Match Of The Day punditry line-up to make history as slot altered for Eurovision
The football highlights programme will feature its first ever father-and-son line-up as it shifts to BBC Two to make way for Eurovision on BBC One.
Match Of The Day will make history this weekend as it features a father-and-son punditry team for the first time as the show switches its timeslot due to Eurovision.
The BBC football highlights programme will see former England footballer-turned presenter Ian Wright joined by his son Shaun Wright-Phillips in the studio to review standout moments from Saturday’s Premier League fixtures.
They will present the show alongside host Gary Lineker during the amended slot of 10pm on BBC Two, due to its usual time on BBC One clashing with the grand final of the song contest which will air live on the channel from 8pm.
Saturday is set to be a big day in the race for both European football and the Premier League championship with notable games lined-up including Leeds v Newcastle, Aston Villa v Tottenham, Southampton v Fulham, Manchester United v Wolves and Chelsea v Nottingham Forest.
Wright and his son, the former Manchester City and Chelsea winger, will provide analysis of the matches.
Former Crystal Palace and Arsenal striker Wright was among the fellow pundits – including Alan Shearer and Alex Scott – who walked out in solidarity with Lineker during the BBC impartiality row earlier this year.
Over on BBC One on Saturday evening, representatives from 26 countries will battle it out to be crowned the winner of Eurovision 2023.
The countries who were voted through to the final after competing in Thursday’s semi-final are Poland, Australia, Cyprus, Albania, Estonia, Belgium, Austria, Lithuania, Armenia and Slovenia.
The 10 countries that qualified from Tuesday’s semi-final were Croatia, Moldova, Switzerland, Finland, Czechia, Israel, Portugal, Sweden, Serbia and Norway.
They will join the so-called “big five” nations – the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain – who each get a free pass because of their financial contributions to the event, along with last year’s winners Ukraine.
Match Of The Day will air on BBC Two or BBC iPlayer from 10pm while the Eurovision grand final on Saturday will air live on BBC One.
