Southampton fans haven?t had much to applaud so far this season (Picture: Reuters)

Attention returns to the Premier League on Saturday after an unusuallyfascinating mid-season international break.

Lee Carsley?s audition for the England vacancy had fans fixated on the matches against the Republic of Ireland and Finland and the common consensus seems to be that the position is his to lose.

The bookmakers agree and Carsley, who was 2/1 this time last week before being shortened to 7/4 following the comfortable victory in Dublin, is now no bigger than 1/2 ON with Betfred after seeing off the Finns.

If the race for the England manager?s job is all over bar the shouting, how about the one to see which top-flight boss will be the first to part company with his club this season"
We?re only three matches into the 38-game campaign but the leading contenders are beginning to emerge. It will come as no surprise to anyone that Erik ten Hag is the favourite to go first, with Manchester United having taken just three points from nine with a 1-0 home win against Fulham followed by the 2-1 defeat at Brighton and the 4-0 humiliation against Liverpool.

The former Ajax boss takes his side to Southampton on Saturday and the pressure will only intensify if they fail beat opponents who have failed to register a point in three games under manager Russell Martin.

The only other team to have lost their first three – and managed to make a worse start than Saints – are Everton,...