Who could be sacked next in the Premier League? West Ham boss Lopetegui under intense scrutiny as Leicester dismiss Cooper

Premier League clubs are not renowned for their patience when firing managers, and we’ve just had our second sacking of 2024/25.

Only 12 games into the season, two managers have been given their marching orders, with others now potentially on the brink.

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The first boss to go was Erik ten Hag, who was sacked by Manchester United after they made their worst-ever start in the top flight.

Then, Leicester pulled the trigger and decided to dismiss Steve Cooper with the Foxes sitting just outside the bottom three.

Cooper lost his job after defeat to Chelsea and talkSPORT understands that owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha had reservations about him soon after appointing him in June.

Last season, it took until December for the first owner to swing their axe, but there have already been two before that this time around.

Here, we’ve looked at the top four most likely contenders to be sacked next, via talkSPORT Bet’s latest odds.

Julen Lopetegui 6/4

The Spaniard was intended to lead West Ham into a bright new era but his reign since succeeding David Moyes has been shambolic.

There was much excitement surrounding the prospect of the former Wolves chief, having led Sevilla to Europa League glory in 2020 and also managing Real Madrid.

Lopetegui was backed heavily with a huge £150m outlay, that included £40m Kilman, £25.5m teenage winger Luis Guilherme, Aaron Wan-Bissaka for £15m from Man United and Crysencio Summerville from Leeds for £25m.

In addition, fan favourites Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus all remained at the club.

But for one reason or another Lopetegui’s tactics have not translated onto the pitch with just three wins from their first 11 league games.

West Ham lost their opening three home games of a league season for the first time ever and were also hammered 5-1 by Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.

Lopetegui was brought in to improve the Irons’ ninth-placed finish last campaign and bring European football back to the London Stadium.

But things haven’t worked out, and talkSPORT understands that Edin Terzic has been sounded out as a possible replacement.

The 42-year-old worked at West Ham as the club’s assistant manager for two years under Slaven Bilic and led Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League final last season.

He parted ways with the German giants via mutual consent in the summer.

And the Hammers’ director of football, Tim Steidten, is a huge admirer.

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Russell Martin 7/4

Time is running out for the Southampton boss, with the club rooted to the bottom of the table.

The Saints have just one win all season, beating Everton 1-0 at home, but they’ve lost nine and drawn one of their other 11.

This has included some spectacular collapses, including one from 2-0 up against Leicester, as Jordan Ayew’s 97th-minute winner capped an inspired Foxes comeback.

talkSPORT understands that the Southampton board are split over what to do with Martin.

Owner Dragan Solak wants to see more from the former Swansea boss, while Martin still retains the support of the club’s sporting director, Rasmus Ankersen.

However, with the Saints now five points from safety, they need to start picking up points sooner or later.

Otherwise, Martin will likely be moving on.

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Gary O’Neil 10/1

O’Neil has potentially saved his job in recent weeks.

The Wolves manager was running out of both time and excuses as his side found themselves floundering in the drop zone.

However, four games without defeat and two wins in a row now see his odds rising and his chances of the sack disappearing.

O’Neil was given backing by the Wolves hierarchy at the start of the season, with six of their first eight Premier League games coming against teams that finished in the top seven.

Among those matches were battling performances at home to title chasers Manchester City and Liverpool, but with no points to show for it.

His side were also gutted in the summer market, with star man Pedro Neto and key defender Max Kilman leaving for Chelsea and West Ham, respectively.

Set piece coach Jack Wilson has been sacked, and O’Neil was tipped to follow…

But the Old Gold have lift themselves off the bottom of the table, and they’re now even sitting outside the relegation zone entirely.

If they can keep this form up, there won’t be a chance that O’Neil loses his job at Molineux.

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Oliver Glasner 10/1

A few months is a long time in the life of a Premier League manager!

Glasner joined Crystal Palace in February to succeed Roy Hodgson and guided them to tenth in the Premier League.

Glasner won seven of his opening 13 matches in charge at Palace and went unbeaten in their final seven games of last campaign, a run that included wins over Liverpool and Man United.

After his impressive start to life at Selhurst Park, Bayern Munich were revealed to be interested in signing the Austrian as their replacement for Thomas Tuchel before Vincent Kompany was appointed.

However, Palace valued him at a whopping €100m in order to keep hold of his services but a slow start to this season has flipped the mood in south London.

Palace have only won one of 12 Premier League games this season with the scope of a rebuild at the club proving an issue.

Talisman Michael Olise and Jordan Ayew both left – with the pair’s 13 assists last season nearly a quarter of Palace’s overall tally – as did Joachim Andersen while Marc Guehi was also the subject of persistent transfer talk despite eventually staying put.

In contrast, incoming stars Eddie Nketiah and Ismaila Sarr have both seemingly struggled in the Premier League, with Eberechi Eze‘s injury not helping matters.

To make things worse, Adam Wharton has had surgery to fix a persistent issue, and the goals have also dried up for former hitman Jean-Philippe Mateta, who has three this season in 12 matches.

Mateta, Palace’s player of the year last season, scored 13 goals in 14 Premier League appearances under Glasner – more than any other player in the top-flight during that time.

But things have worked out differently this time, and Glasner’s future is looking uncertain.

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