The Premier League sack race odds make for intriguing reading. Even at this early stage of the campaign.
It's the dawn of a new Premier League season and that means hope springs eternal for the competition's 20 teams. Some will be targeting the title, others the European places, while some will be desperate to avoid relegation and keep their heads out of trouble. But it's a fact of football that everyone won't get what they want, which will see the pressure crank up on the divison's under-performers. When that happens, the manager is usually the one to take the fall.
But who will be the first Premier League boss to leave their post in the 2024/25 and win that unwanted sack race crown? Here's a rundown of who the bookies believe will be the next Premier League manager to leave their post, with odds courtesy of Sky Bet.
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Premier League sack race odds: 1. Eddie Howe (6/1)
We start with the favourite - and it's worth remembering that the official betting market for 'the sack race' is 'the next Premier League manager to leave' which partly helps explain Eddie Howe's place at the top of the list. That's because the Newcastle United boss is also one of the favourites for the vacant England job, meaning he could win the sack race without being sacked.
That said, the former Bournemouth chief has lost two boardroom allies in Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi this summer and a poor start to the season would inevitably see the pressure crank up as the Magpies hierarchy will not want to miss out on European football and the exposure that brings them again.
2. Enzo Maresca (7/1)
He's barely got his feet under the desk at Stamford Bridge, but a testing pre-season, a bloated squad and a board that seems to view stability as a dirty word means that Enzo Maresca is second in the betting before he has even managed a Premier League game.
Can you honestly say you'd be surprised if it panned out that way?
3. Erik ten Hag (8/1)
On one hand, you can point to Manchester United's disastrous eighth-placed finish last season and the subsequent drawn-out decision to keep Erik ten Hag despite other managers being sounded as a reason to put the Dutchman high in the betting.
But with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos pals having just delivered the signing of two former Ten Hag charges in Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, they appear to be backing the former Ajax boss, who has every right to argue that his lack of success so far is due to the club's recent incompetence in the transfer market.
The first month or so of the season could end up being vital to where this narrative goes next.
4. Nuno Espirito Santo (10/1)
Another scenario where you'd imagine not a lot has to go wrong for Nuno to be under the cosh. Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is not shy in swinging the axe and if the former Wolves boss doesn't see his side click early doors after another busy summer in the transfer market, then 10/1 will be a very attractive price.
5. Marco Silva, Russell Martin, Steve Cooper (12/1)
Finally, three managers are currently tied for fifth place.
Marco Silva is an interesting case. The Portuguese did an admirable job last year, steering Fulham to a steady, mid-table finish after losing Aleksandar Mitrovic, so what constitutes a success this season?
Russell Martin has a different brief as he prepares for his first taste of Premier League management with a Southampton team that will struggle to boss possession like they did last year in the Premier League. A total of 12 new signings point to a new-look side this year and Martin will need to start quicker than Saints did last season when they endured a run of four defeats in September.
Steve Cooper also faces a tough task with a Leicester City side that have seen their best player in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall sacrificed for the PSR gods.
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