Chelsea's Marc Cucurella ruled out of Brighton & Hove Albion reunion

Cucurella and his teammates experienced a difficult afternoon in Saturday's meeting with Newcastle United at St. James' Park.

The Blues fell to a disappointing 4-1 defeat despite going into half time on level terms after Raheem Sterling scored his fifth league goal of the season to cancel out Alexander Isak's opener.

However, Chelsea capitulated in the second period, as Jamaal Lascelles and Joelinton found the net in quick succession before Reece James was given his marching orders for two bookable offences.

Anthony Gordon added a fourth late on to condemn Chelsea to their first away defeat since losing to West Ham United in August.

Mauricio Pochettino will now be left to pick his players up ahead of next Sunday's tricky home fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Chelsea boss will go into that contest without two of his full-backs, with James and Cucurella set to miss out through suspension.

While James was giving his marching orders against the Magpies, Cucurella picked up his fifth yellow card of the season.

The Spaniard, who joined Chelsea from Brighton in 2022, was booked for dissent in the 77th minute of Saturday's clash.

Cucurella's absence will come as a blow to Pochettino, who has made the defender a regular starter in recent weeks.

After failing to appear in Chelsea's opening six league games, Cucurella has gone on to start five of the next six top-flight matches following an injury to first-choice left-back Ben Chilwell.

With Cucurella set to serve a one-match suspension, Pochettino will have to decide whether to use Levi Colwill or Ian Maatsen at left-back next weekend.

Having collected 16 points from 13 games, the West London club currently occupy 10th place in the Premier League table.