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Prior to their Premier League matchup with Manchester City on Saturday, Chelsea has suffered yet another setback on the defensive.
Due to problems in the back, most of head coach Mauricio Pochettino‘s senior players have missed time due to injury during the 2023–24 campaign.
Benoit Badiashile was the most recent player to be ruled out for the foreseeable future following an FA Cup groyne injury sustained against Aston Villa last week.
The French centre-back may miss up to one month due to injury, which would keep him out of both the EFL Cup final on February 25 against Liverpool and the forthcoming match versus City.
Positively, Chelsea were able to add Trevoh Chalobah and Levi Colwill to the roster for Monday’s meeting at Crystal Palace, following respective six-month and four-match absences.
Thiago Silva was forced off the field due to injury, but Colwill persevered through the last half an hour as the Blues fought their way to a 3-1 victory.
Similar to Badiashile, Silva appeared to be winded at first but then suffered a groyne injury when sliding in to make a block inside the penalty area.
Though Colwill may have liked to be gradually eased back into action, the Brazil international swiftly signalled to the bench of substitutes that he needed to be withdrawn, leading to Colwill’s introduction.
The Evening Standard cited Pochettino’s confirmation to reporters following the game: “We need to assess Thiago Silva tomorrow (Tuesday) because he felt something in his groyne.”
Chelsea cannot afford to have any more problems in the middle of their defence, even though the 39-year-old has begun to draw criticism for the calibre of his performances.
Pochettino will be left with just three senior options—Axel Disasi, Colwill, and Chalobah—when facing the top two clubs in England if Silva is sidelined for an extended period of time.
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Chalobah hasn’t participated in a competitive match this season; his most recent appearance was during the summer tour of the United States by the team.
After two starts and eight substitute appearances since December, academy graduate Alfie Gilchrist, twenty, is a further alternative, but he has been used at right-back instead.
