The Unluckiest Football Managers in the Premier League

For the most part, football is a game of great skill and athleticism. Be that as it may, luck, or lack thereof, plays a significant role in it. If you are football crazy about the English Premier League, then you’ll love our latest infographic featuring those football managers who have had a long string of bad luck throughout the 16/17 season. Our data and research are based on current managers still managing the same Premier League team since the start of the season. For each team, we’ve analysed the number of own goals, red cards, bar hits, chances missed, offsides called, penalty saves, and clearances from the line to come up with what we’ve dubbed our ‘unlucky score’. Here are our rankings of the ten most unfortunate managers in the league, but who is the luckiest of the unlucky lot? Let the football frenzy begin!

It’s hardly a surprise that Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp, is on our list. The animated German has a reputation for being eccentric, energetic, and entertaining on the sidelines. Klopp’s record in cup finals since taking over the club last year has been dismal, making him one of the unluckiest managers in the game. Having lost the last five and only one win overall this season, he’s still considered one of the best managers in the world with seven honours to his name. Unlike some other coaches, he’s never been sacked before either. So far, his current team has missed quite a few valuable chances and are currently sitting in fourth place because of this. Up front, his players have been marked offside countless times (maybe that’s something they should work on during training). Thankfully, their goalkeeper has saved a couple of penalties – our infographic will tell you how many.

Arsene ‘Mad Dog’ Wenger, seems to be sick and tired of his team’s rotten luck of late – it’s not the first time he got himself into some touchline violence this season. With nineteen trophies in twenty years, Wenger has been lucky, not least in having a chairman that’s backed him through some recent lean years. The last time his team won the league was way back in 2004! This season, Arsenal have suffered a few failures, including receiving a couple of red cards, missing out on several clear-cut chances and hitting the woodwork on many an occasion. Their goalkeeper’s stats are quite poor too. Things are looking a bit grim for the London-based squad.

Leaving Southampton after a couple of solid seasons, Ronald Koeman has set himself to the challenge of rousing sleeping giants Everton, turning them into genuine title contenders. Or is this just another rung on his ladder to the top? The Everton manager doesn’t have the best track record, having been sacked twice. On the other hand, he does have quite a few honours to his name. This year, the Blues have unluckily conceded an own goal and have been caught offside almost as much as Arsenal. Their goalkeeper has some good stats though, having saved a few penalties and clearing a couple of balls off the line. But, where does Koeman stand in our hapless rankings?

Era-defining former Barcelona and Bayern boss, Josep Guardiola, has won almost everything in the game. He has plenty of honours under his belt with an average of 32 games per honours. Now he’s looking to add the Premier League to his very impressive CV. So, how you may ask, is he on our luckless list? Manchester City have been unlucky in their cup draws, but according to our infographic, they’ve also been underperforming this season having conceded an own goal and acquiring a number of red cards for some unsightly tackles – that’s quite a bunch of unruly players! His players have missed out on many precious chances, and their goalkeeper has only managed to save a single penalty all season long. Not to mention, he’s done a decent job in clearing a few lucky balls off the line.

To find out where these managers stand on our list and the full stats be sure to check out our infographic which also features the likes of United’s Jose Mourinho, Southampton’s Mauricio Pochettino, and Watford’s Walter Mazzarri, among many others. With several big matches still to come, anything can happen in the Premier League. If you want to get in on the action but are not sure on how to bet, we have some valuable tips on the much-loved game to get you going.

About the author

Eric Roberts

Sports Journalist

Eric has been a sports journalist for over 20 years and has travelled the world covering top sporting events for a number of publications. He also has a passion for betting and uses his in-depth knowledge of the sports world to pinpoint outstanding odds and value betting opportunities.