Clinton Morrison on Manchester City, Leeds title chances and Luke Williams' Swansea exit

February 20, 2025 at 3:59 pm GMT+0

Popular pundit Clinton Morrison has joined up with the Freebets.com team this season to discuss the biggest games and talking points each week in the EFL.

The former Crystal Palace, Birmingham and Republic of Ireland striker will be giving his views and predictions on the pick of the matches each week, as well going over some of the hot topics in the football world.

This week Clinton discusses what could be the end of an era for Manchester City after their Champions League exit to Real Madrid, Leeds' title chances in the Championship ahead of a trip to Sheffield United and Luke Williams' departure from Swansea.

Here's a full transcript of everything discussed this week.

We have also got some of the best and latest football betting offers on the market ahead of every game, so keep an eye out for enhanced odds and boosted prices ahead of big matches.

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End of an era for Man City?

Q: We'll kick off this week with the Champions League stuff from the last couple of nights. City, Real Madrid last night. It was a pretty meek exit for City in the end, wasn’t it?

Yeah, men against boys. It’s coming to an end of a golden era that City have had and Pep alluded to it, but all good things must come to an end.

I think they'll kick on again next season and go again, bringing some more players in the summer.

They're going to lose some top, experienced and world-class players that have been there for years but Real Madrid were good. They've got younger players who are outstanding in the front four.

They can do that to anyone. City had Haaland and De Bruyne on the bench, so it was always going to be difficult. 

It was always going to be difficult, which i think Pep probably accepted before the game even kicked off by the starting team. But I know Haaland came off with a knee injury the other day, so maybe they were protecting him because they've got a massive game against Liverpool an the weekend and they want to finish in the top four for Champions League.

Q: There was something quite sad about it, wasn't there? In the second half particularly, especially when you look at someone as hyped as Phil Foden, struggling to make an impact

You know what? He was their best player in the second half, Phil Foden.

Can you imagine putting Phil Foden in that Real Madrid team? He’d be cooking, to be fair.

Sometimes I feel like It can't be just one person that we're looking at. I think the whole team was nowhere near good enough and Phil is an exciting young player.

His season has been up and down, but I still think he's a top player and when he has good players around him, he does showcase his ability. So I think as a whole, the whole team wasn't good enough.

They look slow at the back - I know Mbappe is rapid so I shouldn't really call them slow because he can beat any defender in world football when he's on his game - but it just looked flat from Man City, didn't it?

It looked like a team that was beaten before they even got onto the pitch.

Q: Does it show that it's quite a bigger rebuild needed than people thought?

Yeah, I do think that.

They're going to lose some experienced senior players that are good players.

So I think it is a big rebuild. They brought players in in January, and some of them I think will be a success, some I'm not quite sure about. So only time will tell, but they're still young so you've got to give them time but I think in the summer, that's when they're probably going to get experienced Premier League players that know the division.

You also have a player like Rodri coming back, which instantly gives everyone a big lift. You just hope he comes back the same player because let's be honest they have missed him massively. I know they're not a one-man team but he makes a big difference.

Q: Who are those players you think might move on?

KDB for me has been the best midfielder there is in world football. I love watching him. I think he's a fantastic player but he's had a lot of injuries, so I can see him not beeing there and Bernardo Silva - there have been a lot of rumours about him - and Ilkay Gundogan as well.

These sort of players, I just can't see them being there. Someone like Jack Grealish, too. 

You just think maybe he wants to go and play regular football elsewhere. So there could be four or five that move on and then, you know, other players that they bring in. They're the four I think would move on, which would be disappointing because I like them.

I think a lot of the players have had a bad season. A lot of things have caught up with them but those three or four players, I think, their time could be coming to an end at Man City.

Q: De Bruyne is an interesting case. He’s only 33 which isn’t really that old. If you look at players like Scholes, Modric, even Ryan Giggs, they’re all players who have been able to adapt their games and drop deeper as they’ve got older. How come he hasn’t been able to do that and looks so burnt out at 33?

You know what is, injuries have killed Kevin De Bruyne. That's what it looks like, because Kevin De Bruyne is more of a runner with the ball whereas the others maybe aren’t quite as dynamic - I know you said Giggs, but he’s just different - and playing at City that’s his role, to drive forward and then pick out those passes and it doesn’t look like he can do that quite as much as you need to anymore when playing for someone like City.

He's got to do what's right for him and his family, but I must say he's been a joy. He will go down as one of the best Premier League players I've ever seen. Some of the things he could do with the football and games he's won for Man City.

Man City v Liverpool

Q: It doesn't get much easier for City because they've got Liverpool on Sunday. Do you think Pep had half an eye on that with the team he put out?

Yeah, maybe,, because Haaland   was on the bench. I think he might have come off the bench if the game had been a bit closer, but there must have been a reason for Haaland and De Bruyne to be on the bench. Yeah they were both probably not 100% fit but if they’re on the bench they could have been thrown on, so maybe Pep did have one eye on Liverpool

And you know what? It's a big game. As I said, Man City need to qualify for Champions League football because if they're going to attract players, players want to play Champions League football and it’s quite congested in the league table.

Q: With Liverpool only getting one point last night it has actually turned into quite a big game for both sides. Obviously City are trying to finish in the top four, but if Liverpool drop more points, then they could start getting reeled in by Arsenal...

I still think Liverpool is strong enough. They will probably win the Premier League but it's opened it up now for Arsenal, and you're right the game against Man City on the weekend is a big game and City are not going to roll over. So it's going to be a fascinating game on Sunday.

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Champions League Favourites

Q: Back to the Champions League, it would take a brave person to bet against Real Madrid to go all the way again, wouldn’t it?

Yeah, they're my favorites now. I did have Man City at the start of the season, but as we got into it I started to fancy Real Madrid and Liverpool.

I think after seeing Real Madrid last night, they look the real deal. They keep everyone fit and healthy and you know Alaba is coming back, so he'll be partnering Rudiger. They just look a good outfit. You look at their bench and they can bring on experienced players like Modric that can come on and make a difference.

For me, I think Real Madrid are favorites, but I think Liverpool are second favourites. I do think Liverpool have a good chance of going all the way.

Celtic in the Champions League

And finally, Celtic were unlucky on Tuesday. I think they got closer than anybody thought they would, didn't they?

Yeah, Celtic should have won, they created some brilliant chances. They pushed Bayern right to the wire until that last-minute winner from Alphonso Davis. It's disappointing but I think he can take great credit from that, Brendan Rodgers.

The way his team played and went to Bayern Munich, went toe-to-toe, created chances and caused loads of problems to come away disappointed that they've not gone through, they deserve huge credit.

On their day Bayern can give any team a good game with all the players they have. It was so unlucky.

Q: I think I saw a quote from your mate, Kris Boyd saying it was the most he's ever celebrated a goal against Celtic…

Yeah, he would do that! But I'll be celebrating when they get the treble this season and the Rangers don't win anything! I knew he was going to say that. 

Q: It's quite a big step forward for Celtic in terms of Champions League because they've never really cut it in recent years, have they?

And I think that format suits them, and I heard yesterday that they get £38 million from getting through to this stage

I was buzzing, buzzing, buzzing that they got this far. I was disappointed that they lost to Bayern because I thought they could have won.

Championship Title Race

Q: And then on to EFL. Did you watch Leeds v Sunderland game on Monday?

At times I was worried that Leeds weren't going to do it, to be fair. It was a good game of football. I thought Sunderland's game plan was outstanding and Isidor’s goal was very well taken.

Pascal Struijk coming on was a masterstroke. It probably raised a few eyebrows bringing him and Rothwell on rather than the likes of Gnonto but he clearly saw something different and obviously he's a threat from set pieces. 

I think it's a big three points. I still think Leeds are in a comfortable position to go on and win the title, I think they’ll do it.

Q: There's seven points now between Leeds and Burnley, so it kind of feels like promotion is there for Leeds to take now, especially with Sheffield United on Monday

The Sheffield United game is a big game. But that was the game because now it is those two and Burnley are fighting it out, it has probably taken Sunderland out of the equation. You've got to beat the teams that are still in contention and that's what they've done, beat the teams that are in contention.

Obviously Burnley are not scoring a lot of goals at the moment so that's a bit of a difficult one and it feels like Leeds and Sheffield United are kind of pulling away, but I wouldn't rule out Burnley.

Defensively they are brilliant, but they need to start finding the back of the net. But Leeds are my favourites. You can't have players like Gnonto who's not even getting on the pitch and you’re still winning, and not go up.

Q: If Leeds win that, do you think that’s a top two finish sorted?

Oh, yeah, if Leeds win that, then basically Leeds will be in the top two regardless. I think they'll win it. I think they'll go up as winners anyway.

Q: It feels like one of those games where both teams would be pretty happy with a point.

Yeah, yeah. No one don't want to lose it and get someone gained the free points but then a point i think will be good for everybody. So yeah, I think a point.

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Touchline Bans - What's the point?

Q: Daniel Farke won't be on the touchline because he got booked for celebrating, didn't he?

I don't get that. I don't get that. He’s run on the pitch for about five or six second. It's emotions, come on. It's not like he's running to the pitch to go and confront the referee or anyone else or stuff like that.

He's just gone onto the pitch to basically celebrate his emotions.

It's a big Championship game, you're playing against one of the good teams in there, you're at home and you thought you were going to lose the game and now you end up winning the game. What are you meant to do? Stand on the side like a mute? Come on. Don't take the fun out of the game. I don't like that.

Q: We don't want to stop that from happening, do we? You don't want to stop people properly celebrating.

In the end people won’t celebrate, and then you’ll have fans saying you don’t have any passion or desire to win. You can't win, can you?

Like you literally can't win. Oh, you're showing no heart. You've got no fight and stuff like that. So you can't win.

Q: And then ultimately he's not on the touchline for the biggest game of the season. It's bad for Sky, it’s bad for the team, it’s just bad for everyone.

Exactly. We don't get to see like the two of them going at it. Sometimes referees have to be a bit smart and the fourth official doesn't need to go on there and say to him, he's entered the pitch. I know it's the rules, but come on. 

Q: How different is it to the Jude Bellingham red card at the weekend, for swearing at the referee?

You're not allowed to swear now. I think in our day and age when we're playing, if we're walking away and say something comes under our breath, the referees would let you get away with it.

But the referees have been told to clamp down on anything like dissent. Players know nowadays you can't get away with that.

So Jude Bellingham would know he shouldn't have   done that. I think he's got an extra two game ban on top of the ban that he's had.

You can't do that as a player, but the Daniel Farke situation is very different because he just ran on the pitch to celebrate.

There is a clear line. I think players know you can't talk back or back-chat to managers. You're not allowed to do that. Even when we were playing, we couldn't swear at a referee. 

Swansea sack Luke Williams

Q: Finally, the Swansea manager was sacked this week. I think we've spoken about him a little bit before. You have said that you rate Luke Williams quite highly.

Yeah, I do, it's disappointing. The style of football they want to play, they always want to bring that kind of manager but when you go on a run like he's been on and you start climbing down the table and getting sucked into that relegation battle, it’s always going to be difficult

Listen, Luke Williams will come again. He'll get another manager's job somewhere because I think he's a good manager and he's still learning

It's hard because you never like to see a manager, someone that you know, lose his job but I think when you're on a run of defeats like he was on, evidently, you are going to lose your job and Swansea have decided to make that decision. You wish Luke the best and hope Swansea don't get into that relegation scrap because they're a footballing team and you enjoy watching them kinds of teams playing football

Q: If you sell your captain and best player though and then sack your manager without putting anybody in. It's a little bit harsh, isn’t it?

Of course it is. Basically, both hands are tied behind your back. I know you're not getting results, but you sold your captain and best player. And then you're basically saying: Well, we're not going to bring anyone in to replace them. 

So it's a difficult one. And then you've got to build it again and go and start again. But I think the run he'd been on before, even when the captain was there was the one that kind of killed it for him and that was the biggest disappointment.

And I think as a chairman if you can see your team sliding down the table, the thing you do is you make a change and that's what Swansea have decided to do. So I do think it's harsh because I do think he could have changed it around and it was ups and downs in a short manageable career at Swansea. But as I said, he will come again.

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Will Jackson

Will Jackson

Former sports journalist, formerly of PA Media, who spent years on the road specialising in football and cricket before moving behind a desk. More recently a PR manager before moving into the world of content and marketing with the Gambling.com group.

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