Every Saturday night, Gary Lineker tweets the Match of the Day running order.

It’s this tweet that indicates to fans up and down the country whether they’ll be having an early night, or whether they’re in for the long haul.

Fans of most Premier League clubs know that appearing first, more often that not, means you’ve pulled off a shock result, or you’ve been thumped away at a top four club.

Unfortunately, for fans of bottom half clubs, it’s normally the latter. Although there are exceptions, Crystal Palace’s win at Manchester City quite rightly got top billing, as did West Ham’s victory against Manchester United earlier in the season.

That said, Watford or Wolves wouldn’t know, both sides are yet to feature first on MOTD all season.

(Image: BBC/Pete Dadds)

At the other end of the scale, Liverpool have been the first game on most often, being the first game on, on twelve occasions, one better than Premier League title rivals City, who have been the first game on nine times.

It’s not surprising to see Liverpool and City at the top of the list, they’re clear at the top of the league, they both lead the way in the goalscoring charts and have the best defensive records across the division. That often leads to big goals, and big wins. A recipe for success.

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But how often does your team appear first on MOTD?

(Image: REUTERS)

Match of the Day 2018/19 - Times teams have appeared first

19) Wolves - 0 times - Despite an impressive opening season in the Premier League, Wolves are yet to be the first game on Match-Of-The-Day.

19) Watford - 0 times - Like Wolves, Watford have had an impressive season but are yet to be the first game on come 10:20 pm on Saturday.

18) Brighton - 1 time - Brighton too lost on their only first appearance of the season, losing 1-0 at home to Liverpool in January.

11) Huddersfield - 2 times - Huddersfield fans might be forgiven for missing the episodes where they appeared first... they lost 5-0 at Chelsea and 4-0 to Tottenham .

11) Fulham - 2 times Fulham’s stay in the Premier League has been a short one, but they’ve appeared first on Match-of-The-Day twice.

11) Cardiff - 2 times - The newly promoted side are having a good go in the Premier League, but like many teams, their heavy defeat at Anfield warranted a prime time slot.

11) Southampton - 2 times - The Saints have also appeared twice, with the recent defeat at Manchester United appearing first in February.

11) Burnley - 2 times - It’s been another solid season for Sean Dyche’s men, although they’ve only appeared twice all year.

11) West Ham - 2 times - West Ham’s impressive win over Manchester united in September secured their slot at the top of the show.

11) Everton - 2 times - Everton’s defeat at Newcastle in March took their tally of ‘first game on match-of-the-day’ appearances to two.

8) Bournemouth - 2 times - Eddie Howe’s side have been on first three times this season, including a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle.

8) Crystal Palace - 3 times - Roy Hodgson’s men have appeared first on three times, including their memorable 3-2 win at Manchester City

8) Leicester - 3 times - Lineker’s beloved Leicester have appeared three times, and similarly to Palace, their win against current champions City appeared first back in December.

5) Tottenham - 4 times - Surprisingly, Tottenham have only been on first four times, despite sitting in title contention for a large chunk of the season.

5) Newcastle - 4 times - Regular pundit Alan Shearer has only been able to analyse a Newcastle game first on four occasions.

5) Arsenal - 4 times - Ian Wright’s team have been the main event on four occasions this season, including their defeat at Liverpool in December.

4) Chelsea - 5 times - Maurizio Sarri’s first season has England has seen his side appear first on match-of-the-day on five occasions.

3) Manchester United - 6 times - United either appear first when they’ve won comfortably, or lost to a mid table side. A 1-0 home win to a relegation-threatened side just doesn’t cut it.

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2) Manchester City - 9 times - The reigning Champions have been on nine times, and with another title charge on, expect that to only increase.

1) Liverpool - 12 times - Liverpool are a good watch, they’ve put a fair few teams to the sword, and when that happens, it often means appearing first.