By Rich

​Alexander Hack is a 26-year-old centre-back for 1. FSV Mainz 05. Hack was born on September 8, 1993 in Memmingen, Germany and spent his youth career playing for 1860 München until 2012. His senior career began with FC Memmingen for the 2012-13 season, where he scored 2 goals in 34 appearances. His career continued at SpVgg Unterhaching the following season, where he scored 1 goal in 29 appearances, before joining his current club in 2014, where he initially became a starter for the club’s reserve squad. He has played for the senior squad since 2015, scoring 2 goals in more than 50 appearances, and his current contract runs until 2022. Hack also played 1 season with Germany’s U20 squad, where he made 4 appearances between 2013 and 2014.

By Rich

Krzysztof Piatek made his Bundesliga debut on Friday as Hertha Berlin and FC Schalke 04 played a 0-0 draw, and Piatek also became the 28th player to feature for Hertha in the Bundesliga this season, which is more than any other club in the top league in Germany. The additional point in the table means that Hertha have now accumulated 12 points in the 8 outings since Klinsmann took over coaching duties. The key match to watch on Saturday will be that between hosts RB Leipzig and visitors Borussia Mönchengladbach, who are 1st and 3rd in the league respectively, and who are separated in the table by just 2 points. If Bayern defeat Mainz earlier in the day, however, on Saturday, Leipzig will no longer be in first place, and a loss to Gladbach would be a serious setback for Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann, who has already said he is “impatient” to bring Leipzig its 1st title. Leipzig striker Timo Werner is himself now 1 goal behind Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski in the scorers’ table. Nagelsmann’s squad, though, has a formidable opponent in Gladbach, who currently have the best defense in the league with just 21 goals conceded, and who are anticipating the return of Stefan Lainer from a suspension. On the other hand, Gladbach are the only club in the Bundesliga who have not yet beaten Leipzig in their last 7 encounters - Leipzig have won 5 and tied 2. There is 1 further statistic to keep in mind: Leipzig defeated Gladbach earlier this season, and all 3 of Leipzig’s goals came from Werner. If he could repeat this feat on Saturday, he would become the first Bundesliga player in history to have scored 23 goals in 20 matches. Looking ahead to Sunday, Paderborn will be looking to climb out of the relegation zone when they host Wolfsburg, who will be without striker Wout Weghorst, who has a torn thigh muscle. Paderborn have seemed to come to life of late, having collected 10 points in their last 8 matches, which is an improvement over 5 points in their first 11. The club is helped by the struggles of the clubs around them in the table, and are ahead of Fortuna Düsseldorf on goal differential, while only 2 points behind Bremen and 3 behind Mainz. Wolfsburg is coming off of 3 consecutive Bundesliga defeats and have taken just 7 points in their last 10 matches. One bright spot for Wolfsburg: winter signing Marin Pongracic is set to make his debut, potentially shoring up Wolfsburg’s weak defense.

By Rich

​Felix Wiedwald is a 29-year-old goalkeeper for Eintracht Frankfurt. Wiedwald was born on March 15, 1990 in Thedinghausen, West Germany, and spent his youth career playing for TSV Achim from 1997 to 1999, and SV Werder Bremen from 1999 to 2009. His senior career continued at Bremen, where he made his professional debut on September 26, 2009 in a 2-2 away game at FC Carl Zeiss Jena, and was Werder Bremen II’s first-choice keeper. His career continued at MSV Duisburg from 2011 to 2013, Eintracht Frankfurt from 2013 to 2015, SV Werder Bremen from 2015 to 2017, Leeds United from 2017 to 2018, and Eintracht Frankfurt since 2018, which included playing on loan at Duisburg from January to May 2019. Wiedwald also made 1 appearance for Germany’s U20 squad in 2009.