By Rich

Eintracht Frankfurt summer signings Bas Dost and Andre Silva both found the net on Friday, leading their new club to a 2:1 victory over hosts 1. FC Union Berlin. All of the match’s 3 goals came in the 2nd half. Dost scored first, in the 48th minute, off a loose ball, and was followed in the 62nd minute by teammate Silva, who nodded in a cross from Djibril Sow. Union Berlin’s lone goal came in the 86th minute when substitute Anthony Ujah cut the Frankfurt lead to just 1 goal. This was Dost’s first Bundesliga start and his second Bundesliga goal with Frankfurt, and Frankfurt continued its perfect record on Union territory, with 4 wins and 1 draw. Coincidentally, Union’s Anthony Ujah scored both of his last 2 Bundesliga goals against Frankfurt, in May 2019, resulting in a 2:0 victory for his previous club, Mainz. Leipzig will look to protect its position at the top of the league when they host a resurgent FC Schalke 04 on Saturday. Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann has yet to suffer defeat at the club’s helm, and is leading an almost perfectly-fit club. Striker Timo Werner, who has netted 4 goals for Leipzig in 6 matches against Schalke, will regain striker partner Yussuf Poulsen, who missed last week’s win over Werder Bremen to attend the birth of his 1st child. Schalke have now won 3 consecutive matches, which is their best run in more than 18 months. A key component of Schalke’s recent success has been the performance of Moroccan international Amine Harit, who has scored 3 times and assisted once in his last 2 appearances. Should Leipzig win or draw on Saturday, they would set a club record of 10 consecutive home games without a loss. One of the weekend’s key matches comes on Sunday, when Anthony Modeste and 1. FC Köln welcome Salomon Kalou and Hertha Berlin to the RheinEnergieStadion. Köln are still looking for their first points at home this season, and will likely use Modeste and Jhon Cordoba on attack. Hertha managed only 1 point in their first 4 games of the season, but finally posted a win last weekend over Paderborn. Hertha have picked up a total of 8 Bundesliga away victories against Köln, and 6 of those came in their last 8 visits. And while Hertha’s Vedad Ibisevic has scored 10 times in 14 career matches against the Billy Goats, he has yet to find the net this season. One final statistic: the Bundesliga’s record for attendance came almost exactly 50 years ago, in a match between Hertha and Köln.

By Rich

Alexander Nübel is a 22-year-old goalkeeper for FC Schalke 04. Nübel was born on September 30th, 1996 in Paderborn, Germany and spent his youth career playing for TSV Tudorf until 2005, and SC Paderborn from 2005 until 2015. His senior career began at FC Schalke 04, where he made 24 appearances from 2015 to 2018 for the club’s reserve squad, and he has so far made 25 appearances for the club’s first team since 2015. On August 6, 2019, the club announced that it had selected Nübel as the team’s new captain, and has also offered him a new contract. Nübel also played for Germany’s U21 squad from 2017 to 2019, where he made 17 appearances.