Match of the Day set to make history with first father-son punditry duo

Match of the Day will make history this weekend, providing the programme's first father-son punditry team with long-serving Ian Wright joined by his son Shaun Wright-Phillips.

As always, the long-serving BBC football highlights show will be hosted by Gary Lineker with Wright-Phillips's inclusion expected to offer extra entertainment value having played at Manchester City in two separate spells and his father's association with Arsenal.

The two clubs have gone head-to-head in the Premier League title race this season with it looking likely that City will edge the Gunners to win their third consecutive league title.

An excerpt of a BBC statement read: "Ian Wright and Shaun Wright-Phillips will become the first father and son punditry team to appear on Match of the Day on Saturday.

"Arsenal legend Wright, a regular pundit on the show, will be joined by son Wright-Phillips, who had two spells with Manchester City.

"The pair will join Gary Lineker in the studio to review highlights from Saturday's Premier League fixtures."

Former City player Wright-Phillips took to social media last month after City's 4-1 victory over Arsenal to hand them a major boost in the title race to troll Wright, who made 288 appearances for the Gunners.

The former winger tweeted: "Hi @IanWright how's things? Just checking… Hope you're okay, dad."

Lineker made sure to share the tweet on that evening's programme with Wright in the studio as a pundit and could well bring up the altercation again on this Saturday's programme.

This weekend's episode of Match of the Day is expected to cover plenty of drama as the Premier League enters matchweek 36 with the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester United and Newcastle United all in action on Saturday afternoon.

Both Manchester United and Newcastle will be looking to further boost their Champions League hopes with a home match against Wolves and a trip to Leeds United respectively.

Tottenham's trip to Aston Villa could also prove significant in the race for Europe with the duo separated by just three points in sixth and eighth respectively.

However, there will be no comments on Arsenal's home match against Brighton and Manchester City's trip to Everton from the father-son duo with both matches set to be played on Sunday.

Featured Image Credit: Gary Lineker & BBC

Topics: Match Of The Day, Ian Wright, Gary Lineker, Arsenal, Manchester City

Dan Hargraves

Dan is a freelance sports journalist currently in his final year studying Football Journalism at the University of Derby. Currently working for SPORTBible and Reach PLC, he has also worked for Snack Media amongst others. His proudest work thus far came at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games where he was a live blogger for the Commonwealth Games Federation, providing sports coverage on the tournament's official website to over a billion people.

@danjhargraves