Jose Mourinho and Tim Sherwood will both see this Saturday's clash between Chelsea and Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge as a must-win game - for their clubs as well as their own careers.
Both managers have seen their teams endure poor starts to the 2015/16 campaign, which has left question marks about their positions as coaches at their respective teams.
For Mourinho, talk of him leaving Chelsea has come about with the Blues sitting in 16th place in the Premier League table after having won just two of their opening eight league games of the season.
Such results prompted the Portuguese to insist he would not resign following Chelsea's loss to Southampton before the international break, although he admitted the club's hopes of retaining the title they won in May are looking bleak.
A win over Villa would undoubtedly help ease the pressure Mourinho is under in west London - and instead heap the pressure on his counterpart Sherwood.
The Villa boss is the bookies' favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked after Brendan Rodgers was shown the door from Liverpool last week with his side languishing in the relegation places.
Sherwood, though, will be able to strengthen his case to stay at Villa should he steer his side to victory at Stamford Bridge - similar to Crystal Palace and Southampton - although such a result would certainly have the opposite effect on Mourinho at Chelsea.
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