Chelsea are loving life in the Premier League under Enzo Maresca this season but they could be faced with a huge suspension problem over the next three games.
The Blues are flying high in second place, five points off Liverpool at the top. After beating Tottenham last time out, the confidence is flowing ahead of Christmas.
This weekend, Maresca's men welcome London rivals Brentford to Stamford Bridge on Sunday (7pm kick-off). The Bees have not won away from home in the Premier League this season, boasting the top-flight's joint-worst record on the road.
Sunday night's visit of Brentford is the first game of a kind run of fixtures over the next month with games against Everton, Fulham, Ipswich, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Wolves following. However, Maresca may be forced to be without a number of key players over the next few weeks.
Chelsea have two players on four bookings in the Premier League season in Nicolas Jackson and Robert Sanchez. Should they get booked on Sunday or in the following two games, they will be forced to sit a one-game suspension.
Pedro Neto is out of this weekend's game with Brentford after picking up his fifth yellow card of the campaign. The threshold for suspension refreshes to 10 on matchday 19 with Chelsea playing three more times before that.
In a nightmare scenario, Maresca could end up losing some big names. Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo, Levi Colwill, Romeo Lavia and Noni Madueke are all on three yellow cards, meaning two more before the Ipswich game (December 30) would see them miss one game due to suspension.
Maresca has previously told his players to be more disciplined after they were shown six yellow cards against Nottingham Forest earlier in the season, earning a second £25,000 fine of the season.
“These things can happen,” Maresca said about his side’s aggression. “In terms of emotion, the team is fighting altogether and I don’t think some of them lost their heads. They were, all of them, in the game. I was happy with that.”
He continued: “It is something we need to improve but overall, I like the team the way they are fighting. I like the way they are becoming a team in these kinds of things. I don’t see any problems about that.”