After he limped off injured in Thursday’s 1-0 victory at Tottenham, CHELSEA will be sweating over Thiago Silva’s fitness.
In the first half, the Brazilian defender, 36, was forced off with an evident hamstring issue picked up when making a challenge. Silva laid face down on the field as the play proceeded before pointing to the bench at Chelsea.
Eventually, the veteran was able to get to his feet and limped off the pitch.
Thomas Tuchel immediately replied by sending Andreas Christensen over.
And the Dane went right into the heart of Chelsea’s three-person defense, flanked by Cesar Azpilicueta and Antonio Rudiger on either side.
Silva will now miss the game with Sheffield United on Sunday, with Kurt Zouma still out following a knock on the training ground.
Thanks to a penalty from Jorginho, Chelsea were 1-0 up at the time.
Eric Dier was fouled in the Spurs box by Timo Werner.
And Jorginho, who had been discharged from his penalty duty by former boss Frank Lampard, gave up his regular hop to shoot the ball past Hugo Lloris.
Chelsea dominated possession after a bright start that saw Werner almost score after just 10 seconds with a header throughout the first half.
With Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi linking up well on the right to deceive Ben Davies, the Blues made fair use of their comprehensive advantage.
But when Werner got the best of Dier in the net, the pressure told him to force the Englishman to strike out in desperation and give away a penalty.
Chelsea survived a late Spurs storm to pick up all three points, and it turned out to be the winning objective.
Silva had previously worked at Paris Saint-Germain with Tuchel, who had allowed him to leave at the end of his contract in August before, sacking the German tactician four months later.
It was sad for the seasoned defender to see Frank Lampard losing his job at Stamford Bridge, but he admitted he was delighted to be reunited with a boss he knows very well.
With mixed emotions, I’m left—sorrow for one, happiness for the other. But life has to go on, and we’ve got to turn around our results, “I am left with mixed feelings. Sadness for one, happiness for the other. But life has to go on, and we have to turn our results around,”
“The six months I spent working with Frank was fantastic, and I have two unbelievable years with Thomas Tuchel in Paris too, including getting to the final of the Champions League. That was a great year for everyone at PSG. So it’s a special moment for me with his arrival here.”
In their first two games with Tuchel at the helm, Chelsea chases a third consecutive clean sheet against Spurs, having drawn 0-0 with Wolves and beaten Burnley 2-0.
Silva had played in the middle of a three-person defense in those fixtures and started in the same position for the London derby, but this time around, he was unable to see out the full 90 minutes.
With a trip to Sheffield United looming large on the horizon, the Blues will hope that the problem will not hold him out of action for any amount of time.
Before their attention turns to the FA Cup and a fifth-round game against Barnsley on February 11th, Tuchel’s men will take on the Blades at Bramall Lane on Sunday.
