Should Premier League strugglers stick or twist as pressure on managers mounts? Beasley
No Premier League manager has yet lost his job this season. In only three of the past 10 campaigns was November reached without a club making a managerial change.
The 2026-27 season commencing with 11 managers who were appointed at some point in 2026 has probably contributed to the early season stability. They have to be given a chance to fashion their side as they see fit.
But with roughly a quarter of the season played and only one more round of fixtures before an international break, the first sacking may not be far away. Michael Carrick remains the favourite to be the next manager to leave his post.
He is unsurprisingly followed by the managers of the clubs who occupy the relegation zone: Pierre Sage of Crystal Palace, Sunderland's Régis Le Bris and Oliver Glasner at Nottingham Forest. It seems almost inevitable that Carrick will leave soon so the more interesting analysis lies among the bottom three.
Sunderland sit 20th and are predicted by Opta to finish there. However, they have had a testing start to the season.
Le Bris's side have faced five of the current top seven clubs, the joint-most along with Liverpool. The manager also has enormous reserves of goodwill after taking the club back to the Premier League and then into Europe.
Chart showing the standard of opposition faced by teams in the bottom half of the Premier League Despite their tough schedule, Sunderland came into the weekend within one expected point of Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham before losing 3-1 at Coventry with the xG count 1.8 to 0.7 in their favour. It was a familiar outcome for a side that has scored 6.2 goals fewer than expected this season.
With Sunderland's next five league opponents being Chelsea, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Liverpool and Newcastle, the challenge of staying up will not immediately get easier. At least their chance‑converting woes are not as bad as those of Nottingham Forest.
Their shots have been worth 14.7 expected goals, the fourth most in the division after the matches on Saturday. But not once in a game this season have the goals they scored at least equalled their xG, let alone surpassed it.