Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany has warned his players that Holstein Kiel's record against the top teams makes them dangerous Bundesliga opponents on Saturday.

Relegation-threatened Kiel have just three top-flight wins this season, while hosts Bayern have 48 points from 19 matches and sit six points clear at the top of the standings, so will go into the match as huge favourites.

Bayern have scored the most goals and conceded the fewest in the league, while struggling Kiel are 17th in the table with 12 points, having conceded 48 goals already.

However, Kiel claimed a shock 4-2 win over Borussia Dortmund this month.

They also held champions Bayer Leverkusen to a 2-2 draw in October and drew 2-2 with seventh-placed Wolfsburg last week, so Kompany has seen enough in those games to adopt a cautious mindset going into the game.

"It's good to hear that we have the best attack and defence – that shows we are doing our job, it's always about mentality," Kompany told reporters on Friday.

"Holstein Kiel is my priority. Look at what Kiel did against Dortmund, Leverkusen and Wolfsburg. That is a feeling they can bring against us.

"We don't distinguish between opponents; I just want to go into the game with hunger."

If Bayern can record a sixth straight league win, it will be their outright best streak of the season. They equalled their joint-best winning run of the Bundesliga campaign last week with a narrow 2-1 win at Freiburg.

“The guys who played in the last game should all be available. Hopefully we also get a few more players back next week.”#FCBayern #MiaSanMia #FCBKSV pic.twitter.com/sjpCWE6wDK

— FC Bayern (@FCBayernEN) January 31, 2025

This will be a milestone match for striker Harry Kane, who is set to make his 50th Bundesliga appearance. 

Even if he fails to score against Kiel, the England striker will still hold the record for the most goals by any player in their first 50 games, as he already has 53 strikes to his name in the competition.

Kane has racked up seven Bundesliga hat-tricks since moving to Germany, one of which came against Holstein Kiel in a 6-1 away win during the reverse fixture. That September match also saw Jamal Musiala score the club's third-quickest Bundesliga goal after just 14 seconds. 

Kompany also weighed in on the German Football League's (DFL) decision to launch a pilot project where referees will explain VAR decisions to fans in the stadium via loudspeakers starting on Saturday.

He said: "It's an innovation if it's about communication in the stadium. We've seen it in other sports. I'm always in favour of innovation, so let's see how it goes.

"Compared to other leagues, the Bundesliga has fewer and shorter VAR stoppages. It often takes longer in other leagues.
 
"We need to see what happens now, but I welcome the general idea of looking for more transparency."

Bayern, who failed to finish in the top eight in the Champions League group stage and missed out on automatic last-16 qualification, were set to learn their next opponents in the competition shortly after Kompany spoke.

They were ultimately drawn to face Scottish side Celtic, avoiding a clash with Premier League champions Manchester City, for whom Kompany played 360 matches and won four league titles.

Speaking prior to the draw, Kompany said: "I have no favourite for who we play. We've got two games. It's very important that we build up excitement and energy for these games.

"Obviously we wanted to finish in the top eight. But Real Madrid, City, Juventus, AC Milan and lots of other big clubs didn't make it either. It's just important to build that energy for those games."