The new English Premier League begins in less than a fortnight. Football isn’t just about success, who do the bookies fancy to be the first manager to leave their club in the new season?
It’s called the sack race but you can also win your bet if your chosen manager resigns their job. The market isn’t so easy this season as there’s no Watford in the Premier League. They were always good bets to panic and get rid of their manager and often more than once a season.
Frank Lampard kept Everton up last season but he’s the current favourite to be the first manager to leave their club. The former Derby and Chelsea boss has already been warning Everton that they need to prepare for a relegation battle. That’s hardly going to delight the owner is it?
Lampard is 4/1 at Paddy Power and he faces an uphill task at Goodison Park. Richarlison has gone to Tottenham and only one player has been signed so far. Losing 4-0 to Minnesota wasn’t a great result. Perhaps they should have popped over to DC United and bought Wayne Rooney back with them.
Everton begin with a home game against Chelsea and only two of their first five fixtures are at home. Opponents include Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Leeds United and points need to be earned against those sides.
September sees home games against Liverpool and West Ham United and a trip to Arsenal. A slow start might just see Lampard heading out the door.
Southampton had a terrible end to last season with just 12 points from their last 15 games with the last four all being lost.Pre-season isn’t going well for the Saints and manager Ralph Hasenhuttl is 5/1 at Betfair to be the first to leave their club.
They have a difficult start to the new Premier League season with away games at Tottenham and Leicester and visits from Leeds United, Manchester United and Chelsea. The bad news is the club has a new owner and if the results don’t start coming, the Austrian may well be replaced.
Leeds United only just survived last season. Jesse Marsch is 6/1 at BetVictor but United will only face two of the teams that finished in the top four last season by the end of October. Marsch might be able to get enough wins to keep him at Elland Road. Losing Raphinha and Phillips isn’t going to help though.
Fulham are bidding to avoid a third straight relegation from the Premier League. Marco Silva is no stranger to losing his job and will need to see his team get off to a decent start. However, their first seven games include matches against Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea. Odds of 8/1 at William Hill look attractive.
