Preview Matchday 6: Matchday 6: Erlangen in Hanover, Melsungen against Hamburg, and Füchse receive Eisenach

Friday, 26 September:

• After two defeats against Flensburg and Kiel within four days, TSV Hannover-Burgdorf ended the triple-match week victorious with a 28:24 win against Rhein-Neckar Löwen. With 4:6 points, the Recken are in 12th place.
• HC Erlangen also have 4:6 points to their name, on the fifth match day they achieved the biggest surprise of the season so far with a 31:31 draw against runners-up and Champions League winners SC Magdeburg.
• Marek Nissen was the HCE's top scorer against Magdeburg with ten goals. The 24-year-old has scored a total of 28 goals, four less than the Recken's top scorer Marius Steinhauser (32).
• The current Handball Player of the Year, Renars Uscins, will be out for several weeks due to an arm injury sustained against Kiel.
• Recken earned 3:1 points against Erlangen last season, following up a 31:25 home win with a 33:33 draw. At home, however, Hannover-Burgdorf have a perfect record with ten wins in ten games, and overall, Recken lead with 12:4 wins.

• MT Melsungen lost 24:30 to champions Füchse Berlin on Sunday and continues to pay tribute to its string of injuries. With 3:7 points, the Hessians are currently in 14th place in the DAIKIN HBL table.
• Despite 13 goals from Moritz Sauter and an intermediate six-goal lead, Handball Sport Verein Hamburg let a victory slip away against Lemgo on the fifth match day, drawing 35:35. They are now in eighth place with a balanced points tally (5:5).
• HSVH newcomer Nicolaj Jørgensen has scored 33 goals, making the Dane the fifth-best scorer in the DAIKIN HBL. MT's top scorer is Dainis Kristopans with 24 goals.
• Since Hamburg's promotion, there have only been home wins for both teams in the duels against each other (4:4). Overall, HSVH lead clearly with 20:6 wins in 28 games.

Saturday, 27 September:

• After a perfect start with 4:0 points, Rhein-Neckar Löwen suffered two defeats in their last three games, most recently a 24:28 loss to Hannover. Maik Machulla's team is in seventh position with 6:4 points.
• As in Melsungen, SC DHfK Leipzig have also been hit hard by injuries and are in second-to-last place with 1:9 points after five games, most recently losing 34:41 to league leaders Kiel.
• With 58 saves, David Späth (Lions) is currently the best goalkeeper in the league; the best scorers for both teams are Blær Hinriksson (30 goals for Leipzig) and Jannik Kohlbacher (23 goals for the Lions).
• SC DHfK Leipzig won the last three home games against the Lions, but only celebrated one away win in Mannheim in October 2020. The overall record after 20 matches so far is 13:5 in favour of the Lions.

Sunday, 28 September:

• SG Flensburg-Handewitt won 43:33 at Bergischer HC and are the third undefeated team in the DAIKIN HBL alongside Kiel (10:0) and Magdeburg (9:1). With 8:2 points, SG are third.
• FRISCH AUF! has even managed to gain three draws in five games so far: the 24:24 against Leipzig was followed by a 28:28 against Stuttgart – with 5:5 points, the traditional club is currently ninth.
• Even though he did not score in the goal fest against Bergischer HC, Marko Grgic remains SG's top scorer with 32 goals – as sixth in the overall DAIKIN HBL scoring list. Ludvig Hallbäck has netted 29 times for Göppingen so far.
• Thanks to the goal fest against BHC, SG currently have the best attack in the league with 182 goals (36.4 goals per game), nine more than THW Kiel.
• In the previous season, Göppingen took a 27:27 draw in their home game after losing 32:37 in Flensburg. Overall, the SG has won 25 of 27 home games, with Göppingen's only victory coming in May 1986, at that time against SG Weiche-Handewitt. Overall, after 54 encounters, the score is 34:8 in favour of Flensburg.

• Both teams are tied on 3:7 points after the fifth match day.
• HSG Wetzlar recently lost narrowly 28:29 in Eisenach; they have lost three of their last four games, with their only victory so far coming against Leipzig. New signing Philipp Ahouansou is the HSG's top scorer with 28 goals.
• Three days after the match in Kiel, GWD Minden have their next away game on the schedule.
• This will be the 44th time the two teams lock horns in the Bundesliga. Minden won the last encounter on 1 April 2023 in Wetzlar 27:25, following seven consecutive HSG victories. Overall, Wetzlar leads the head-to-head record 24:13.

• After two defeats against Magdeburg and in Gummersbach, Füchse celebrated their first DAIKIN HBL victory under new coach Nicolej Krickau on Sunday with a 30:24 win against Melsungen. The champions are currently in sixth place with 6:4 points.
• ThSV Eisenach also ended their losing streak, winning 29:28 against Wetzlar and are twelfth in the table with 4:6 points.
• Mathias Gidsel (Füchse) is third in the DAIKIN HBL scoring list with 44 goals, while Eisenach's new signing Max Beneke has scored 23 times so far.
• Eisenach's Croat Matija Spikic is the fifth-best goalkeeper in the league with 46 saves, having saved four more shots than Berlin's Serbian Dejan Milosavljev, who was the match winner against Melsungen.
• Füchse have won seven of their eight matches against Eisenach so far, with the ThSV's only victory dating back to December 2012. The Thuringians are still waiting for their first point in Berlin.