Gary Lineker made 'awful' joke which backfired on live TV during Arsenal vs Liverpool

Gary Lineker made an "awful" joke that had the pundits in the studio cringing during coverage of Liverpool's FA Cup third round win over Arsenal.

Liverpool beat the Gunners 2-0 at the Emirates, with Jakub Kiwior scoring an own goal and Luis Diaz sealing the victory with an emphatic finish late on.

The clash, which saw neither side wear red due to an anti-knife campaign, was shown live on BBC.

But in pre-match coverage, Lineker came up with a serious dad joke that wont' down like a lead balloon.

The Match of the Day host was joined by Martin Keown and Danny Murphy but neither seemed to enjoy his attempt at comedy.

Prior to the game, the camera panned to singer and songwriter Gary Barlow, who was in attendance for the big game.

Image: Getty

Lineker asked Murphy whether Barlow is a supporter of Liverpool, with the ex Reds midfielder replying, "I think he is, yeah".

That was the set-up for the 63-year-old's next quip as he added, "But don’t take that as a given, how about that one?"

The former England striker was referring to Barlow being in boyband 'Take That' but there was an immediate awkward silence.

Lineker did not get a response from Keown, while Murphy scratched his head.

Acknowledging his joke had fallen on deaf ears, Lineker said: "Yeah it was a pretty awful one wasn’t it".

Image: Getty

In last year's FA Cup third round coverage of a Liverpool game, there was the infamous pornographic noise prank which interrupted the ex Leicester City man.

A red-faced Lineker tried to carry on as normal but had to address the sabotage, commenting: “I don’t know who’s making that noise, Alan [Shearer], it’s toasty in the studio and it’s a bit noisy as well.

“I don’t know if someone’s sending something on someone’s phone, I think. I think it’s a joke. I don’t know if you heard it at home.”

Shearer delivered a superb joke on commentary when he said that "Danny Murphy's phone" had been "going off".