Sack race odds: Julen Lopetegui and Gary O'Neil face 'El Sackico' head to head

I might be overselling it given we're still talking about West Ham against Wolves, but the crudely tagged 'El Sackico' feels very much like one of those instances.

Julen Lopetegui heads in as favourite to be the next Premier League manager to leave, though longer in price than before a midweek defeat at Leicester.

That's in no small part due to the man who will be along the touchline from him at the London Stadium, whose team lost 4-0 at Everton on Wednesday; four set-piece goals and an own-goal brace from Craig Dawson adding to the sense that it's all coming towards a disheveled end.

• Ange in from 10/1 to second fav

To make matters more unseemly, Gary O'Neil thought it wise to usher his players away from the travelling support, before walking off himself, to avoid negative chants.

Never smart. Especially when patience is wearing thin.

Were this to be O'Neil's final game, there would be a degree of irony involved.

His perceived Monday Night Football masterclass 14 months ago has afforded him more rope than is perhaps the norm during what has been a largely underwhelming tenure, helping craft the narrative of an exceptional young English coach struggling against player sales and a difficult fixture list.

Conceding eight goals in two matches against Bournemouth and Everton has left no hiding place. No escape from simple facts.

O'Neil has overseen three wins in 24 league games, losing 16. In a Premier League littered with poor teams Wolves sit 19th on nine points after 14 matches.

In east London on Monday night, he will rightly be drinking in the Last Chance Saloon.

Next Premier League Manager to leave odds (via Sky Bet)

• Julen Lopetegui - 2/1
• Gary O'Neil - 9/4
• Ange Postecoglou - 5/2
• Russell Martin - 6/1
• Eddie Howe - 20/1
• Sean Dyche - 33/1
• Kieran McKenna, Pep Guardiola - 40/1
• 50/1 bar

Odds correct at 0925 GMT (9/12/24)

So will Lopetegui - but he shouldn't be.

It's undeniable West Ham were outclassed by Arsenal a week ago or so ago, but either side they played well at both Newcastle and Leicester, winning at the former and somehow losing to the latter despite an utterly dominant display (xG: LEI 1.67-3.10 WHU) that saw them have an incredible 31 shots, their highest tally on record in a single Premier League fixture and the most by a losing away team in the top flight since 2010.

Their final match before the international break was a goalless draw at home to Everton, where Jordan Pickford was named man of the match, making two superb late saves from Danny Ings.

Five more points would have West Ham level with Tottenham, Brentford and Newcastle, three points behind fifth-placed Brighton.

These kind of hypotheticals might seem ridiculous, but in such a small sample size of matches tiny margins have a disproportionately large impact.

And at badly run clubs, can lead to preemptive, bad decisions.

As a former Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla manager who won the Europa League with the latter, Lopetegui was brought in to evolve David Moyes' team.

That takes more than 14 games.

But lose on Monday and it's unlikely to matter.

And the man who replaced him at Wolves, will have ultimately sealed his fate at West Ham.

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