The 2023-24 season of the Premier League is past its halfway mark and the points table has started to take shape Liverpool sitting at the top and Manchester City at #2 with one game advantage in hand. Everton, Burnley and Sheffield United are at the bottom of the points table having played 23 matches each at #18, #19 and #20 respectively.
This season 2 managers have already been sacked as Paul Heckingbottom from Sheffield United, who was the first manager in the Premier League this season to be sacked, Steve Cooper soon followed the same fate not long afterwards from Nottingham Forest.
With all this, we have curated a list of managers in the Premier League who are most likely to be sacked. Factoring their performance as well as performance in the Champions League, the club’s recent form and expectations from the clubs, these 10 managers are most likely on the list.
Premier League Managers Most Likely To Be Sacked
10. Erik ten Hag, Manchester United
It has been a decade since Sir Alex Ferguson left the Red Devils and since then the team has not been able to reach the height they once had. Currently ranking 6th on the Premier League points table and having finished 3rd last season in PL. Hag also ended Man Utd’s 6-year-long trophy draught with Carabao Cup success.
Having said this, Manchester United has lost 9 matches this season so far and are 13 points behind the table leader. After Hag’s public fallout with Jadon Sancho and reports claiming he lost 50% of the dressing room, it looked like Hag would have to bid adieu to the Red Devils.
However, the former Ajax man has steadied the club and has not been defeated yet in 2024. If this run continues and Man Utd at least makes the top 4, Hag’s job security could strengthen.
9. Sean Dyche, Everton
The Toffees seem to be in a permanent crisis. Everton currently sits 18th on the Premier League points table with 19 points as they were hit with a 10-point deduction for breaching the Financial Fair Play which has sent them into the relegation mix yet again. They marginally managed to escape relegation last season.
Dyche, however, has managed to keep the team’s spirit high. If they can regain their form to the level at the beginning of this season, Dyche is likely to survive as Everton’s manager.
8. Marco Silva, Fulham
Silva’s 2022-23 campaign went well as the team finished 10th but everyone knew this year would not be as easy as the manager lost his star striker Aleksandar Mitrović who scored 14 goals for Fulham last season (a total of 55 goals scored by Fulham).
Silva’s start to this campaign was not what he would have hoped for losing 2 and ending 1 match in a draw out of the first five matches at the start of the campaign. However, he failed to win against Arsenal and Manchester City, both teams running for the PL title this season.
His poor form, however, has taken a turn for the worse as out of the last 5 matches Fulham has managed to win just 1 and draw 2 resulting in Fulham taking the 13th spot on the PL points table this season.
7. Thomas Frank, Brentford
Frank is the guy who led Brentford into the Premier League for the first time in the club’s 134-year history and finished a reputable 13th in the 2021-22 season. In the 2022-23 season, the club finished even better at 9th.
However, Frank’s team is struggling this season as their star striker Ivan Toney who has been banned from football for breaching FA betting rules for the first half of the season.
Though the striker has returned and managed to stop Brentford’s 5-game losing streak, the team is not doing so well as they sit at the 15th position with a game advantage over Crystal Palace who sits at 14th as of today.
6. Eddie Howe, Newcastle United
Eddie Howe surpassed all expectations last season by finishing 4th on the PL points table and bringing the UEFA Champions League back to St James’ Park, however, it has made his job a little more difficult as the Saudi-owned club wants to further their push.
Despite having a good run in the PL with wins against Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs, they were kicked out of the Champions League after facing a defeat at the hands of AC Milan, failing to make it to the Round of 16.
Given the club has almost unlimited resources, it would not take long before the Magpies’ top management loses patience with Eddie. Currently sitting at #9 on the PL table, things could take a turn for the worse if fails to replicate last year’s feat.
5. Nuno Espirito Santo, Nottingham Forest
Before Santo, Cooper led Nottingham and was able to achieve some remarkable feat as he helped the club with promotion and also kept them club up in their maiden season in the top flight. He was also able to bring in considerable talent to the club.
However, after the club lost 5 out of their 6 games, owner Evangelos Marinakis sacked Cooper, and Santo took over the club. The former Wolves manager has been given the task of keeping them in the top flight, however, the club is just 2 points away from drooping to the relegation spot.
4. Chris Wilder, Sheffield United
Wilder is back at Bramall Lane and not many people are happy about it. However, nobody can deny the astonishing feat he was able to achieve with United. A points-per-game of 1.42 in the 2019-20 campaign is a record. United managed to finish the season at #9 which is a huge deal for a newly promoted club.
The Premier League, however, is not the same anymore. Wilder has taken over a dressing room whose morale is very low, to say the least having secured just 10 points from the 23-game campaign in the PL so far, leaving them at the bottom of the table.
Wilder has an uphill battle in front of him and the club could end their partnership with Wilder anytime.
3. Vincent Kompany, Burnley
Burnley did a fantastic in the Championship last season, however, the former captain of Manchester City is under tremendous pressure given the club has managed to win just 3 out of their 23 games so far and are on the brink of relegation.
If the team is relegated back, Kompany might now be at Burnley for long. As of now, the club sits at #19 just 3 points above Sheffield United whom they defeated 5-0 in early December last year.
2. Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea
Chelsea is notorious for its hiring and firing of club managers especially under Roman Abramovich and many believed that this would change under the leadership of Todd Boehly, but it has been more or less the same if not a notch higher.
Even after billions of pounds spent on bringing new talent to the club, Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, and Frank Lampard came and went in quick succession and now it’s Pochettino’s to bring glory back at Stamford Bridge.
However, the former Spurs boss has not been able to bring consistency to the club, after winning three successive games for the first time this season, the club has lost its last 2 games and conceded 8 goals leaving the club at 11th position on the table.
Though the club has made it to the Carabao Cup final which they will play against Liverpool later this month, if the club does not make it to the higher position and win the EFL Cup, Pochettino could see the same fate as the last managers.
1. Roy Hodgson, Crystal Palace
Patrick Vieira was sacked last season at Crystal Palace when the club almost headed towards relegation and brought in the one man they thought would be able to bring stability to the club. However, Roy only shook the club. Though the club managed to finish the season at a comfortable #11 last season, this has not been the case this season.
With the club under-performing and currently sitting at #14 after losing 4-1 to Brighton and winning just 6 games this season things are not looking good for the former England manager.
With this, we conclude our list of the Premier League managers most likely to be sacked. Which of these managers do you think is most likely to be sacked at the end or during this season, do tell us down in the comments.