Charlie Nicholas: 'Marco Silva is under huge pressure'

Former Arsenal attacker Charlie Nicholas has claimed that Everton boss Marco Silva "has to be very careful" as the pressure on the Portuguese builds after back-to-back Premier League defeats.

The Toffees followed last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Bournemouth with a 2-0 home loss to Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon, which led to huge boos at the final whistle.

Nicholas has claimed that "the balance is wrong" at Goodison Park, and the pundit fears for Silva ahead of games against Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester City over the next week.

"I've been speaking to David Moyes and a couple of Everton fans and they were saying they always feel they're two or three bad results away from this manager being strangled out of this club," Nicholas told Sky Sports News.

"But he has to be very careful now. What he's got coming up is dangerous. Everton are away to Sheffield Wednesday in the cup midweek, then Manchester City at home, then Burnley away, This is a tough time for Silva to get through this period. The crowd left with about 10 minutes to go, they emptied the place.

"I honestly don't know what they're trying to achieve. I've said that since day one. You have to identify what you're buying. It still looks like the set up when Wayne Rooney was there. Everything doesn't seem to fit in right. The balance is wrong."

Everton have collected seven points from their six Premier League games this season to sit 14th in the table, although just one point separates them from fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.