Betting Odds Shorten on Zinedine Zidane to Succeed Arne Slot as Liverpool Manager
Zinedine Zidane has emerged as one of the bookmakers’ top contenders to take over at Liverpool should the club decide to part ways with current manager Arne Slot.
The Reds are enduring a difficult spell, having lost five of their last six games across all competitions — their worst run since Slot’s arrival last summer. Their latest setback came in a 3-2 defeat to Brentford on Saturday, leaving them seventh in the Premier League table.
Despite this dip in form, there is no sense of panic at Anfield yet. Liverpool are the reigning Premier League champions and had won their first five league matches of the season before their recent slump.
Fenway Sports Group, the club’s owners, have rarely pulled the trigger on managers, having dismissed only three — Roy Hodgson, Kenny Dalglish, and Brendan Rodgers — since taking control in 2010.
Nonetheless, the team’s poor results have inevitably led to growing pressure on Slot from some sections of the fanbase.
Betfair’s latest odds on the next Liverpool manager have sparked interest, with Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner emerging as the frontrunner at 3/1, followed by Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola at 4/1. Zidane is third-favourite at 9/2, while Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann is priced at 7/1. A sensational return for former boss Jürgen Klopp, now Red Bull’s global head of football, stands at 9/1.
What Zidane Has Said About Liverpool
Zidane has previously spoken highly of Liverpool, describing Anfield as the best away stadium during an interview with Real Madrid’s official YouTube channel. Ahead of the 2021 Champions League quarter-final — which his Real Madrid side won over two legs — the Frenchman praised Jürgen Klopp’s work in shaping Liverpool into a “complete team.”
“They’re a complete team,” Zidane said. “Everyone talks about the front three — Salah, Mané, and Firmino — and rightly so, but I think the real strength is in their unity. They’re solid, organized, and efficient. We’ll need to stay sharp.”
However, as with previous speculation linking him to Manchester United, Zidane faces obstacles in managing an English club. The 1998 Ballon d’Or winner admitted to L’Équipe in 2022 that his limited English proficiency could pose a problem.
“I understand English, but I don’t fully master it,” he said. “I know some managers work abroad without speaking the language, but I’m different.”
Zidane’s managerial experience has been confined to Real Madrid, where he coached the Castilla side from 2014 to 2016 before managing the senior team in two successful spells. A fluent Spanish speaker after years in Madrid, Zidane has been out of management since leaving the club in 2021.
He has since been heavily linked with the France national team job and is considered a strong candidate to succeed Didier Deschamps after the 2026 World Cup.