Fierce rivals Köln and Mönchengladbach face off on Saturday afternoon at the Rhein-Energie Stadion with Gladbach desperate to claim their first win of the season.

Overview and Form

Both sides come into this game on the back of humbling league defeats. Last time out, Peter Stöger's Köln side were demolished in Frankfurt, losing 6-2 to Eintracht, whereas Lucien Favre's Gladbach lost 0-3 at home to Hamburger SV. Gladbach also travelled to Spain in the Champions League midweek, and, like three days earlier, suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Sevilla.

In truth, Köln have started the season in fair form. They've taken seven points from a possible 12 and currently occupy 8th position in the Bundesliga.

Gladbach, however, are yet to register a single point in their opening four matches and lie bottom of the standings. They've had problems up front and are struggling to score goals, just the two in 360 minutes of league football. Combine that with a leaky defence that has conceded eleven times already, and it's not hard to see why they are where they are at this early stage.

Head-to-head

Borussia Mönchengladbach hold the upper hand in head-to-head meetings, winning 56% (47 of 89) competitive meetings between the two sides. Köln's last win against the Foals was way back in 2008, that came away from home. Köln haven't beaten their rivals at home in just over a decade. Their last home win coming in September of 2005. More recently, in the last five meetings, Köln have taken only one point from a potential 15, drawing once and losing on four occasions, in a run stretching back to 2011.

Team News

Peter Stöger's side have more or less a clean bill of health, their only absentee being 29-year-old defender Mergim Mavraj.

Gladbach welcome back Granit Xhaka from suspension, but will be without the injured trio of Fabian Johnson, Alvaro Dominguez and Martin Stranzl. There is a chance Favre could have Patrick Herrmann available for selection but described his availability as "touch and go".

Key Players

Summer signing Anthony Modeste has been instrumental in Köln's impressive start to the season, scoring three of their eight goals so far and assisting a further four. Stöger spoke about Modeste in his pre-match press conference saying that Modeste "is showing everything we expected of him. He impresses with his physical presence, his penetration, and his heading ability.”

Another summer recruit of sorts, Simon Zoller, who returned from 1. FC Kaiserslautern, has also started impressively, notching himself two goals and an assist in just four appearances.

Despite recent form suggests, Borussia Mönchengladbach pose threats all over the pitch. Favre has a very strong squad of players at his disposal. Proven attackers such as Raffael, Thorgan Hazard, Andrè Hahn and Ibrahima Traorè all have the ability to make something happen.

Young players such as Granit Xhaka, who is thought very highly of in Mönchengladbach and also for his native Switzerland, will be a welcome return. Fellow Swiss teammate Josip Drmić, who has big boots to fill after the sale of Max Kruse to VfL Wolfsburg, will be keen to register his first goal for Die Fohlenelf.

Thoughts from the camps

Peter Stöger spoke about his sides' opponents in his pre-match press conference, "they may not be bursting with confidence at the moment, but Gladbach have clever players in their ranks who can decide games on their own." He also went on to say: "We want to capitalize on the uncertainty of the opponent. But if we make the same errors as we did in Frankfurt, we will lose."

Lucien Favre also spoke of the match and was complimentary towards his opponents. "Köln have started the season very well with seven points. They are well organised and it certainly won't be easy." About his Gladbach side, he said: "The derby is important. We can't let ourselves be intimidated, and we have to play to our own strengths. I have analysed all the matches so far. We are making too many mistakes that are immediately punished."

Despite Mönchengladbach's disappointing start to the season, Favre was this week given the vote of confidence by their director of sport, Max Eberl, who explained: "We have a fantastic manager, who will find solutions to our recent problems. Of that we are confident. We have not forgotten where we came from. We knew that it wouldn't all be plain sailing."