Just one game after the start of the Premier League football season and the odds of Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, being the first to quit his post have already been slashed down to 2/1 from 12/1 after the opening day’s heartbreaking loss to Brentford.
Before the Premier League’s second round of fixtures, top bookmakers have already tweaked the odds of which of the teams’ managers will quit first.
Currently, Arsenal’s boss, Mikel Arteta, is the hot favourite with odds of 2/1 – a major cut from his pre-season odds of 12/1.
The odds of Arteta leaving first tumbled immediately after Arsenal’s defeat on the season’s opening day to Brentford, newly promoted to the Premier League. Some sportsbooks even cut the odds on Arteta’s leaving down to 1/1.
Although Arteta is the most likely to go, there are a few other potential candidates for an early exit. Patrick Viera, for example, may have just been appointed as the new manager of Crystal Palace, but the opening defeat of 3-0 now puts him in second place, with the bookies’ odds standing at 9/1.
Next up is Steve Bruce, Newcastle’s manager, with the bookies’ best price odds of 12/1 and Xisco Munoz of Watford and Ralph Hassenhuttl of Southampton, also at odds of 12/1.
Further down the list, the bookies have given Sean Dyche, manager of Burnley, odds of 16/1, Bruno Lage, manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers, odds of 18/1, and Aston Villa’s manager Dean Smith odds of 20/1.
The gaffers who look to be the safest in their Premier League positions are Brendan Rodgers for Leicester City and West Ham’s manager David Moyes with odds of 66/1, and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp longest odds of all at 80/1.
Overall, when examining all of the bets made during the past week on the next manager to get the sack, an impressive 61% have put their money on Mikel Arteta’s early exit. It’s no surprise, then, that bookies have had little option but to slash their odds on Arteta after Arsenal’s defeat in their first match of the season against Brentford, ensuring that he’s the market’s clear favourite.
Meanwhile, those considering placing a wager on Xisco Munoz, the previous favourite, may think again as Watford’s 3-2 win against Aston Villa lengthened the manager’s odds to 12/1 from 6/1.
