Schalke manager Felix Magath has moved to life the pressure off his side ahead of this weekend's top-of-the-table clash with Hamburg.

Despite serious off-field financial worries, the Royal Blues have been able to climb to third in the Bundesliga after nine matches and they trail league leaders Bayer Leverkusen just four points.

On Sunday, they welcome Hamburg to the Arena AufSchalke, but Magath insists his side will be the underdogs.

"We are not a top team yet," he told Kicker magazine.

"Hamburg are favourites, but we are capable of beating any top team at home, even if we are not a top team ourselves."

His words echo the remarks he repeatedly made while in charge of Wolfsburg last season and he still managed to lead them to a first ever Bundesliga title.

But he insists there is still a lot of room for improvement in his current side,.

"We are still making too many errors going forward and losing possession too often," he added.

Bayern Munich, who currently lie sixth, six points adrift of the league leaders, will be hoping to make up ground when they host Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday fresh from a 2-1 defeat by Bordeaux in the Champions League on Wednesday which saw club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge run out of patience.

"It is now up to the team to react, to be defiant and to get the points that we need," he said.

"I would strongly recommend and advise you (the players) to choose another gear because anything like today will not lead FC Bayern to success this season."

Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg are also above Bayern in the standings, but due to their Europa League commitments they are not in action until Sunday, when they travel to Bochum and Hertha Berlin respectively.

Berlin will be looking to end a sequence of eight consecutive defeats in that game, but even that would not be enough to lift them off the foot of the table.

Second-bottom Borussia Monchengladbach are four points above Friedhelm Funkel's side ahead of their derby match with Cologne, who have just one point more, on Saturday.

Elsewhere, league newcomers Mainz and Freiburg clash at the Bruchweg Stadion, Hoffenheim host Nurnberg and Hannover entertain struggling Stuttgart.

In a match played on Friday, Bayer Leverkusen drew 1-1 with Borussia Dortmund to go a point clear at the top of the table.