Clinton Morrison on Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland's chances of survival
Will Jackson 
The EFL play-off finals signalled the end to the season, with Sunderland, Charlton and AFC Wimbledon promoted at Wembley over the weekend.
We caught up with Clinton to cast an eye over the promoted clubs and how the three Championship sides will fare in the Premier League next season, and he gives some predictions which you can use alongside our football betting offers.
So, looking ahead to the weekend, here's what Clinton had to say when speaking exclusively to Free Bets.
Wembley Experience
Q: So you were there at Wembley on Saturday as Sunderland dramatically won promotion, how was it?
Sheffield United must be gutted because they should have blown them away in the first half, but Sunderland made some changes and were outstanding and clinical.
Sunderland is a big club. Their fans will add a lot to the Premier League, you want to see them there.
It’s the same with Leeds. I know Leeds are a bigger club - there might be some debate about that - but Sunderland are huge and the fans were fantastic. They packed out Wembley and after sitting amongst them, you grow to like them because the fans were that good.
They were all jumping on me when they scored, I felt like a fan! It was brilliant. I was sit in with them so at the end we were jumping around, cheering them on and you just can’t help but get involved even if you don’t support them.
The fans around us were kicking every ball and living every moment, so you can’t help but get caught up in it all. The place erupted when they scored the winner, they pretty much took over London at the weekend.
Q: With Palace winning last week and then Sheffield United losing this week, it’s not been a bad couple of weeks at Wembley for you!
It’s been a crazy week, hasn’t it!
Chris Wilder will be disappointed, because going into the game they were favourites and they looked like the better team. But as soon as Harmer went off, the game changed and from then on, Sunderland were the better side.
Q: And there were wins for Charlton and AFC Wimbledon over the weekend…
The Charlton game could have gone either way. I think Leyton Orient were probably the better team in the second half and could have dealt with the goal a bit better, but Charlton defended manfully and did ever so well.
Credit to them, it’s good to have them back in the Championship. I remember going there when I was at Palace, we had some great battles against Charlton and Nathan Jones has done a brilliant job getting them back there.
They will have to invest to compete in the Championship, but from where they’ve come from, it is a fantastic achievement and full credit to Nathan Jones.
As for the League Two Final, it will be a hard one for Walsall to take because of how far clear they were.
But under Johnnie Jackson, Wimbledon have been consistently brilliant all season. It is a hard league to get out of with some really big clubs so it’s not an easy thing to do.
Credit to them, and they don’t have to play MK Dons now for a bit!
Q: That’s a good story, isn’t it? That they’ve overtaken MK Dons…
It is a good story. I remember when I was younger I used to go to Plough Lane to watch the old Crazy Gang, so to see where they’ve got to now with the new ground and how it is, fair play to them.
As I say, credit to Johnnie Jackson. He's done a brilliant job there and you wish them well. Walsall just have to pick up the pieces and hopefully go again next season.
Leeds, Burnley, Sunderland
Q: So that brings an end to the season and we’ve already got some odds out for next year. Predictably, Leeds, Burnley and now Sunderland are favourites with online betting sites to get relegated immediately. Is that how you would see it going into the summer?
They will be favourites because the gap is just getting bigger and bigger, and we can’t ignore that.
They’re going to have to spend a lot of money. Teams have tried in the past to spend a lot of money and they still find the gap too big. Burnley and Sunderland in particular really will need to strengthen because the Premier League is a whole different ball game.
They’ll all be relegation candidates, but in Le Bris and Scott Parker they have two good managers.
The pressure will be on Daniel Farke. He probably has six or seven games to start the season well and if he doesn’t, the hierarchy are ambitious and they will act, especially if they spend a lot of money this summer. They’ll want to stay in the Premier League and will be ready to sack.
All the teams have to start well, but they will be favourites to go down.
If I was to give one team a fighting chance, it would be Leeds. With the players they have there already, the size of the club and potential to add a few more, they have a chance.
Elland Road is a tough place to go, but that’s the case for the Stadium of Light and Turf Moor too.
I really hope one of the clubs - or more than one - can stay up so we don’t keep talking about how big the gap is to the Championship from the Premier League.
Q: What’s the secret to staying up? Ipswich spent over £100 million in the summer but went down, so what else can you do?
You’ve got to invest in a mix of youth and experience. Look at Sunderland being linked with someone like Jordan Hernderson. He’s come through the club and gone on to win titles and play internationally - that’s exactly the kind of signing you need.
Players that are the right age and experienced players that have been i nthe Premier League before, that can help the younger players in the squad.
If I was a manager, that’s what I’d be looking for. You don’t want to go and get someone who has no experience in the Premier League because they might have talent, but just don’t hit the ground running. Then as a manager you’re signing players for the future but in the here and now, you need to stay in the Premier League.
So there has to be a blend, and probably five or six players to compete.
I’m not being disrespectful to the squad because they are clearly good, but five or six experienced Premier League players can help you survive.
Q: And for someone like Sunderland, you’ve got players like Bellingham who look like they’re about to be snapped up already…
Yeah he was really good for them this season, so that will be another player they will need to add but I don’t think Sunderland will go mad.
They probably didn’t expect to have the season they’ve had, they have overachieved. There won’t be much pressure on them in the Premier League. They will want to survive and yes they will spend money, but I can see them continuing down the young player route, but i do think they will find it difficult
I think out of all the teams, Sunderland will find it the most difficult but they're going to go and enjoy themselves and so are their fans as well.
Q: As for Burnley, they’ve got that solid defence as you’ve mentioned but do they really need to invest in attacking options this summer?
They’ve already signed Humphreys from Chelsea, Anthony as well and Edwards. Edwards is a good signing and I think he is a Premier League player from Sporting Lisbon, but they do need more goals and more attacking players.
They definitely need a couple of centre-forwards. Fleming did well and Lyle Foster has been in the Premier League before but they need someone who will get them 10-15 goals to stay in the Premier League.
If you have a good backline and a striker who will score goals, you have a chance. We’ve seen with Ipswich that Delap was scoring but they were conceding far too many and that was the difference.
But they’ve all got to start the season well. If you’re adrift after six or seven games, it’s difficult to lay catch-up so go and get a few wins at home and set yourself up for the season. Don’t do a Leeds and try to go toe-to-toe with Liverpool at Anfield on the opening day!
Q: In the football betting markets, Leeds are favourites to finish top out of the three promoted clubs. Is that because of the size of the club or the strength of the squad?
I would agree with them finishing top of the three, for sure.
I think the fans will play a big part, and the history of the club too. I think when you look at the owners and how ambitious they are, that plays a big part.
It will be interest to see in the summer and they will need to get their business done early. You want to get the players embedded into the club early on so they’re not playing catch-up through the season.
Their home form at Elland Road will be crucial. It is a difficult place to go and will need to be if they are to have a fighting chance of staying up.
I’d just love to a couple of teams stay up in the Premier League because it would be great for the EFL. But say if Wolves lose Cunha or something like that, you can see other teams getting dragged into it but there are no weak teams in the Premier League at the moment.
If Brentford lose Mbuemo, Wissa and maybe the manager, could they get drawn in? Palace maybe? Although I hope not, but if these teams lose two or three players, it could be a different story.
The two weakest teams this year were Manchester United and Tottenham, and you can’t see that happening again!
Champions League Final
Q: And finally to the Champions League this weekend, how much are you looking forward to that one?
Yeah, I can't wait to watch what should be a very good final between two really good teams.
I would have loved it to be Barcelona v PSG but at the same time, Inter Milan have been outstanding and full credit to them. A lot of people who I work with said ‘watch Inter Milan, they've got a good chance of winning it’.
PSG under Enrique have been brilliant. Like they're not a PSG that had the Mbappes, the Messis and the Neymars because they were basically playing with eight men because those three would stay high up the pitch.
But now this is a team that are together, they're defending in numbers and they're attacking in numbers.
They've got players at the top end of the field that can cause anyone problems. It’s such a 50-50 call, it’s a really hard one to predict.
Q: It should be a really good game for the neutral too, shouldn’t it? PSG are a great watch
Yeah, it should be a watchable game. You saw Inter Milan v Barca at the San Siro, the second leg that was just open and the way both teams play and stuff like that, it's just attack.
Usually you probably think with Inter Milan they would be defensively more solid, but as I say, PSG have the firepower.
PSG can be caught at the back as well but they have two of the best fullbacks around in Hakimi and Mendes at the moment. Tactically it should be a very good game.
If I was to pick a winner I’d stay with PSG because I’ve backed them since they beat Liverpool and then Arsenal. I think they will edge it 2-1 after extra-time.
