Chelsea and Thiago Silva had a game to forget last night after losing 5-0 to Arsenal at the Emirates.
Thiago Silva did not actually start the match, but he was substituted on in the second half to be part of the Chelsea massacre in north London.
The Brazilian and Trevoh Chalobah were named in the Blues’ first XI for their FA Cup semi-final defeat against Manchester City last weekend, but Mauricio Pochettino has said that they both needed to be rested yesterday.
That is likely to be the last time Silva faces Arsenal.
The central defender’s contract expires at the end of the season and he is now expected to depart Stamford Bridge.
Thiago Silva’s reaction to being brought on against Arsenal
With Silva’s Chelsea career seemingly coming to an end, the 39-year-old will want to play as much as he can.
However, it does not look like he was too pleased about coming on to feature in Chelsea’s hammering at the hands of Arsenal last night.
According to BBC journalist Alex Howell, Silva did not seem too happy about coming on with his side 5-0.
Given how Benoit Badiashile and Axel Disasi played, the former Paris Saint-Germain captain will be expected to start on Saturday.
Pochettino’s men travel to Villa Park to take on Aston Villa, another tough game with their opponents currently sitting fourth in the Premier League table.
Raheem Sterling also brought on
Raheem Sterling was another Chelsea substitution on the night, but the damage was already done by the time he came on.
With Mykhailo Mudryk’s cameo against Manchester City the game before not exactly convincing, the 29-year-old probably should have got the nod over his team-mate.
However, with how Chelsea played, it is unlikely that starting Sterling would have made much of a difference.
Chelsea paid a lot of money to sign Sterling back in 2022, handing Manchester City £50m for his signature, but he remains outside the Blues’ 10 most expensive signings ever.
