Bundesliga: Derby time in Cologne

Borussia Mönchengladbach's dramatic fall from grace at the start of this season, while unexpected, was foreseen by many. The losses of Christoph Kramer and Max Kruse – replaced by Josip Drmic and Lars Stindl (costing 13 million euros) – have hit the Foals harder than they expected. Consecutive 3-0 defeats at home and in Europe have Lucien Favre's side heading for a derby with Cologne full of nerves.

“I will keep doing exactly what I have done in the past,” said Lucien Favre at Thursday's pre-match press conference. “It's not ideal at the moment, but things can change so quickly in football.”

The Rhine derby between the two sides has gone in Gladbach's favor consistently over recent years. Cologne have not beaten Gladbach in nine games overall and not in a decade at home, where they have won just 15 of the 48 duels. But while Cologne's strongest Bundesliga start – seven points after matchday three – was the club's strongest in 19 years, the bubble was popped after a crushing 6-2 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.

“This is a special game,” said head coach Peter Stöger on Thursday at the pre-match press conference. “We know Gladbach is a good team. Their recent results don't reflect their quality, but on a good day we too can play with anyone. We want to keep our good home form alive."

As well as losing key players, Gladbach have been foiled by suspension and injury at the start of this season. Granit Xhaka, though, who was suspended for the Champions League defeat to Sevilla on Tuesday, will return at the Rhein-Energie Stadion. Martin Stranzl remains sidelined, but Patrick Herrmann could still be fit to play, while Drmic could be in line to start as a lone-forward, with goals few and far between for the Foals.

Bayern face Darmstadt test, Leverkusen host in-form BVB

Last time Darmstadt welcomed Bayern Munich to its home was in 1982, the last time the Lillies were in the German first division. On that day, the German giants came away with a 2-1 win with the likes of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Paul Breitner starting. Bayern took the lead in that match and if they hope to recreate the fortunes of 33 years ago, they will have to do one thing that Darmstadt have not allowed so far this season, and score first.

"Bayern sets the benchmark. It's going to be a fantastic atmosphere," Darmstadt forward Marcel Heller said. "We'll give it full gas and then see what's possible. But we mustn't shed any tears if we don't win."

While Bayern travelled to Greece on Wednesday night in the Champions League, Darmstadt's players rested up after matchday three's superb 1-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. Having already faced Schalke as well as Leverkusen, the prospect of the German champions only adds to the reality of how far Darmstadt have come in being promoted to the Bundesliga.

In the four competitive meetings between the sides, Darmstadt have scored in each game, but collected just a single point. A draw on Saturday afternoon would be seen as one of the most remarkable Bundesliga results in recent memory. “This is not an ordinary game,” said Darmstadt head coach Dirk Schuster. “It's the best team in Germany, the best team in the world for me. We'll fight for everything.”

Sitting top of the pile, Borussia Dortmund will be hoping to extend what is already the club's best ever start to a season on Thursday night against FK Krasnodar in the Europa League. On Sunday, Thomas Tuchel's side host Bayer Leverkusen – fresh from a 4-1 crushing of BATE Borisov – who famously opened the 2014-15 season in style at the Signal Iduna Park.

Karim Bellarabi's goal in nine seconds was a Bundesliga record and led to a 2-0 win for Roger Schmidt's side. This time around, the task of taking all three points back home will be more of a challenge. BVB have scored at least twice themselves in each competitive fixture this season, whilst the four goals Bayer scored in the Champions League opener came off the back of three goalless games.

Bundesliga fixtures – Matchday Five:

Mainz – Hoffenheim (Friday)

Darmstadt – Bayern Munich (Saturday)

Wolfsburg – Hertha BSC (Saturday)

Werder Bremen – Ingolstadt (Saturday)

Cologne – Borussia Mönchengladbach (Saturday)

Eintracht Frankfurt - Hamburg (Saturday)

Stuttgart – Schalke (Sunday)

Borussia Dortmund – Bayer Leverkusen (Sunday)

Augsburg – Hannover (Sunday)