victory over Everton . Lineker took the opportunity to respond to the bias claims from the Forest faithful.

"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 shared on The Rest Is Football podcast.

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He found humor in the situation, especially given that some of the show's own crew are Forest supporters. "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."

Lineker concluded by expressing amusement over the notion that the Match of the Day team could harbor any bias towards specific clubs, reports the Daily Mirror . Lineker revealed on a chat with Richards that it's less his call and more a mutual decision-making process while planning 'Match of the Day' running order.

Explaining his dialogue with editor Richard Hughes, he 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 Jhon Duran."

Elaborating further, Lineker added: "If you're picking the game of the day, that probably just edged Forest which we thought would definitely lead but that went second." He underlined Nottingham Forest's robust start to the season, noting they are seated at seventh in the Premier League standings and remain one of the only five undefeated teams thus far.

Liverpool.com says: Bias, corruption and conspiracy are the three buzzwords of the Premier League at the moment. Every fan thinks their team is hard done by, when the reality is completely different.