Arsenal toil with Wenger now 12/1 to be next manager to leave

Frustrated Arsenal fans could only watch in disbelief as their side slumped to a 3-1 opening day defeat to Aston Villa.

And now Ladbrokes have made long-serving manager Arsene Wenger 12/1 to be the next Premier League manager to leave having been 50/1 before the new season kicked off.

Christian Benteke’s brace was supplemented by Antonio Luna’s late strike for Villa after Olivier Giroud had given the Gunners the lead in only the sixth minute.

It was an afternoon to forget for the hosts’ goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny in particular with his blunder affording the visitors a foothold in the match.

The Polish netminder was lucky to stay on the pitch having fouled Gabriel Agbonlohor to hand Benteke the chance to equalise from the spot and despite his best efforts he couldn’t keep out the rebound.

Wenger is now just 7/4 to sign a new goalkeeper before the transfer window closes with the need to strengthen in all departments now paramount.

This first opening day home defeat in 20 years has only further emphasised how Arsenal’s failure in the transfer market this summer has affected the team.

There has been plenty of scrutiny from certain sections of the north London side’s fanbase having failed to land top targets Gonzalo Higuain and Luis Suarez.

An inability to replace the glut of players who have departed N5 has also made the squad look extremely threadbare.

A crucial Champions League qualifying double header against Fenerbache coupled with an intense derby against Tottenham Hotspur are some of Arsenal’s next assignments.

And a succession of negative results could yet see relations between Wenger and supporters sour further still.

The Gunners are now odds-on to finish outside of the top-four with 10/11 offered and that price could shorten even more if they continue to toil and fail to bolster their ranks sufficiently.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date