FC Schalke 04 coach Markus Weinzierl still has most of his strikers in the treatment room as Franco di Santo has still not recovered from a stomach strain and will miss out once again along with long-term absentees Breel Embolo and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting has however ploughed a lone furrow up front very successfully in recent weeks. Despite returning to the squad for the Europa League game midweek, Atsuto Uchida is still not an option for the Bundesliga after over 20 months out. At the back, Sascha Riether could replace suspended captain Benedikt


After resting several first-team regulars for the final match in Leverkusen’s successful Champions League group stage, coach Roger Schmidt will recall Bernd Leno, Benjamin Henrichs, Jonathan Tah, Ömer Toprak and Charles Aranguiz. Up front Joel Pohjanpalo could return to the side instead of Stefan Kießling or Julian Brandt may push up to leave space for Kai Havertz in midfield.

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Schalke possible line-up: Fährmann – Riether, Naldo, Nastasic – Geis – Schöpf, Kolasinac – Goretzka, Bentaleb – M. Meyer – Choupo-Moting

Absentees: Coke (cruciate ligament), Höwedes (suspended), Uchida (light training), di Santo (stomach), Embolo (broken ankle), Huntelaar (knee injury)

Coach: Markus Weinzierl

Leverkusen possible line-up: Leno – Henrichs, Tah, Toprak, Wendell – Baumgartlinger, Aranguiz – Calhanoglu, Brandt – Chicharito, Kießling

Absentees: Bellarabi (Rehab), L. Bender (heel), Kampl (foot fracture), Mehmedi (adductor), Volland (muscle injury)


Coach: Roger Schmidt

FC Schalke 04 play host to Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the VELTINS Arena, with the game kicking off at 17:30CET/16:30GMT on 11 December.

Tips :Schalke 04 win