By Rich

​Cedric Teuchert scored a goal in the 88th minute on Friday to deliver Union Berlin a 1:0 victory over visiting Bayer Leverkusen. Although the 2 clubs led the league in goals scored within the first 15 minutes of their games going into Friday, the match remained scoreless until Teuchert beat Leverkusen’s Lukas Hradecky to boost his club into 4th place going into the rest of the weekend’s contests. Union are now on their 2nd-longest unbeaten streak (6) in their Bundesliga history and have lost just 2 of their 16 matches this season, and the victory on Friday occurred in their 50th Bundesliga game. A key contest to watch on Saturday will be that between hosts Hoffenheim and visitors Bielefeld. Both teams are struggling this season and just 2 points separate them dangerously close to relegation. Hoffenheim are coming off a shocking loss to Schalke last weekend, having lost 4:0 at the Veltins Arena. At the moment, the club is without regulars Robert Skov and Florian Grillitsch, but could see the return at left-back of Ryan Sessegnon, who returned to training earlier in the week. Hoffenheim’s Christoph Baumgartner is suspended after having received his 5th yellow card of the campaign, leaving his position to be filled by Andrej Kramaric. Hoffenheim’s loss last weekend allowed Bielefeld to close to within just 2 points of their hosts, thanks to a 1:0 win over Hertha last Sunday.  Bielefeld have now won 3 of their last 6 outings and have conceded as many goals (24) as Bayern, and Bielefeld’s scoring prowess is well balanced in their roster: each of the club’s last 4 goals has been scored by a different player. The club’s 2 top-scorers, Fabian Klos and Ritsu Doan, have just 2 apiece. Another important match on Saturday will be that between hosts Bremen and visitors Augsburg. Bremen are tied with Hoffenheim on points in the table, with 15, while Augsburg has been stuck in the middle of the table with 19. One question for Bremen is the role of USMNT striker Josh Sargent, who has not scored in the league since a 1:1 draw with Frankfurt on Matchday 6. Looking ahead to Sunday, Bayern will look to return to top form against Freiburg following last week’s loss to Gladbach and a stunning DFB-Pokal elimination during the week at the hands of Holstein Kiel. They may have their hands full, however, as red-hot Freiburg is on a club-record 5-match winning streak, including a 5:0 blowout over 1. FC Köln. Freiburg, though, have only avoided defeat in 3 of their 20 visits to Munich in the 1. Bundesliga, and have never beaten Bayern away from home. Finally on Sunday: can Schalke make it 2 in a row when they travel to Frankfurt?

By Rich

​Jann-Fiete Arp is a 21-year-old forward for FC Bayern München. Arp was born on January 6, 2000 in Bad Segeberg, and spent his youth career playing for SV Wahlstedt from 2004 to 2010, and Hamburger SV from 2010 to 2018. His senior career continued at Hamburg, where he made his professional debut in a Nordderby against Werder Bremen, coming on in the 89th minute as a substitute for Bobby Wood, making Arp the first Bundesliga player born in the 2000s. On February 7, 2019, it was announced that Arp would join his current club at the beginning of the 2019/20 season. After not making an appearance that season, he was made a permanent member of the club’s secondary team to receive more playing practice. Arp has also made 28 appearances for Germany’s U16, U17, and U19 squads since 2015.