Augsburg host Bayern after their best Bundesliga start, three points behind

FC Augsburg host Bayern Munich at the WWK Arena on Saturday (15:30 CEST) as the Bundesliga returns from the international break, with fourth place meeting second. Augsburg have 7 points from four games and a goal difference of +5, the best start in the club's history, and sit three points behind the unbeaten Bayern.

The one team that beat Bayern

Bayern have lost only one of their last 47 Bundesliga matches: 1:2 at home to Augsburg on 24 January. "We lost one Bundesliga game last year, and that was against Augsburg," Vincent Kompany said, according to dpa. "They have started the season with momentum. It is still a derby." Augsburg have won five of the last 25 league meetings and three times inflicted Bayern's first defeat of a season, BR24Sport notes.

Manuel Baum does not want to lean on that record. "Comparisons like that do not hold up," the Augsburg coach said, pointing out that Dimitrios Giannoulis, Keven Schlotterbeck, Arthur Chaves and Cedric Zesiger, all part of the back five in January, have since left.

Form in numbers

Bayern have taken 10 points from four games (three wins, one draw) with 14 goals scored and 2 conceded. Augsburg have two wins, a draw and a defeat, with an 11:6 goal record. According to dpa, Bayern are unbeaten in 28 Bundesliga away games, while Augsburg have lost only one of 13 home league games since Baum returned as coach, 2:5 against Stuttgart in March.

Team news and the Olise problem

Jamal Musiala is out with a muscle fibre tear; all of Bayern's other internationals returned fit, dpa reports. Michael Olise already has four goals and two assists after four matchdays. "One-on-one with a lot of space around the two players, you can't defend him, it gets brutally difficult," Baum said. "Every player simply has to sprint like a madman every second."

Kompany praised his opponents' structure: "What marks out FCA is that they are very compact and can be very dangerous on the ball. They have more than people sometimes think."

What is at stake

Borussia Dortmund lead on 12 points and hosted Werder Bremen on Friday night, while Freiburg, level with Bayern on 10, host Schalke on Sunday. For Bayern, Augsburg opens a run of nine games in 29 days before the November break, starting with a Champions League trip to Viking Stavanger on Tuesday. "I would rather play every three days than have a long break," Kompany said. Sporting director Christoph Freund added: "We have a great squad that is ready for it."