Thiago Silva Injury: Chelsea defender's ligament damage could leave Blues struggling for a replacement

The Blues have another major concern in their squad to deal with

Just when things can't seem to get worse for Chelsea, they're met with a blow to the defense as Thiago Silva will miss five to six weeks with a knee injury. Silva, despite being 38, has been the most important member of the Chelsea defense this season. With the Brazilian in the lineup, the Blues have been able to keep six clean sheets to stay competitive even while their scoring woes are ongoing under Graham Potter.

Also assuming a role as one of the club captains, Silva's importance stretches beyond the pitch for a Chelsea side that are lacking balance. 

"Having sustained a knee injury during the first half of Sunday's match against Tottenham Hotspur, Thiago underwent further assessment and a scan on his return to the training center on Monday," a statement released by the club said. "Scan results from those assessments have confirmed damage to Thiago's knee ligaments and he will now work closely with the club's medical department during his rehabilitation to return to action as soon as possible."

Without Silva, how will Potter and the club end their spiral? Looking for silver linings, this is something that they would need to figure out anyway before long due to his age, so maybe it can come as a bright spot that the injury happened during what is turning out to be a lost season for Chelsea. Tenth in the Premier League after their loss to Tottenham over the weekend, Chelsea are now 14 points off the pace of a top four spot but they do have depth at center back. 

Here are their options to cope with his loss:

Wesley Fofana is on the comeback trail

A defender who was easy to forget was a member of the Chelsea squad, Fofana has only made six appearances for the club since joining from Leicester City in 2022. His limited time on the pitch is due to a knee injury and a setback while trying to get back to full fitness. Having gotten minutes from the bench in Chelsea's last few games, Fofana would be the most likely member of the squad to replace Silva. The Frenchman is comfortable on the ball and not afraid to dive into tackles but proving that he is fully fit will be important. It's hard to come back after missing so much time, but he'll have support in Benoit Badishile and Kalidou Koulibaly. Lack of depth could lead to Potter not using Fofana in a back three, but if he wants to, it's a formation that Fofana is comfortable in.

Koulibaly can help with the leadership void

Due to his experience around the world winning a major competition with Senegal, Koulibaly has begun to show why he was coveted by Chelsea to elevate the backline. Things will be different with him having a new partner as Silva's understanding of space is unmatched but Koulibaliy's dominance in the air helps make sure that his partners in central defense have less ground to cover. With Fofana being a mobile defender, that will still make up for the pace that Koulibaly can lack at times. Since Badiashile can't play in Champions League due to not being registered with limited space on the roster, that limits options even more.

The rest of the squad

Trevoh Chalobah and Badiashile represent mobile options if Potter wants to push the pace but when Chelsea aren't converting their attacking chances, it's quite hard to justify using on-the-ball defenders when attackers lose the ball and leave them vulnerable on the counter. The duo are both good at what they do but it works better in a back three or when Chelsea attackers are more confident. If Potter is able to get things clicking again, Badiashile's long passing from deep can be critical to unlocking defenses but when Chelsea have lost their fear factor, it only leads to the team cracking under pressure.