Sack race: 5 Premier League bosses fighting for their jobs

Six matches in, and the Premier League sack race is well underway.

The summer's vast transfer expenditure, the increasing financial benefits of competing in the top flight, and the humbling dogfight that awaits in the Championship have made being a manager in Europe's most-feted division an increasingly perilous role.

Someone's getting fired very soon.

Here are the frontrunners to follow the departures of Sam Allardyce and Steve Bruce (from Sunderland and Hull City, respectively) this season:

Francesco Guidolin

Guidolin is the clear favourite with the British bookmakers to be the next gaffer to vacate his post.

Some outlets, such as talkSPORT, believe the Italian could be obtaining his P45 by the end of this week, just over eight months after moving to South Wales on an initially temporary basis.

Under the chairmanship of Huw Jenkins, Swansea has tended to hire well. Roberto Martinez, Brendan Rodgers, and Michael Laudrup are among those who've enjoyed various degrees of success, but under Guidolin things have quickly stalled ahead of tricky bouts with Liverpool and Arsenal.

Most damaging were the sanctioned summer departures of skipper and defensive stalwart Ashley Williams, and last season's 12-goal man Andre Ayew. Their replacements have endured an underwhelming initiation.

Slaven Bilic

West Ham United captain Mark Noble branded his side's defensive efforts "laughable" following Sunday's 3-0 home loss to Southampton, a match which saw no attacking penetration or organisation at the back.

The result was more acrimonious by the testy atmosphere from the London Stadium stands. The move has seen West Ham swap an enclosed chocolate-box home for an echoing, cavernous venue with a running a track; a switch from the Boleyn Ground's impassioned support to security staff who insist on no standing - otherwise you're ejected.

Admittedly with a lengthy injury list, Bilic has showcased football to match the dour mood, and West Ham occupies 18th spot after competing for a top-four berth last term.

Mark Hughes

Marc Wilson's negative words about Hughes' management paved the way for the defender's transfer to Bournemouth, but, with each passing week, they appear to have had some serious grounding.

"Centre-back mate," tweeted Wilson when asked by a fan of his best position. "But it would actually help if we ever did any defensive training, which we don't."

Just two points have been collected from the opening six matches of the season - the worst tally since 1951 - and an unmatched 51 goals conceded in 2016.

Things don't look much better in attack either, with Wilfried Bony continuing to swing at the ball with the laziness and rustiness of an old church bell.

And odds as short as 3-1 say that sound is the death knell to Hughes' patch in the Potteries.

David Moyes

If it wasn't for Jermain Defoe and Lamine Kone, there would be little cause for optimism in Sunderland.

The Black Cats are rooted to the bottom, and their fans are struggling to believe that they can claw themselves out of trouble again.

What Moyes needs is some know-how for this predicament, not inexperienced youngsters and luxuries like Paddy McNair and Adnan Januzaj. With or without the Scot in charge, the transfer policy at the Stadium of Light needs to be reassessed in January - hopefully by then, it's not too late.

Tony Pulis

Tony Pulis will keep West Bromwich Albion up, but it won't be pretty.

Through the boredom of the Hawthorns' faithful and loftier expectations under the new Chinese owners, Pulis' tenure could be dwindling to a rather anti-climatic conclusion, though, leaving a newcomer to try and entertain while staving off the threat of relegation.

If the Welshman meets supporters' wants of attacking football, however, he could be handed much more time in the role. The Baggies fired four goals past West Ham earlier in September, and there could be a greater spectacle afoot now Nacer Chadli's on board, and the highly regarded Jonathan Leko's emerging from the club's youth academy.