Frank Lebouef claims Thiago Silva will be a “huge” miss for Chelsea next week in the Champions League.
The Blues play this weekend in a Premier League game against Leeds United at Stamford Bridge, before a huge European showdown next Tuesday at home to Borussia Dortmund.
Graham Potter’s side suffered a 1-0 defeat last month when they travelled to Germany to face Dortmund in the first leg of a last-16 tie.
Despite Chelsea’s positive performance in the first leg, the lack of goals in the team in recent months means it’ll take a fantastic performance to overturn the deficit and reach the quarter-finals.
Thiago Silva blow
ESPN pundit Lebouef thinks that Silva’s absence could be pivotal against Dortmund.
“It’s huge [missing Silva against Dortmund]. When you talk about one of the best players in the world, for sure the best player at Chelsea this season, with the amount of experience that he has through his long career, you know that not having him is a big blow,” Lebouef told ESPN.
“Yes, you have [Kalidou] Koulibaly, [Wesley] Fofana, and [Trevoh] Chalobah. They don’t have the experience, the talent. the technique, the anticipation of Thiago Silva.”
In fairness, Silva is one of the few individuals in the Chelsea line-up that you really don’t want to lose for an extended period.
The veteran centre-half has been the club’s standout player during a difficult season, so coping without his presence on a big Champions League showdown with Dortmund will be tough.
Silva was forced off injured during the first half of last weekend’s Premier League defeat at Tottenham.
Chelsea have confirmed that the 38-year-old defender has suffered damage in his knee ligaments.
There’s no official timeframe yet of when the centre-back will be able to return, but he’s expected to miss the Leeds and Dortmund games as a minimum.
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