**Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca won’t be in the dugout when the Blues take on Aston Villa this weekend.**
The Italian will be serving a touchline ban after picking up his third yellow card of the season against Newcastle.
Maresca also picked up bookings against Manchester United in September and during the 2-0 away win versus Burnley last month.
It is a one-game ban, meaning that the 45-year-old will be back on the bench when his team face Bournemouth on Tuesday next week.
How did Maresca get his yellow card vs Newcastle?
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The Blues boss explained after the match at St James’ Park on Saturday that he was upset that one of his players was given a booking by referee Andy Madley.
Maresca felt that no less than three Newcastle players had made similar fouls without going into the book, and he was not happy with what he felt were double standards.
Unfortunately for him, though, Madley took exception to his protestations and gave him a yellow card, resulting in his [**ban**](https://chelseanews.com/blog/chelsea-news-moises-caicedo-carabao-cup-ban/) for the Villa fixture. It is a big game to miss, considering Chelsea could go within 4 points of their opponents in 3rd place with a victory on Saturday.
The Chelsea manager has already been banned once this season
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Maresca was actually sent off for two bookable offences during the 2-1 win over Liverpool back in October. He was given his marching orders after celebrating too vociferously following Estevao’s dramatic late winner.
As a result, he was not on the touchline for the subsequent Premier League fixture against Nottingham Forest. Ironically, his team did not miss his presence. Thet beat the Tricky Tress 3-0 on the day, although they had to negotiate a tricky first half to get the win. Fans will be hoping for a similar result versus Villa this weekend.
[**Read more about the Chelsea First Team Squad for 2025/26 here**](https://chelseanews.com/blog/chelsea-first-team-squad/)