Paris Saint-Germain will be without star striker Edinson Cavani and captain Thiago Silva when they kick off their Ligue 1 title defence at Bastia on Friday.
The South American pair missed the French capital outfit's 4-1 Trophee des Champions victory over Lyon at Worthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt, Austria, last week and neither player has recovered in time to be fit enough to make the trip to Corsica.
Speaking at the Ooredoo Training Centre for his prematch news conference, PSG coach Unai Emery immediately confirmed Cavani and Silva's absences.
"The players are making good progress physically. Edinson is doing better but he will only be back to his best some time next week," the Spaniard said. "So, I doubt that he will be ready for tomorrow's match with Bastia.
"The same goes for Thiago -- he is doing a lot better but he will miss tomorrow's match. He is progressing well but we're looking more towards our Week 2 clash with Metz for his return."
Cavani's absence means summer signing Hatem Ben Arfa will get another chance to lead the attack after he started up top for the thrashing of Lyon. The France international scored the third of PSG's four goals in Austria but Emery feels there is more to come from the former Nice man.
"Hatem possesses many qualities," the Basque tactician stated. "He can play anywhere in attack. He has also played a lot out wide, where he has had to work harder defensively.
"I think he is better when played through the middle. For the balance of the team, particularly in his current [physical] condition, I still want to see more of him up top."
However, Ben Arfa is not Emery's only option to replace Cavani at the tip of his 4-2-3-1 formation. Despite only having completed his move to PSG from Real Madrid on Monday, new arrival Jese Rodriguez has already been included in the squad to face Bastia.
"Jese did the preseason with Real Madrid, and he has trained hard this week," Emery confirmed. "Yes, he is in the squad and will be coming to Bastia with us. 19 players will make the trip and he is in the group. He is in form and ready to play if necessary."
Another position that has been the subject of plenty of preseason debate has been that of the goalkeepers with last campaign's regular starter Kevin Trapp, youth academy graduate Alphonse Areola and Italy International Salvatore Sirigu all at Emery's disposal.
The former Sevilla man opted for Trapp over Areola against Lyon, while Sirigu is expected to leave Parc des Princes this summer. Asked whether the German shot-stopper would start again or whether the young Frenchman would get a chance, Emery was evasive.
"I want a team with competition," he said. "The season will be long, and you need to keep the players in a competitive mentality. The goalkeepers? You know my opinion. I'm very happy to have three good 'keepers. Whoever plays tomorrow will have a huge match, I'm sure."
Elsewhere, Emery confirmed that Jean-Christophe Bahebeck is finally back in training after his recent injury lay-off, but he will play with the reserves to regain match fitness before being restored to the senior squad.
As well as Bahebeck, Benjamin Stambouli was left out of the group with reports linking him with summer move to Real Betis, while Jean-Kevin Augustin, Lorenzo Callegari, Remy Descamps, Alec Georgen and Christophe Nkunku are all on duty with the CFA reserves this weekend.
Marquinhos is still at the Olympics with Brazil, while Salvatore Sirigu continues to look for a way out of Parc des Princes.