Chelsea left sweating on Thiago Silva’s fitness as defender limps off

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Chelsea suffered an injury blow as Thiago Silva limped off the pitch in the first half of his side’s 1-0 victory against Tottenham.

The Brazilian defender stretched to clear a ball and immediately seemed in pain with what appeared to be a hamstring injury as play initially carried on. 

Silva remained on the ground though and was replaced by Andreas Christensen, and Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel spoke of his concern after the match.

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Thiago Silva limped off in the first half against Chelsea after overstretching for the ball

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The Brazilian was unable to continue but his side held on for a deserved 1-0 win over Spurs

He said: ‘I saw Thiago with a big strap around his muscle but we have to wait. It’s worrying because it’s a muscle injury.’

When he went off, Silva had completed more passes than anyone else on the pitch and was marshalling a Chelsea defence which had very little to do in the first half.

Having dominated proceedings throughout, Jorginho gave the visitors the lead after 24 minutes from the penalty spot.

Eric Dier made a clumsy challenge while on the ground to bring down Timo Werner, and the Italian made no mistake as he scored his fifth penalty of the season. 

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Silva has been favoured by new boss Thomas Tuchel in the centre of a three-man defence

While Tottenham improved slightly after the break, Jose Mourinho’s men remained largely toothless in attack and rarely threatened to produce an equaliser.

Carlos Vinicius should perhaps have levelled things up late on with a big headed chance, but Chelsea saw out the rest of the match for a deserved victory and a third straight clean sheet under their new manager. 

The severity of Silva’s injury remains to be seen, but Tuchel will be hoping the experienced centre back will not miss too much of a crucial month for the club, who are also currently without the injured Kurt Zouma. 

Chelsea travel to face Atletico Madrid in the first-leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie in less than three weeks, as well as welcoming Manchester United to Stamford Bridge later this month. 

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Chelsea have not conceded a goal in the three matches since Thomas Tuchel took over


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