Despite recently signing a new contract, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola leads the pack for managers who are likely to be fired first in the Premier League, while Manchester United tops the standings in the billionaires club.
Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United celebrates scoring the second goal during the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Leicester City (Pic – EPA/Peter Powell)
EPL Back For An Extended Run
The final International break of 2024 has come and gone and for those whose main diet is feasting on domestic football, the good news is that there will be no distraction until March.
That will also help punters and form studies, as consistency is important to them.
As we pick up on the English Premier League we do so with an update of trends.
The most common score-line so far has, predictably, been 2-1 (20 times), followed by 1-1 (17 times).
There’s been an average of 2.8 away wins per round (lower than normal), while Liverpool have kept most clean sheets.
Only Man City have found the net in every game while only Brentford have yet to keep a clean sheet. Feed all that into your pot as you pick up the EPL thread!
Three Managers ‘Safer’ Than Pep
While Guardiola has signed an extension to his contract at Man City, bizarrely his odds in “The Sack Race” betting – the next manager to lose his job – there are still three managers whose jobs are said to be safer.
You can actually get odds of 80-1 on Pep being next out the door. The favourite is Wolves’ Julen Lopetegui (18-10). Wolves are away to Fulham on Saturday in an obviously crucial game.
According to the latest odds, the three safest managers in the EPL are Mikel Arteta (Arsenal), Arne Slot (Liverpool) and Unai Emery (Aston Villa).
Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven – clocked quickest (Pic – EPA/Neil Hall)
Speed Merchants Of The EPL
You know there’s been an International break when stats companies start to post their “fastest” tables for the EPL this season. But we’ll go along with it.
Based on GPS tracking, the fastest goalkeeper, yes, is Bournemouth’s Mark Travers (31.14km/h). He doesn’t make the top 10 though.
Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven, has been clocked quickest, followed by Matheus Nunes (Man City, 36.72km/h), Carlos Forbs (Wolves, 36.57km/h), Anthony Elanga (Nottm Forest, 35.9km/h), Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea, 35.79km/h), Erling Haaland (Man City, 35.74km/h), Timo Werner (Tottenham, 35.69km/h), Antonee Robinson (Fulham, 35.63km/h), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal, 35.57km/h) and Amadou Onana (Aston Villa, 35.54km/h)
Viewers Want Shearer, Odds Say Chapman
Even though polls can be wildly inaccurate – Exhibit A, the USA election – there is plenty of interest in the United Kingdom as to who will take over from Gary Lineker as the Match Of The Day presenter.
Football is a religion in England and Lineker was the BBC face for nearly 26 years. A poll by Ipsos, a reputable market research company, says that 22% of viewers would like to see Alan Shearer take over.
Bookies favourite Mark Chapman has 20% support, with Alex Scott 12% and Gabby Logan 10%.
Almost as if contradicting their support for Scott and Logan, a separate poll says 52% of male voters would prefer to see a man as host, while 4% would favour a female, while 44% have “no preference”.
Man United Top Billionaires Club
We have previously reported findings from the Swiss-based CIES Football Observatory, which is a well-respected independent research group. This week they released their report on the clubs that have spent the most on players over the last 10 years.
Topping that log is Man United with an outlay of (£ 1.08 billion).
Chelsea are next with £1.07bn, followed by Paris Saint Germain on £825m. The top 10 is rounded out by Arsenal (£661m), Tottenham (£591m), Man City (£585m), AC Milan (£527m), Newcastle (£521m), Barcelona (£500m) and Al-Hilal (£462m).
No Questions Asked After Soulless Draw
Brian Rimmer can lay claim to facing the shortest media conference in football managerial history.
The Denmark manager faced the press after the 0-0 draw with Serbia in the Nations League this week. The media officer opened the floor to questions and scanned the room.
Seeing no hands raised, he said, “No questions? Alright, thank you for tonight.” Rimmer, smiling, got up and walked out.
The clock was stopped at 16 seconds. Rimmer has previously been part of the coaching staff in the English Premier League with Brentford.
