'Lisandro Martinez's sending off against Leeds was terrible. That's not what VAR is for. Get a former player in the VAR room with the referees. If you know the game, you know it's not deliberate' Clinton Morrison's Top Top Column

I’ll start with the news concerning Hugo Ekitike, with it now confirmed he’ll miss the World Cup with an Achilles injury.

It's a huge blow for Ekitike himself, for France, and also for Liverpool. Alexander Isak has only just returned after a long absence, and now they're going to lose probably their best striker this season for a long time. I wish him well with his recovery, because it's not an injury you can rush.

Clinton was speaking on behalf of FreeBets.com, the home of World Cup Betting Offers.

'I'd take Harry Maguire to the World Cup'

Moving on to the game at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Leeds, specifically the controversial decision which resulted in Lisandro Martínez being sent off for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair. For me, it’s not a sending off.

He's grappling with Calvert-Lewin - it's a little tug, not a deliberate pull. The referee maybe didn't see it clearly, but this is a case of VAR getting involved when the referee's seen it and not acted on it. That's not what VAR is meant for. I think VAR got it horribly wrong and it was a terrible decision.

That’s where I think having a former player in the VAR room would help. They know you get into tangles with centre-forwards. Calvert-Lewin is causing Martínez all kinds of problems, so as a defender, you're thinking you need to get physical with him. It's not a blatant pull. Sometimes it looks like he's watching the ball and his hand is just there. If you know the game, you know it's not deliberate.

Looking ahead to Sunday now, and the big game takes place at the Etihad. Arsenal don’t have to win it — a draw works. So the emphasis is on Man City to come out and be positive. That won’t be a problem, as City are playing brilliant football at the moment. Even against Chelsea — they weren't at their best in the first half, then turned it up a gear in the second and were fantastic.

Arsenal on the other hand, are not in good form and there's a real nervousness to them. They've been in positions before where they couldn’t get over the line and that's the problem — they're playing with the handbrake on. I covered their game against Bournemouth last weekend, and I thought Andoni Iraola's game plan was brilliant. Any team watching that would see it as the blueprint for playing Arsenal.

Some people are saying: "Oh, they're tired" — you're not tired when you're going for big trophies. It comes down to nerves. Mikel Arteta has to take the handbrake off and let them play with freedom, if they are to get the result they want.

Overall, it's going to be a fascinating game and I'm really looking forward to it. I think if City win it, they'll go on and win the league. Even with a draw and I still think this title could go either way — Arsenal could limp over the line or lose one of their remaining five games. But City are a machine at the moment. They've got tough games — Everton away, Villa at home, Bournemouth away — but I just wonder who's going to stop them. They were relentless against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, won 3-0. Once they know there's an opportunity to win the Premier League, they'll be ruthless.

If Arsenal don’t get over the line, a lot of questions will be asked about Arteta. I speak to a lot of people who say he's got the backing of the board and they're building something. But a month ago we were talking about a quadruple for Arsenal, and if they end up without a single trophy, that's a big disappointment and Arsenal fans won't be happy — they're already panicking as it is.

Personally, if it was my money and we didn’t win a single trophy this season, then I'd have serious doubts over the manager.

I’ll finish this week talking about Tottenham. They can only dream about winning trophies at the moment and I’m starting to question whether they’ll be good enough to stay up. Especially with Leeds picking up points, and they're six points clear now. All the other teams have got momentum — Forest are picking up points, and so are West Ham — while Tottenham haven't won a game in 2026!

I can't see where the points are coming from. Their captain — Cristian Romero — is out for the season, Mohammed Kudus might not be back before the end of the season and James Maddison is still out. They need those creative players and they're not available. Tottenham look lacklustre with no ideas. That's not a reflection on Roberto De Zerbi — he's only just come in and he's walking into a group that are low on confidence and suffering.

They've got two massive games coming up - Brighton at home and then Wolves. If they don't get anything out of those two, they're going to get relegated.