Thibaut Courtois will miss the trip to Manchester City after Chelsea failed to overturn the goalkeeper's red card - an outcome that did not surprise Jose Mourinho.
It has been a tumultuous week at Stamford Bridge following the 2-2 draw at home to Swansea in the Blues' season opener.
The furore over the demotion of first-team doctor Eva Carneiro and physio Jon Fearn has dominated the headlines, with Mourinho confirming neither will be on the bench at the Etihad Stadium this weekend.
Another absentee in the north west will be Courtois, whose red card against Swansea means he will serve a one-match ban after Chelsea failed in their appeal.
"No, I am not surprised," Mourinho said of that result. "I am not surprised because normally I know we are not normally successful in these.
"What happened to Nemanja Matic last year against Burnley, what happened to Diego Costa against Liverpool in the Capital One Cup.
"Normally we are not successful and normally the committees they support the referee decisions so when the referee decides that it is a red card, normally 99 per cent of the time the committees don't go against the decision and they support the referees' decision. So I never thought he could be available."
It means summer signing Asmir Begovic is set for his full Chelsea debut at City - a match Brazil playmaker Oscar could miss after sustaining a knock in training.
Diego Costa has been given the green light to start, having overcome a reoccurring hamstring problem to play the full 90 minutes against Swansea.
Source: PA
