Good afternoon and welcome to Eurosport's live text coverage of Bayern Munich's Bundesliga clash with FC Koln as they seek to shake off their malaise and kick start their title assault. Stay with us as we take you through every kick, goal and slice of action. Team news coming imminently.

Here's a corner for the visitors... Rexbhecaj delivers... pawed away by Neuer, and a Bayern attacking phase can blossom.

Koln certainly aren't afraid to test the frailties of Bayern's defensive structure here, they're throwing men forwards when they can... Ozcan and Rexbhecaj are trying to support the wing backs and the forwards, but they need to improve the quality of the final ball and the first touch if they are to trouble the three centre backs and the rapid Davies.

It's all hands on deck for Koln defensively. Bayern are pushing, trying to turn the screw. Choupo-Moting has been impressive down the left... here he is with a cross... and Sane drives it back in! Wide.

Really neatly worked through the field by Koln: a chipped ball wide from Horn finds Ozcan who flicks the ball on, Dennis chests it down for Duda, and the Jakobs cross is sent behind for a corner... short for Duda... but wasted.

A beautiful roll and flick from Choupo-Moting to set Davies off down the left on the overlap, but Salih Ozcan defends well and wins a free kick deep in his own box.

It is more of a back three in possession for Bayern: Sule is drifting wider than Alaba on the other side, but he's rarely getting forwards: he's offering passing options, but otherwise little down the right beyond Sane.

An energetic start here with a determined interception from Joshua Kimmich allows him to break the line, but his fizzed ball towards Sane is cut out.

And we're underway.

5 minutes - the teams are on their way.

10 minutes to go.

Robert Lewandowski again leads the scoring charts - 26 this season in the league - surely he can't hit four today and make it 30?

Koln sit three points above the relegation playoff place, and could make that six if they did the unthinkable and win today, especially considering that Arminia visit Dortmund today.

Bayern sit two points clear of their nearest rivals RB Leipzig, and would stretch that lead to five were they to win here, but with Leipzig playing Borussia Monchengladbach later today in what will prove a stern test, Bayern could well see that five point lead sealed, or cut slimly to four.

Half an hour to kick off.

Two more prominent names to watch out for in the Koln side are the goalkeeper, Timo Horn. once on the radar of Manchester United, and 23-year old Spanish centre-half Jorge Mere, who plays the Fabio Cannavaro 'libero' role in the middle of the defensive trident: at just under 6'0", he's small for a centre-back, but he more than makes up for it with his recovery pace, reading of the game, and technical ability.

As for the visitors, Ondrej Duda, once of Norwich City, will roam freely behind the nifty Emmanuel Dennis, with the Nigerian looking to use his pace to stretch the Bayern backline. Marius Wolf and Ismail Jakobs will have their hands full having to deal with Leroy Sane and Alphonso Davies respectively, but they can expect some support in the half-space from supporting midfielders Elvis Rexhbecaj and Salih Ozcan, to double up on their opposite numbers.

However, do not be surprised if Bayern plump for a back three in possession, with Sule moving more centrally, and Kimmich drifting into the wide areas to create, becoming a more auxiliary right wing-back as a result, with Alphonso Davies given the licence to bomb forwards on the left, with David Alaba shifting a tad wider to cover the left half-space.

Niklas Sule fills in at right-back for the sidelined Benjamin Pavard, and Bouna Sarr is dropped after a woeful performance in the embarrassing draw against Arminia Bielefeld. Thomas Muller, Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman are rested, and perhaps rightly so, with Der Klassiker next on the agenda for the reigning champions.

It seems as though Koln are going to try and flood the midfield with numbers in an attempt to stifle the deep-lying creator Joshua Kimmich, whilst for the hosts, Jamal Musiala comes in and is rewarded for his exceptional performance in midweek against Lazio, roaming behind Robert Lewandowski in the number 10 hole, flanked by Eric Choupo-Moting and Leroy Sane either side.

Koln's substitutes are as follows: Ehizibue, Horn, Schmitz, Limnios, Meyer, Katterbach, Thielmann, Drexler, Zieler.

Bayern demonstrate their strength in depth with this bench: Dantas, Muller, Martinez, Hernandez, Sarr, Gnabry, Roca, Coman, Hoffmann.