Seville boss Sampaoli tipped for Barca hotseat
BARCELONA scraped past Leganes 2-1 on Sunday in a performance which did little to dampen speculation that manager Luis Enrique will be vacating the Camp Nou hotseat this summer.
Ladbrokes are already betting on Enrique's replacement and they rate Jorge Sampaoli and Ernesto Valverde joint-favourites at 7-2 from Premier League duo Ronald Koeman (13-2) and Mauricio Pochettino (8-1).
Seville boss Sampaoli has had a superb debut campaign in La Liga, playing in a manner that will have no doubt caught the eye with Barca’s hierarchy.
Valverde, who spent a brief spell as a player at Barcelona, is currently managing in Bilbao with Athletic. He has also played and managed Catalan rivals Espanyol which can also be said of current Tottenham chief Pochettino.
Jurgen Klopp has been linked with the Barcelona job in some reports but he is 10-1 to replace Enrique.
It may not be the same kind of pressure as at Barcelona but Birmingham boss Gianfranco Zola is also feeling the heat with the Sky Bet Championship side going through a rotten run of results.
Betway rate the Italian 2-1 to still be manager on the first day of next season, while Zola is 1-3 to have departed before then.
Tuesday's Champions League clash sees Manchester City host Monaco and bet365 have a goalscorer matchbet market between Sergio Aguero and Radamel Falcao with the home forward 13-8 favourite.