Alan Shearer delivers ominous Enzo Maresca sack message amid Chelsea pressure

Alan Shearer believes Enzo Maresca is under pressure at Chelsea after Saturday's 3-1 defeat at home to Brighton & Hove Albion. The Blues got off to a promising start against the Seagulls with Enzo Fernandez netting an early goal.

However, their luck took a turn for the worse when Trevoh Chalobah was shown a red card for a foul on Diego Gomez just after the break. Danny Welbeck then equalised before Maxim De Cuyper put the visitors ahead in west London.

Welbeck then found the back of the net again deep into added time to seal a disappointing day for the Blues. Saturday's defeat marks the second consecutive Premier League loss for Chelsea following their defeat at Manchester United the previous week.

And Shearer has warned Maresca that he faces the sack at Stamford Bridge if he cannot arrest the team's poor run of form.

“I think as a Chelsea manager, once you accept that position, you know that you are under pressure if you lose matches – and they’ve lost two," he told BBC Match of the Day.

“That’s the rule of management, I guess, but more so when you are at Chelsea. You can’t lose games and they’ve now lost two so I think you understand the situation.”

Speaking post-match, Blues boss Maresca said: "It's a tough one because we were in control of the game, we scored one, we scored more.

"We didn't concede nothing, they just said to me also in terms of data, we had so many shots in the first half, 70% of possession, everything was fine.

"And then suddenly, because of our mistake, and then with the red card, again, the plan completely changed. So for me, we played two games, first-half, and then unfortunately, after the red card."

Asked if they were making life difficult for themselves with the red card, he added: "No, for sure you cannot continue to make mistakes, also because they are big mistakes in terms of game changes, the red card at Manchester United and the red card today.

"Then after that we tried to adjust a little bit with Josh Acheampong coming on, and he was ill over the last week.

"Josh, in that moment, our two central defenders were Josh and Jorrel [Hato], that both are for sure fantastic players, fantastic talents, but not so many games in the Premier League, so when you are with 10 players it's a moment that you have to manage the situation.

"And then the other one again, the same answer as yesterday, the club didn't mention me nothing, so there is not any news."

Chelsea will be looking to bounce back in the Champions League on Tuesday when they host Jose Mourinho's Benfica. They then host Premier League champions Liverpool at the Bridge next Saturday.

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