According to The Guardian's analysis, nearly half of newly appointed managers are sacked before the season ends. Of the last 50 permanent managers to leave their posts in the Premier League, 22 lasted less than a year.

Analytics firms suggest that six of the eight managers most likely to be next to leave the Premier League were appointed in 2026. Football management is inherently a high-risk profession. By the end of the 2026-27 season, several of the 11 managers appointed earlier this year are likely to be sacked, even if they are not first to go.

Vítor Pereira, Graham Potter, and Thomas Frank, who managed Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham United, and Tottenham Hotspur respectively in 2025, were still in post at the start of last season but were replaced by mid-February of this year. Over the last decade, 25 newly appointed managers who started the season as new arrivals failed to complete the full campaign.

With frequent managerial changes, the situation is rife with uncertainty, making predictions nearly impossible. Nottingham Forest will visit Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday; they have enjoyed success in recent visits, winning their last two trips to Anfield. The first of these victories came in September 2024 and was Liverpool's only Premier League defeat in their first 30 games—a season they ultimately won. Arne Slot referenced this defeat in interviews for months afterwards, showing how much it affected him. But circumstances are different now. When Forest last won at Anfield, they were managed by Nuno Espírito Santo, and the second time by Sean Dyche. Since Dyche's departure, Forest have already had a second manager. Even accounting for Evangelos Marinakis's notoriously unstable management style, the Premier League in 2026 remains shrouded in an atmosphere of rapid managerial turnover.

This raises an interesting question. In the past, when analyzing matches between two teams, we could focus more on their historical record; now, should we shift our emphasis to the managers? The tactics they employ and the speed at which they can implement their ideas increasingly influence matches in England's top division.

Nottingham Forest manager Oliver Glasner is a good example, particularly as bookmakers also consider him among the most likely candidates for the next sacking among Premier League managers. He has an excellent record against Liverpool: 4 wins in 7 meetings, including a Super Cup victory on penalties. In 21 matches against Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, and Chelsea combined, he has managed just 3 wins: two against Manchester United, one against Manchester City, and none against Arsenal or Chelsea. Glasner has cracked Slot's tactical code but has failed to do so against most other top-club managers.

However, Glasner has a poor record against Liverpool's new manager Andoni Iraola. In five meetings between them when they managed Crystal Palace and Bournemouth respectively, Bournemouth won twice and drew three times, recording four clean sheets. When the sides drew 3-3 at Selhurst Park last season, Bournemouth led 2-0 and then 3-2, and Iraola's dominance over Glasner could have been even more pronounced.

It remains to be seen how effective this dominance will prove this weekend. Liverpool's 2-2 away draw with Newcastle United most recently bore a striking resemblance to the leaky defence Slot's side displayed last season. The new manager still has much work to do.

Glasner's problems against Bournemouth may not improve this season. He and Marco Rose are the two managers who have faced each other most frequently—their paths have crossed 16 times. Rose holds a commanding head-to-head record: 9 wins to 2 defeats, making it one of the most common matchups among the 190 possible pairings of current Premier League managers.

Currently, just over half of these potential pairings have actually occurred, totalling 97. Although Premier League managers have collectively faced nearly 1,700 different opposition managers, several managers were appointed this summer with no previous English managerial experience, meaning many pairings have yet to be formed. Rose and Glasner will meet each other outside their home countries—Germany and Austria—for the first time in mid-November, when Forest travel to the Vitality Stadium. Before then, however, many of this summer's new appointments will face each other.

By matchday 9, one such pairing had not yet occurred for the first time; only matchdays 16 and 27 fall into this category for the entire season. Nevertheless, matches on those two days have also featured newly appointed managers facing Roberto De Zerbi, who has only recently taken over his post. In total, 110 matches across the season—28.9% of all fixtures—are currently scheduled as direct head-to-heads between two managers appointed in 2026.

Iraola's first season at Merseyside is surrounded by such matchups throughout the fixture list. Liverpool face newly appointed managers in their first 6 games, and 7 of their last 10 games of the season will also be against new managers. The question is whether these rival managers will still be in their posts come spring.

Переведено ИИ.

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