Borussia Dortmund remain a strong side despite the poor start to the Bundesliga season that has seen them take only seven points from nine games, Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has warned.
Looking ahead to the meeting of the two at the Allianz Arena on Saturday, Guardiola said Jurgen Klopp's side remained Bayern's main rivals.
Although defending champions Bayern have a 14-point lead over BVB -- who have not won any of their last six league games and could fall into the relegation zone with a defeat -- the coach said they would still need to be at their best.
"We are expecting strong opponents who can deliver fast counter-attacks," he told his prematch news conference. "We will try and play like we did during this season so far.
"But it's a special game, and we recently lost 3-0 against BVB [in April]. Our style will be important. We must play well -- otherwise we will lose."
Guardiola refused to be drawn into the war of words that has broken out between the clubs over Bayern's interest in signing Marco Reus, adding: "Football matters to me, our playing style. Only football -- I'm sorry."
And he went on to praise BVB as "an outstanding team," adding: "That's the reason why always have difficulties against them.
"We need to win tomorrow to maintain our lead. It's still October, and BVB are still our competitor. But, of course, there are also Gladbach, Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim."
He said Arjen Robben, who has been nursing a muscle injury over the past week, "feels better, but still is not at 100 percent" and may not play.
In Dortmund, meanwhile, Klopp said his side needed to make their own luck as they tried to get away from the wrong end of the table.
"We need to force our luck and work hard for our confidence," he told his prematch news conference. "We won't just get out of that area alone."
He said that, despite their lavish squad, Bundesliga leaders Bayern could be defeated on their own pitch, adding: "Any opponent can be defeated on a certain day, but to schedule that day is the real problem."
And Borussia's official website published some statistical reasons for fans to be cheerful, pointing out that they had lost only one of the last eight Bundesliga games against Bayern.