Three games, zero points, and a Craven Cottage crowd turning on their own team, Alvaro Arbeloa's honeymoon period at Fulham is already over, and the bookies have taken notice.
Three games into the new Premier League season and the sack race is already well underway. Alvaro Arbeloa's honeymoon period at Fulham lasted all of three matches before turning sour, with the Cottagers becoming just one of two top-flight clubs yet to pick up a single point.
A 3-2 home defeat to Crystal Palace, in which Fulham led twice, was the final straw for a section of the Craven Cottage crowd, who booed their side off and let their frustrations be known with pointed chants.
The only two previous times Fulham have lost their opening three league games, they were relegated. With that history hanging over the club, and a fixture list about to throw up Liverpool and Manchester United, bookmakers have installed Arbeloa as the runaway favourite in the next Premier League manager sacked market.
Next Premier League Manager Sacked Odds
Odds correct at time of writing and subject to change - check Oddschecker for the latest prices.
Who Is Favourite to Be Sacked First in the Premier League?
Arbeloa sits at the top of the market at 3/1, in from 11/2 after Fulham's 3-2 home defeat to Crystal Palace left them one of only two top-flight sides, alongside Coventry City, to have lost all three of their opening league fixtures this season. It's a damaging start made worse by the manner of it: Fulham had led twice at Craven Cottage before conceding a second-half equaliser and then a late winner from a substitute who'd only just come back into the Palace side.
Behind him, Roberto De Zerbi drifts out to 6/1 despite Tottenham actually picking up a point at Nottingham Forest. The bigger story there is the goal drought. Spurs have now failed to score in their first three league games of a season for the first time since 1974-75, following defeats to Brentford and Newcastle. With over £300m spent this summer, patience from the Spurs board may not stretch as far as De Zerbi is asking for.
Pierre Sage (9/1) and Oliver Glasner's Crystal Palace situation is a curious one given Sage picked up his first win in charge against Fulham, while Unai Emery (10/1) remains a longer-priced outlier. Villa's stuttering start owes more to a summer exodus of key players than any loss of faith in the manager himself.
Álvaro Arbeloa Odds to Be Sacked
At 3/1, Arbeloa is the clear market leader, and the underlying numbers back up why bookmakers see him as the most vulnerable. Fulham actually out-shot Palace on expected goals, racking up an xG of 3.13 against Palace's 1.97, yet still walked away with nothing. That's the third time in the club's history they've lost their opening three top-flight matches, and on the two previous occasions - 1951/52 and 2020/21 - Fulham were relegated.
Arbeloa, who replaced Marco Silva after his move to Benfica, has now lost all three of his Premier League games in charge, following defeats at Sunderland and at home to Chelsea. The fixture list offers no let-up either: trips to Liverpool and a home game against Manchester United are next, either side of a Carabao Cup tie against West Ham. Arbeloa insists the club won't panic: "I told my players this month will not define our entire season". But with fans already booing the team off and chanting their frustration, the margin for error looks razor-thin.
Next Manager Sacked Betting
Punters clearly agree with the bookmakers' assessment. Since gameweek three concluded, Oddschecker data shows Arbeloa has attracted 58% of all bets placed on the next-manager-sacked market.
