The Blues come into this Champions League clash full
of confidence after yet another Premier League win, this time over
Crystal Palace, as they prepare to take on the Slovenians
The Blues have made a blistering start to their Premier League campaign, winning seven of eight matches to claim a five-point lead, and while Saturday's 2-1 success at Crystal Palace was not as convincing as some of Chelsea's other wins this season, it was achieved in the absence of the injured Diego Costa.
Costa has netted nine goals in seven matches in the league so far but his ongoing hamstring problem forced him to miss out at Selhurst Park.
Mourinho hit out at Spain's treatment of the forward on international duty and he will be without the striker again for the Group G fixture against Maribor, opening the door for either Loic Remy - who played against Palace - or Didier Drogba to lead the line.
Chelsea top the group with four points from two matches and, ahead of a blockbuster Premier League game at Manchester United on Sunday, Mourinho could be forgiven for rotating his squad.
Maribor's two gritty Group G draws have caught the Portuguese's attention, though, and - aiming to be the first coach to win the Champions League with three different clubs - he will keep things relatively similar.
"For Tuesday, I cannot make lots of changes because I cannot break the balance of the team," Mourinho told the press. "I can change a couple. I don't think I am going to recover any player - I do not think Ramires will be available.
"[Andre] Schurrle won't be available, Diego [Costa] for sure is not available. So the players I have are the players I had [against Palace].
"So I don't have a lot to change but I'm going to make a couple of changes. It is a very important match to win; to finish the first three matches with seven points is a very important situation for us."
Chelsea, who have won their last five matches in all competitions, triumphed 1-0 at Sporting Lisbon in September thanks to a Nemanja Matic goal.
The Serbian midfielder said in the build-up to this game that "nobody expected Maribor to take points off Sporting and Schalke" but that those results had sharpened Chelsea's focus.
However, Maribor have slipped to third in the Slovenian top flight after winning just one of their last four league matches and a 2-1 home loss to Celje on Saturday will have done little to boost their confidence.
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