Postecoglou sack could be delivered by Chelsea with Slot and Amorim in crisis face

With another international window out of the way, the Premier League is back this weekend giving us plenty of narratives to sink our teeth into.

The pick of the fixtures this weekend is Manchester United’s trip to Anfield at prime time on Sunday, while we have our first relegation six-pointer.

Here are five questions we want answers to this weekend:

Is Ange Postecoglou doomed at Forest?

For the cricket fans out there, we are getting to the time pre-Ashes series where members on both sides of the Poms/Aussies divide gravitate towards a microphone to produce some quotes that may or may not have sounded funnier in their heads.

Ange Postecoglou has never had to seek out the microphone, with his straight-talking ‘mate’ style making him the delight of some sections of the media, but by the time the first ball is bowled in Perth, Ange may be back on that beach he apparently hates.

It’s not been an ideal start to life in Nottingham. Seven games with zero wins and five losses seems par for the course for a manager who finished 17th last year, but Mr. Marinakis wanted the Europa League-winning version of his fellow Greek.

If Ange is not entirely to blame considering he was given a squad set up to play almost entirely the opposite of the way he wants to, it’s getting to the point where questions are asked of how long this can go on for.

Forest are hovering dangerously close to the drop zone, just one point away from it, and with 18th-place Burnley playing Leeds this weekend, there is a good chance that come Saturday evening, Forest are in the bottom three.

To prevent that, Postecoglou’s Forest will likely have to get some kind of result against Chelsea in Saturday’s lunchtime kick off. That’s the Chelsea that beat Liverpool last time out and the club Postecoglou has lost to all four times he has tried.

Marinakis reportedly has options waiting in the wings, and if Postecoglou’s win rate remains at zero, he may well be back out of a job.

Will Slot or Amorim still be feeling the pressure come Monday morning?

The hot seats of management will feel extra warm at Anfield on Sunday afternoon when Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United arrive to face Arne Slot’s Liverpool.

A month ago, this would have seemed like the easiest of home wins for a Liverpool side that has not lost against United at Anfield for a decade, but three defeats in a row have given Slot his first crisis since moving to England.

Peeling away from the numbers, Liverpool may be one point off top, but they have looked unconvincing in the majority of their matches, with the form of Mo Salah a particular concern.

Slot says teams have begun to play differently against his side, but that is the challenge of being a top-level manager. A title in your first season means you are safe from the sack for the foreseeable future, but another disappointing result on Sunday and there will be questions of whether the Dutchman has been found out.

As for the other dugout, there are no such guarantees surrounding Amorim. This is the exact kind of match that you could see United somehow winning, but you can just as easily see them being hit — if they depart Liverpool off the back of a 5-0 thumping, Amorim’s position may well not be tenable.

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Are Wolves destined for the drop?

It’s not often that a manager on zero points is rewarded with a new deal but Wolves did just that when Vitor Pereira signed a new three-year contract after losing their opening four league matches.

Things have picked up since then but only in the form of two points and Wolves are in real danger of being the first non-promoted side to be relegated since 2023.

Those around Wolves also have reasons to be positive: West Ham have a new manager; Burnley’s fixtures have seen them already play Liverpool, City and Spurs with a couple of favourable fixtures on the horizon; the Forest implosion will come to an end at some point.

This weekend Wolves travel to Sunderland in a game that feels like an early six-pointer. The problem for Wolves is that the Black Cats have not got the memo about promoted sides going straight back down and are currently ninth in the table.

Wolves’ first match against a promoted side saw them get thumped 3-1 at home by Leeds but we are getting to the stage of the season where you can start to be left behind.

Anything less than a win will keep Wolves bottom with more than one eye on the drop.

Will Newcastle show they are serious top four contenders?

The first Champions League win of the season coupled with a 2-0 home win against Forest left Newcastle with a lot of good vibes heading into the international break and yet, in one of the more unbelievable facts of the season so far, they are still somehow behind Manchester United in the table.

A ‘disastrous’ summer transfer window that was actually quite good may have contributed to their slow start but with five points separating them and the top four, it is time for Newcastle to put a run together.

They have a favourable run of fixtures coming up with Brighton, Fulham, West Ham and Brentford next while Nick Woltemade is not looking like an ‘idiotic’ signing.

With Yoane Wissa still out, the giant German is Newcastle’s main goal threat but Eddie Howe has at his disposal one of the best midfields in the league and a solid defensive line behind them.

Brighton have proven to be a bit of a bogey team for top four contenders so far this season, beating City and Chelsea while drawing to Spurs, so a win away would boost Newcastle’s Champions League credentials.

Are Manchester City an actual title contender?

Manchester City are about as confusing as they have ever been under Pep Guardiola.

Up until about 12 months ago, you would have bet everything you owned on them being a title contender but a Rodri-inspired collapse has resulted in a lot more trepidation around them when heading into this campaign.

That doubt proved fair when they lost two of their opening three games but since then, City have quietly been the form team in the league.

Three wins out of four has been helped by having a Norwegian scoring machine up front with Erling Haaland finding the net in his last 10 games. City’s style has also clearly changed to get the best out of him. Whereas in the past, Haaland would have been fed in after a series of short, intricate passes, now they are not against pumping it long to the big man.

Haaland’s ability was never in question so now it is a test of whether this new-look City side can pose a serious title charge. Bookies still have them as third favourites and they are fifth, three points off leaders Arsenal.

City have a favourable few games ahead in the form of Everton at home and Aston Villa away which they should be winning comfortably if they want to set their stall out as genuine contenders.

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