Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting will start for an injury-hit Schalke 04 in their crucial Champions League clash with Maribor after scoring a hat-trick for the Bundesliga club at the weekend.

The Blues, who must win in Slovenia and hope that Sporting Lisbon are beaten by table-topping Chelsea, are without Julian Draxler, Jefferson Farfan, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Joel Matip, Felipe Santana and Sidney Sam through injury.

However, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who scored in the return fixture in Germany, does start up front for the visitors.

Maribor boss Ante Simundza has opted to leave Luka Zahovic out of the starting lineup in attack, at the expense of Marcos Tavare.

The hosts will also have midfielder Peter Stojanovic filling in at right-back against Roberto Di Matteo's men.

Maribor: Handanovic; Stojanovic, Rajcevic, Arghus, Viler; Mertelj, Sallalich, Ibraimi, Filipovic, Bohar; Tavares

Schalke: Fahrmann; Neustadter, Kirchhoff, Howedes; Uchida, Fuchs, Aogo, Hoger, Barnetta; Choupo-Moting, Huntelaar