Premier League sack race: Ten Hag and O'Neil now on borrowed time

Flashscore takes a look at the managers in England's top flight who need results to go their way sooner rather than later...

Erik Ten Hag (Manchester United)

The odds for Ten Hag to be the next manager to be dismissed were slashed as quickly as Man Utd's defence was on Sunday, as Brennan Johnson's early goal kicked off an easy win for Tottenham in front of the perpetually disgruntled Old Trafford faithful.

Ten Hag has flirted with the exit door many times in the past, and always seems to find a result at just the right time to buy more time, but he's fast running out of runway.

A trip to Porto in the Europa League on Thursday will be followed by a visit to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday, after which Man Utd host Brentford - who are currently one place above Man Utd in the standings.

The two Premier League fixtures are particularly difficult for Ten Hag as they are not easy games, yet there is still a feeling in the red side of Manchester that they are games Ten Hag's side should be winning every week.

Win, and there's still a heap of pressure on the Dutchman, but lose and he'll surely be the first manager out the door this season.

Gary O'Neil (Wolves)

Gary O'Neil and his backroom staff signed contract extensions only last month, but it's been a bleak start for Wolves in the Premier League. Admittedly, their last three fixtures have seen losses against good teams - high-flying Liverpool and Villa in the Premier League and Brighton in the EFL Cup - but their league form was already stuttering before that.

Defeat by Arsenal was followed by a 6-2 thrashing at the hands of Chelsea, and as a result, Wolves are now at the very bottom of the Premier League, with the solitary point they took in a draw with Nottingham Forest all they have to show for the first few rounds of action.

While it's early doors for a man whose recent extension would make him an expensive option for the sack, O'Neil will be aware that things are only going to get tougher as his side faces Brentford, Man City and Brighton in October.

Sean Dyche (Everton)

Sean Dyche's never-ending participation in the sack race has felt more like a marathon than a sprint, but there has been a definite theme to this season's struggles - throwing away strong positions.

In losses in seasons gone by, Dyche could point to mental toughness and resilience as hallmarks of why they could and would survive the drop, but any such qualities were lacking when Everton managed to capitulate and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in consecutive games against Bournemouth and Aston Villa. And that was after shipping seven goals and scoring none in their first two games of the league season.

Since being dumped out of the EFL Cup by Southampton, Everton have claimed four points from a draw with Leicester and a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace - so, for now, the pressure has eased on Dyche, but you'd have to think that getting embroiled in another relegation battle early in the season would do his Merseyside career prospects no good.

With that said, three of their next four league fixtures are against Ipswich, Fulham and Southampton, so this could be the time Everton make a charge up the table and salvage some stability for the club as well as Dyche himself.

Steve Cooper (Leicester)

Steve Cooper only joined Leicester in June, so it's difficult to point too many fingers at him for all of their struggles, but when a Premier League team needs penalties to beat Walsall in the EFL Cup, there are always going to be question marks about their game as a whole.

While their recent agonising injury-time defeat against Arsenal was the first time Leicester have been beaten by more than a goal - suggesting they are close to clicking - there is also the caveat that the Foxes are yet to win a league game under Cooper, despite having played fellow strugglers Fulham and Everton already this season.

Unlike when he experienced pressure at Forest, Cooper does not have the backing of the fanbase now. However, he could win them back because, like Dyche, he has some eminently winnable games coming up in October against Southampton and his old club Forest.

Russell Martin (Southampton)

While Southampton's league position is not altogether surprising given they have only just been promoted, a return of one point from the first five games has a bad taste to things when you consider they have already lost games to potential relegation rivals in Southampton and Everton, and only managed a draw with Ipswich.

Perhaps working against Martin is not so much what is happening within the club, but what is happening outside of it.

Former Brighton boss Graham Potter recently told Sky Sports he is ready to make his return to management, and though he is being talked up as a potential replacement for Ten Hag, Saints would appear on the surface to be better suited for a man who likes to have time to imprint his philosophy on a club.

Making Martin's job even tougher is their fixture list; Bournemouth, Arsenal, Leicester and then Manchester City.

While nobody realistically expects Southampton to pick up points against the Gunners and City, there would be a feeling that getting no points from those four games would ramp up Martin's perceived discomfort.

Honourable mentions: Ange Postecoglou (Tottenham); Julen Lopetegui (West Ham)

Days before masterminding the dismantling of Manchester United, Ange Postecoglou was tetchily answering questions about his own future in press conferences.

That victory, or at least the manner of it, has ensured he won't have to field those questions for at least a while, but that goodwill won't last forever.

Postecoglou has declared that he is a winner of trophies in his second season, but the Premier League trophy will be tough to prise away from the likely trio of City, Arsenal, and Liverpool, and in the EFL Cup they have drawn Manchester City - so there is a feeling that the Europa League now has renewed importance for Spurs.

After this week's European trip to Ferencvaros, the north Londoners will take on Brighton and West Ham. Lose those - particularly the latter - and Postecoglou will be back in the conversation.

West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui is certainly in need of some victories himself.

The Hammers take on Ipswich in their next match and will face Tottenham and Manchester United after that. 

It’s hard to imagine that the Hammers' matches against Spurs and Man Utd won’t have a definitive say – one way or another – on which Premier League manager will be next to get the sack.