After a few days of deliberation, Michael Carrick has been sacked by Manchester United following last Sunday’s 4-4 draw with Aston Villa.
The club legend was relieved of managerial duties on Thursday after only 32 games in charge.
Last season, Carrick stepped in as interim boss following Ruben Amorim’s dismissal and shocked the footballing world by guiding United to a third-place finish.
Sure, the Red Devils played only one game a week, but bringing Champions League football back to Old Trafford for 2026-27 was – and is – still a huge achievement.
The under-fire owners saw fit to hand Carrick a permanent deal as manager, though the decision – which attracted criticism at the time – has proved to be yet another poor one.
United are currently 18th in the Premier League table with just eight points tallied from their opening 10 games, a truly woeful return, which is actually their worst since the 1986-87 First Division campaign. Ironically, that start prompted the club to sack Ron Atkinson and hire – you guessed it – Sir Alex Ferguson.
Defensively, the Red Devils have been a mess this season with 19 goals conceded and while a lack of back-line investment is part of the problem, the numbers mean Carrick can make few complaints about the decision from upstairs.
As confirmed on Friday, former Tottenham and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino will leave his role with the USA men’s team to become the new United head honcho. His first assignment? Just the small matter of Liverpool away!
So, with yet more chaos unfolding at Old Trafford, let’s take a look at how the latest Premier League odds are shaping up on NetBet Sport.
What are the latest outright Manchester United odds on NetBet Sport?
*All odds are subject to change
Winner – 201.00
If anything, the odds here are not high enough. United sit 19 points behind leaders Arsenal, which is quite remarkable given only 10 rounds of matches have been played.
To finish in the Top 2 – 81.00
The price here feels a little fairer, given the ongoing debacle surrounding Manchester City’s future in the Premier League after recently being found guilty of financial misconduct. At the time of writing, United sit 14 points behind second-placed Brighton.
To finish in the Top 4 – 10.00
This is where the markets start to feel a little more realistic. Fourth-placed Liverpool are on 18 points and with third-placed Man City facing a potential points deduction, a finish in the Champions League spots feels achievable for United – as long as there is a new-manager bounce!
To finish in the Top 6 – 4.00
The Premier League table below Arsenal is pretty tight, so much so that only eight points separate sixth-placed Everton and 18th-placed United. So a short run of wins could see any team climb the standings at a rapid rate, making the odds here look rather appealing.
To be relegated – 21.00
United being relegated from the top flight? It seems unthinkable, though it did happen back in 1973-74, when a team managed by Tommy Docherty finished 21st in the First Division table. Could history repeat itself? Well, anything can occur in football, but if the new Red Devils manager does the bare minimum and instills some defensive solidity to support the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Youri Tielemans, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, it feels incredibly unlikely.
To finish in the top half – 1.57
With the calibre of player in the United squad, particularly in forward and midfield areas, a top-half finish should be a given. However, the Red Devils finished 15th in the 2024-25 campaign, though that was partly due to playing in the Europa League, which Amorim saw as the main path to Champions League qualification. That all went up in flames courtesy of a 1-0 final loss to Tottenham, but unless United defy all expectations and go deep in the 2026-27 Champions League, European commitments should not hinder the team in the latter stages of this season.
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