Given the number of new followers and people adopting SCF as their club, here’s a thread of “who’s who” in the run up to Saturday.

Today we will take a look at the goalkeepers…

You should expect Alexander Schwolow (pronounced Schvo-lo) to start in goal on Saturday. He joined Freiburg’s youth team in 2009 and has been with the club ever since, making his debut on the final day of the 13/14 season and spent 14/15 on loan at Bielefeld.

Schwolow has been more or less ever-present since the 15/16 season, but did miss a couple of games with an injury earlier this season. A great shot stopper and also very comfortable with the ball at his feet.

Mark Flekken is 2nd choice keeper and joined from MSV Duisburg in the summer of 2018. Schwolow’s performance have kept him out of the side but Flekken really impressed when he stepped in for the injured number 1.

Flekken made 9 starts and was unfortunate to lose his place when Schwolow was available again. Flekken is perhaps best known for this unfortunate incident while at Duisburg, sadly for him.

Onto the defence and it gets harder to predict who will play, because outfield fitness levels are a complete unknown and it must be a big factor for picking the team on Saturday.

You wouldn’t put it past Christian Streich to pick an unusual team based on how fit players are.

Right back is likely to be Jonathan Schmid (pronounced Schmeed, no t on the end!) who started in the youth team at Strasbourg just over the French border, but joined Freiburg at U19 level. Some of his previous haircuts have been a bit special.

This is Schmid’s 2nd spell, he was one of a few key players who was sold in the summer of 2015 after SCF were relegated on the final day in Hannover.

Following time at Hoffenheim and Augsburg he rejoined the club last summer.

Schmid was mainly used as a midfielder in his previous spell with the club, but has mainly occupied the right back slot this season.

His free-kicks are also a bit special, as this video shows.

We can also quite confidently predict that Christian Günter (no relation to Wales’ Chris Gunter) will start at left back.

The 27 year old is Freiburg through and through having joined the youth setup at 13.

Günter has made almost 250 appearances for the club in all competitions and has been first choice left back since the 13/14 season.

He has picked up a single Germany cap in a warm up game for the 2014 World Cup but didn’t make the final squad.

Günter is one of those exciting full backs who loves to get forward and go on a marauding run down the wing, but this is the first season he has scored more than one league goal.

This was his first goal of the season against Hoffenheim.

Centre backs are a bit harder to predict, but I would guess it will be Dominique Heintz and one other.

Heintz has been more or less a constant in the team since joining from Köln in summer 2018.

There are up to four potential options as a partner - Philipp Lienhart (Austria U21 int’l), Nico Schlotterbeck (Germany U21s), Robin Koch (Germany senior int’l) and Manuel Gulde.

Koch is possibly more likely to play in central midfield however.

Of those four it’s only really Gulde who I am not keen on. We seem to drop more points when he plays and is slightly more erratic than the other three, despite his additional years of experience.

Gulde signed from Karlsruhe in 2016.

Nico Schlotterbeck (20 years old) is the younger Schlotterbeck brother. Keven Schlotterbeck (23 yo) is currently on loan from SCF to Union Berlin and incredibly both are centre backs.

Nico has got 3 caps for the U21s and has looked like a player with a lot of potential.

Philipp Lienhart joined Freiburg from Real Madrid where he spent several years in the academy.

It was originally a one year loan in the 17/18 season but it was made permanent after that year.

Lienhart has shared the role of Heintz’s partner with Gulde and Schlotterbeck.

Next it’s the midfield, although it can be hard to categorise midfielders / forwards these days. I’ve split today’s and tomorrow’s “who’s who” into 2 so if you spot someone missing, I’ll probably mention them with the forwards...

Robin Koch is someone I mentioned yesterday as a potential centre back and that was his main position when he first joined SCF from Kaiserslautern as a 21 year old in 2017.

More recently he has been used in the centre of midfield however.

Koch is another one of Germany’s young stars and earned his first senior caps this season.

A very assured player he has been attracting attention from both Leipzig (this weekend’s opponents) and Leeds United (if they get promoted).

If Koch does play in the middle of the park, he will likely be alongside one of either Nicolas Höfler or Amir Abrashi.

Both are fairly similar players, who like to rut about in central midfield scrapping to win the ball and then give it to someone more creative.

“Chico” Höfler is another long time servant of the club joining the academy at the U17 level.

He had two seasons on loan at Erzgebirge Aue in 11/12 and 12/13 but since returning has become a regular fixture in the side, especially since the 15/16 season onwards.

Abrashi signed in the summer of 2015 from Grasshoppers Zürich and helped SCF to the 2. Bundesliga title in his first season.

The last three seasons (this one included) have been punctuated by injures however, so Höfler may get the nod.

Club captain Mike Frantz is another good servant of the club having joined from Nürnberg in 2014 and staying with Freiburg despite relegation at the end of that season.

Frantz is a bit of a utility man and has been deployed anywhere across midfield, attack and even right back.

Janik Haberer is also pretty versatile and also gets used across midfield or even as a fool for a lone striker.

The former Germany U21 international signed from Hoffenheim in 2016 but there is talk he could leave this summer with his contract set to expire.

The native English speaker in the squad, Brandon Borrello is an Australian international who signed from Kaiserslautern in summer 2018 when he was coming back from an ACL injury.

More of an out and out winger, his game time has been limited due to competition for places.