Manchester United under pressure

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A derby loss to Manchester City and an embarrassing start to their Europa League campaign sees bookies slash the odds for Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho to be axed this season

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho

A derby-day defeat and poor performance in their Europa League opener has seen the price for Manchester United to sack Jose Mourinho fall by more than half.

The former Chelsea boss’s difficult week started with a defeat at Old Trafford to local rivals Manchester City before heading to Rotterdam for a lacklustre loss at the hands of Feyenoord, with the club bottom of their group in the Europa League.

In response, leading bookmaker Ladbrokes has slashed the odds for the club to sack the manager from 25/1 to just 12/1, while the team are odds on not to claim a single major trophy this season at 4/6. Manchester United are, however, still second favourites to win the Premier League.

Mourihno was sacked by Chelsea last December, just hours after attending Christmas lunch with his players.

Despite the club sitting in fifth place in the Premier League (after Liverpool’s victory at Stamford Bridge Friday night), fans are frustrated that the team lost 3 points to their main rivals last weekend, and are concerned over the disappointing performance against Feyenoord midweek – although, to be fair, Mourinho did make 8 changes to the team that played City, and the match was lost to what was clearly an outside goal.

Manchester United’s Anthony Martial looks dejected

World-record signing Paul Pogba has failed to justify his £89 price tag in his short time at the club, while striker Anthony Martial – who scored 17 goals in 45 appearances last season – hasn’t found the net for Manchester United since May.

Mourinho signed a three-year deal on his arrival at Old Trafford in the summer, and the Red Devils still remain favourites to win the Europa League (at around 6/1), with Roma coming in second favourites.

Manchester United will head to Watford this Saturday as odds-on favourites to take the three points, but the manager needs to get a response from an expensive group of players who, with two big defeats in a week, have put the pressure on everyone at the club.