Who’s Next for the Chop? Premier League Sack Race Power Rankings (19–10)

The Premier League is tipping into its second act, which means the sack race siren is warming up again. The margins are brutal, the spotlight relentless, and patience at board level often thinner than a linesman’s flag. Ruben Amorim is already getting the side‑eye at Manchester United after a scattergun first year, while Arne Slot’s title-winning debut at Liverpool has the Kop crooning and the owners backing him to go again. For those who fancy a flutter on where the axe might fall, the odds chat never sleeps on the best betting sites.

How we’re calling it

Chelsea are between bosses after parting ways with Enzo Maresca on New Year’s Day, so this list covers the 19 active managers only. We’ve weighed results, performance trends, the temperament upstairs, and the media temperature. Here’s the bottom half of the sack race — from safe as houses to starting to sweat.

19. Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)

Runners-up again last term, Arsenal couldn’t quite land the big one. Injuries to Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz didn’t help, but Declan Rice was immense and the Gunners went deep in Europe, making the Champions League semi-finals before bowing to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain. Watching Liverpool and fierce rivals Spurs collect silver while they collected plaudits will sting, but Arteta’s side hit 2026 on top of the pile and look organised, aggressive, and purposeful. Verdict: he’s not getting binned — not this season.

18. Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)

City’s dip to third came off the back of Rodri’s ACL nightmare and the end of that four-year title stranglehold. If City were going to pull the trigger on Pep, they’d have done it then. Instead, he signed on to 2027, Kevin De Bruyne waved his goodbyes, and new sporting director Hugo Viana reshaped the squad with Tijani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Rayan Aït-Nouri among the arrivals. Erling Haaland’s goals have put the noise back into the Etihad and, frankly, Guardiola will depart on his terms.

17. Unai Emery (Aston Villa)

From doubters at Arsenal to darlings in the Midlands, Emery has Villa humming. He’s made them a proper European outfit, with Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Evan Guessand giving defences a headache. Champions League midweeks stretched them, and missing the top five on the final day hurt, but Emery called the shots behind the scenes — Monchi moved on in September — and Villa have kicked back into form. A 2–1 statement win over Manchester United teased title outsider status, even if Arsenal’s 4–1 thumping showed the ceiling. Safe as you like.

16. Régis Le Bris (Sunderland)

High risk, high reward — Sunderland rolled the dice on a coach new to England and got their pay-off at Wembley with promotion. Le Bris blends pragmatism with bravery, trusts youth in Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham, and handed the armband to Granite-by-name, granite-by-nature Granit Xhaka. Among the promoted trio, the Black Cats look the best equipped to stay up, and a gritty 1–0 derby win over Newcastle has cemented goodwill. No danger here.

15. Keith Andrews (Brentford)

Following Thomas Frank was always a poisoned chalice, and Andrews didn’t so much climb the ladder as get catapulted up it from set-piece coach to top job. He’s had to manage a talent drain — Bryan Mbeumo off to Manchester United, Christian Nørgaard to Arsenal — yet Brentford still bloodied big noses with wins over Liverpool (3–2), United (3–1) and Newcastle (3–1). It’s early days and the jury’s still deliberating, but he’s earned the room to grow.

14. David Moyes (Everton)

Back at Goodison and back to basics, Moyes steadied a listing ship rapped with a 10-point deduction. With The Friedkin Group now steering the boardroom, Everton’s 13th-place platform felt like a turning point. James Tarkowski has talked up a tilt at Europe, and you wouldn’t bet against Moyes making Everton gnarly again, especially with Jack Grealish adding stardust on loan. The mood music is positive; the job is secure.

13. Oliver Glasner (Crystal Palace)

FA Cup in the cabinet, and Palace’s first major trophy to boot — Glasner has rewritten the script at Selhurst. He’s got a clear idea, a fearless streak (it takes a brass neck to warn Pep his system would get found out), and the receipts to back it up. Doing it without Eberechi Eze for key stretches only burnishes the job. A 19-match unbeaten sprint that included a 2–1 win over Liverpool eventually ended at Everton, but let’s be serious: sacking him before his deal’s up at season’s end would be bonkers.

12. Andoni Iraola (Bournemouth)

The calls that mocked Bournemouth for binning Gary O’Neil look daft now. Iraola has the Cherries organised and fearless — remember the 3–0 masterclass at Old Trafford and the double over Arsenal? He’s losing players to sharks — Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid, Milos Kerkez to Liverpool, Ilya Zabarnyi to PSG — yet keeps them competitive with Antoine Semenyo leading the line with menace. A recent wobble is a reminder of their limits, but the bigger threat is a bigger club ringing his agent.

11. Fabian Hürzeler (Brighton & Hove Albion)

Replacing Roberto De Zerbi could have turned sour, but Tony Bloom backed his eye again and landed a gem. Hürzeler, the youngest permanent boss in Premier League history at 31 years and 173 days, steered Brighton to eighth in year one. A 7–0 horror show at Nottingham Forest in Feb 2025 might’ve spooked lesser sides; Brighton dusted themselves off and cracked on. Cup progress is the next rite of passage — a little naivety shows at times, but the trajectory’s sharp.

10. Marco Silva (Fulham)

Silva keeps Fulham in the slipstream of the top half despite an annual talent auction. Eleventh and an FA Cup semi last season was tidy work, and they held on to key men in Rodrigo Muniz — now tied down — and Antonee Robinson. The current run isn’t pretty and his contract is winding down, which puts a bit of squeeze on Shahid Khan to show his hand. Not under the cosh, but you can feel the temperature rising a notch.

That’s the safe end of the spectrum. Next stop: the hot seats — where one bad week can turn the volume up from grumble to full-throated “sacked in the morning.”