David Silva likely to miss Villarreal Clash

David Silva has injured his hamstring and looks likely to miss the matches against AZ and Villarreal this week. While the league leaders have a large number of other really talented players at their disposal, the veteran Spaniard has nonetheless been a crucial piece.

Silva had just signed for Real Sociedad when we beat them 2-0 in preseason, but as he has blended into the side they’ve just been better and better. They have currently won six league matches in a row.

From the start of the year, I thought La Real’s biggest question marks were about their depth, and that comes to the forefront now. This early season title race lead has been a lot of fun for their fans, and good for Spanish football as a whole, but as Europa League matches pile up and they face having to go to Saudi Arabia to play in the Supercopa de Espana in the next couple of months, whether they have the bodies to support tired legs will be put to the test.

The only league match Silva has missed so far this season is the season opener against Real Valladolid, where La Real drew and Roberto Lopez started in Silva’s place. Lopez had the only goal for Real Sociedad in that match but that contest represents more than half the minutes he has played this season.

Real Sociedad are well coached and will not be easy to beat with or without David Silva, but if he is out injured it definitely represents a big loss as 1st vs 3rd face off in La Liga.