Erik ten Hag is the heavy favourite with betting sites to be the first Premier League manager to lose his job this season with online bookmakers pricing him at 1/2 to get the chop.
Manchester United have endured their worst start to a season in 35 years, taking just eight points from their first seven matches to leave them 14th in the Premier League table.
They won their opening match against Fulham back in August when new signing Joshua Zirkzee came off the bench to score the only goal of the game, but their only other league success since then has come against struggling Southampton.
Premier League betting sites have pushed the Red Devils out to 150/1 to win the title but even that might be too short for a team that’s also struggled in cup competitions.
They beat League One side Barnsley 7-0 in the League Cup, but they are without a win in the Europa League following draws against FC Twente and Porto despite leading in both games.
It’s not just about the poor start to this season though. Many questioned the Dutchman’s future last season as United recorded their lowest finish in Premier League history, coming home in eighth place, 31 points behind the champions Manchester City.
Victory in the FA Cup final over City seemingly saved the Dutchman and United gave Ten Hag a new contract in July, extending his deal until 2026..
The club also gave him more than £200m to spend on five players in the summer, taking his total spending to £616m since arriving at the club in May 2022.
The only thing in the manager’s favour is the large number of injuries he has endured already this season, which has prevented him from playing what he believes is his strongest XI.
United have a big few weeks that could ultimately decide Ten Hag’s future, starting with Saturday’s home clash against Brentford. They then tangle with former boss Jose Mourinho, now in charge of Fenerbahce, in the Europa League before a trip to West Ham in the league and an EFL Cup tie against Leicester to round out October.
Manager |
Best odds |
Bookmaker |
Erik ten Hag (Man Utd) |
1/2 |
|
Gary O’Neil (Wolves) |
4/1 |
|
Russell Martin (Southampton) |
9/2 |
|
Oliver Glasner (Crystal Palace) |
20/1 |
|
Julen Lopetegui (West Ham) |
20/1 |
|
Sean Dyche (Everton) |
20/1 |
|
Ange Postecoglou (Tottenham) |
25/1 |
|
Steve Cooper (Leicester) |
25/1 |
Ten Hag is way out in front of his peers in the sack race odds with Wolves boss Gary O’Neil next in the market at a best price of 4/1.
O’Neil’s side sit bottom of the league table with just one point from their opening seven games and their odds for the drop have been shortened to 6/4 on football betting sites.
That solitary point came courtesy of a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest back in August. Since then, Wolves have lost five games in a row, four in the league and a Carabao Cup defeat to Brighton.
Wolves have been stuck in a rut for a while, winning just one of their final 10 league matches last season, but what’s been alarming this term is the nature of the defeats, conceding 24 goals already, including six at home to Chelsea and five in a 5-3 defeat at Brentford last time out.
Things don’t get any easier for the former Bournemouth boss, who took over at Molineux in August last year, as they face Manchester City at home on Sunday.
Southampton boss Russell Martin started the season at double figure prices on betting apps to be the first manager to go but those odds have steadily tumbled after watching his newly-promoted side take one point from a possible 21 so far.
The Saints beat Leeds in the Championship play-off final in May to return to the top-flight at the first attempt, and Martin has won 31 of his 63 games in charge since taking over at St Mary’s in the summer of 2023.
Southampton’s only point came from a 1-1 draw with fellow new boys Ipswich Town and like Wolves, the number of goals they have conceded will be a concern, shipping 15 so far while scoring just four.
There’s a big jump in the sack race odds to the next managers under the spotlight, with Oliver Glasner, Sean Dyche and Julen Lopetegui all a best-price of 20/1 to go.
Old and new betting sites are split on Dyche, with some pricing him at 14/1 after Everton narrowly avoided relegation last season and have had a difficult start to the new campaign.
There’s more of a consensus on Glasner and Lopetegui’s prices with the duo having failed to match lofty pre-season expectations at Crystal Palace and West Ham respectively.
Palace’s winless start to the campaign under Glasner has come as a real surprise given the Austrian had them in fine form at the end of last season. However, the departures of Michael Olise and Joachim Andersen in the summer have seemingly taken a toll.
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has been pushed out to 25/1 in the sack race market having been as short as 4/1 to go in September. Spurs made a poor start to the campaign, but results did improve for a time, the north London outfit winning six in a row in all competitions.
However, a 3-2 defeat at Brighton in a game where they had led 2-0 at half-time before the international break was a bitter pill to swallow and leaves Postecoglou at the same price as Leicester head coach Steve Cooper to go first.
Perhaps the biggest surprise in the sack race odds is BetVictor’s decision to price up Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola at 25/1 to leave next. Most Gambling sites have him at odds of 66/1 and above, but BetVictor views his situation differently, with his contract at City set to expire at the end of the season.
Guardiola was mentioned as a candidate to be the next England manager, although that role has now gone to ex-Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel.
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