The Premier League sack race is a competition that frankly no one wants to win. With less than half of the season to go and the early January transfer window settling in, we’re getting into the stage of the season where clubs might start feeling that only a change of manager can improve their fortunes.
For some clubs that is a matter of some urgency, with the bottom end of the table increasingly congested while the top five are starting to pull away and close off opportunities to sneak a coveted European place.
Here’s who the bookies think might be most at risk, with odds correct per SkyBet's odds at 4:30pm on Monday 22nd January.
Premier League sack race odds: 1. Roy Hodgson (2/7)
Crystal Palace fans made no secret of their feelings during their 5-0 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday afternoon, staging an organised protest that criticised…well, basically everything about the running of the club and calling for the club’s owners to leave the club.
A run of just one win in their past ten Premier League games, plus an FA Cup exit to fellow top-flight strugglers Everton, has seen Palace slide towards the drop zone and led to Hodgson being installed as the odds-on favourite for the chop just ten months after he replaced Patrick Vieira in the job.
2. Erik ten Hag (9/2)
Between Manchester United’s Champions League, their poor Premier League form, and incoming new investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe ordering his most trusted general, Sir Dave Brailsford, to carry out a full audit of the club…you’d understand if ten Hag were resting a little uneasily.
United have won just one of their past six Premier League games, suffering defeats to struggling Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest in the process. In terms of points, they’re as close to Crystal Palace in 15th as they are to Aston Villa in 4th. Several of the Dutchman’s predecessors have been axed for less.
3. Eddie Howe (13/2)
A victim of his own success, perhaps, but it’s fair to say the Newcastle manager has struggled to get his side in anything like the form of last season that saw them claim a Champions League place and announce themselves as one of the Premier League’s most upwardly-mobile sides.
The Magpies have not fared well in balancing domestic and European commitments this season, though, and a run of six defeats and one win in their past seven games has the bookies wondering if Newcastle’s ambitious owners might look to a manager with more proven credentials towards the top of the league.
4. Vincent Kompany (10/1)
The former Manchester City captain had a brilliant managerial debut season in English football, with his Burnley side demolishing the rest of the Championship as they eased to promotion with over 100 points last season. They played some lovely stuff, too.
That step up to the top flight is arguably bigger than it’s ever been, though, and Kompany’s sumptuous stylings have not translated well to the bigger stage: Burnley sit second from bottom, five points from safety, with their only victories this season coming against Fulham and fellow relegation fodder Luton and Sheffield United. Do the Clarets keep the faith or push the panic button? That might depend what happens to Nottingham Forest and Everton.
5. Nuno Espirito Santo (20/1)
This is…not a name we expected to see on this list, quite frankly.
The former Wolves and Tottenham boss only took charge of his first match as Nottingham Forest boss on 23rd December, and while both that and their most recent outing – away to Brentford – finished in 3-2 defeats, his side pulled off very notable victories over Newcastle and Manchester United in the interim.
We suspect Nuno’s inclusion is more reflective of the Forest board’s perceived trigger-happiness than anything to do with the Portuguese himself.
=6. Thomas Frank (25/1)
We expect the Brentford boss might have featured somewhere closer to the top of the list just a few days ago after a run of just one win in ten games in all competitions, but an Ivan Toney-inspired (if controversial) 3-2 win over Forest has eased the pressure considerably.
Brentford will now be looking to make the most of the game in hand they hold over most of the teams below them in the table and start moving in the right direction again. We will say, though, their upcoming run of league fixtures looks horrible: Tottenham (a), Manchester City (h), in-form Wolves (a), Liverpool (h), Manchester City (a), West Ham (a), Chelsea (h) and Arsenal (a). Nasty.
=6. Mauricio Pochettino (25/1)
Another manager who has gone some way to easing the pressure on himself over the past few weeks.
That said, though, you’d have expected Chelsea to beat Sheffield United, Palace, Luton, Preston and Fulham, and they certainly wouldn’t have been expecting to lose to Wolves or Middlesbrough.
The next ten days or so are a real chance for Pochettino and his side to show they are on the right track: they need to overturn a one-goal deficit in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final before facing Aston Villa in the FA Cup and visiting leaders Liverpool in the Premier League.
Fail those tests, though, and Chelsea will be left looking at another trophyless season sitting in mid-table. Would Pochettino get the time to turn things around if that were the case?
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