Matchday 15: Next top games in Mannheim and Flensburg, leaders face huge away hurdle

Saturday, 14 December:

• The 30:31 in Wetzlar on Wednesday evening was the third defeat in a row for SC DHfK Leipzig, which has fallen to twelfth place with 12:16 points.
• Despite a long list of injuries, THW Kiel put in a very strong performance in the 28:24 against TSV Hannover-Burgdorf on Wednesday and celebrated their fourth victory in a row. With 20:8 points, Kiel are now fourth in the table.
• Leipzig have won five of its seven home games in this season so far, losing only to Melsungen and Eisenach.
• Andi Wolff (Kiel) clearly leads the goalkeeper rankings with 144 saves.
• Leipzig have won two of their last three games against THW Kiel, and overall the record is clearly in the Zebras' favor with 14:3 wins.

• SG BBM Bietigheim had a day off on Wednesday and Thursday, lost their home game in the Swabian derby on Monday with 29:30 against TVB Stuttgart and are 15th in the table with 8:20 points.
• Hamburg lost 28:35 to leaders MT Melsungen on Wednesday after four unbeaten games in a row and are eleventh with 13:15 points.
• Hamburg won the only two duels so far in the 2014/15 season.

• Eisenach's upward trend continues: the 31:26 against promoted side Potsdam on Wednesday was already the seventh win of the season for last year's promoted team, which is in ninth place with an equal number of points (14:14).
• With 4:0 points in a row after the two derby victories against Göppingen and Bietigheim, TVB has improved to third-to-last place - the Swabians had a day off on Wednesday and Thursday.
• With 112 goals, Marko Grgic (Eisenach) is currently first on the HBL top scorer list.
• Eisenach's new goalkeeper Silvio Heinevetter faces his previous club Stuttgart.
• So far there have been four duels between the two teams, in the previous season Stuttgart and Eisenach each won their home games, in the 2015/16 season there were two draws.

Sunday, 15 December:

• The duel between the former champions and former cup winners against the current title holder is a repeat of the 2023 cup final, which the Lions won, and the cup quarter-finals of the 2023/24 season, when Magdeburg qualified for the final4 tournament in Cologne.
• It is the second top game in a row for the Lions, after the tough 31:29 against SG Flensburg-Handewitt on Thursday evening; the Baden side is seventh in the table.
• The Magdeburg team celebrated a comfortable 37:28 home win against VfL Gummersbach on Wednesday evening and have been unbeaten for three games. In fifth place, SCM are on 19:7 points and moved past Flensburg.
• David Späth, who secured the Lions' victory over the SG, currently has 130 saves on his tally and is second in the goalkeeper ranking, two places ahead of Magdeburg's Sergey Hernandez (123). The fourth-best scorer in the HBL is Ivan Martinovic (Lions) with 103 goals.
• The record of the two clubs is surprisingly clear: the Lions have won 24 of the 39 duels, the home record is even clearer at 15:4, and the SCM has a total of twelve wins.

• The 13th is visiting the 14th - the duel is of groundbreaking importance for both clubs, who both celebrated victories on Wednesday and are two points apart in the table.
• For HSG Wetzlar (10:18 points), the 31:30 against Leipzig was the fifth win of the season and the third success in the last five games.
• For FRISCH AUF! Göppingen (8:20 points), the 29:22 win on Sunday against Lemgo was a liberation after four defeats in a row.
• The two teams' record after 45 encounters is almost even: Göppingen won 21 times, Wetzlar 20 times - in the last eight duels, Göppingen remained unbeaten six times, but Wetzlar has won two of the last three games.

• The Recken's winning streak ended on Wednesday after 13 unbeaten games with a 24:28 loss at THW Kiel. With 22:6 points, Hannover-Burgdorf are now level on points with the Füchse in third place in the table, two points below Melsungen.
• After previously scoring 3:1 points, Erlangen also lost 24:28 at VfL Gummersbach on Sunday. This means that the Franconians remain in second to last place in the table with 5:23 points.
• Renars Uscins (TSV Hannover-Burgdorf) is the second best scorer in the HBL with 110 goals.
• In the last ten games there have been seven Recken wins, one win for Erlangen (in 2023) and two draws. Overall, the record is 11:4 wins for Hannover-Burgdorf.

• The 21:32 at Füchse Berlin on Thursday was the fourth defeat in a row for TBV Lemgo, who are in tenth place in the table with 14:14 points.
• However, the TBV is clearly the favorite against the promoted team, who are still without any point, the Potsdam team lost their 13th game of the season on Wednesday evening with a 26:31 against Eisenach.
• It is the first HBL game between the two teams.

Monday, 16 December:

• After the duel against the champions and cup winners, VfL now host the league leaders. Gummersbach had no chance in the 28:37 defeat in Magdeburg on Wednesday. With 16:10 points, they are currently eighth.
• Melsungen is the sole leader of the table with 24:4 points thanks to the 35:28 against Hamburg and the simultaneous Recken defeat in Kiel.
• Nebojsa Simic (Melsungen/128 saves) and Dominik Kuzmanovic (Gummersbach/120) are two of the four best goalkeepers in the HBL.
• Melsungen won nine of the last eleven duels, VfL won its home games twice, as it did last season. Overall, however, Gummersbach are narrowly in the lead with 17:15 wins.
• Both coaches are former Champions League winners: Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson as a player with FC Barcelona, Roberto Parrondo Garcia as a player twice with Ciudad Real and once as a coach with Vardar Skopje.
• Both teams have reached the main round of the European League as group winners.

• This week's chaser duel takes place in the far north, where the sixth-placed team host the runners-up. Füchse have been unbeaten for seven games, Flensburg have lost two of their last three games.
• SG Flensburg-Handewitt lost 29:31 on Thursday evening, while the Füchse celebrated a 33:21 victory over TBV Lemgo.
• Four of the seven best HBL scorers face each other in the top match: Berlin's Mathias Gidsel (105), Tim Freihöfer (85) and Lasse Andersson (81) each scored six times against Lemgo, while Flensburg's Emil Jakobsen has scored 96 goals this season, but scored only one goal on seven shots against the lions.
• In the last two seasons, the Füchse remained unbeaten against the SG, with one win and one draw each. Overall, however, Flensburg is clearly ahead with 24:7 wins, including twelve away wins in Berlin.
• The SG won the European League final in Hamburg against the Füchse in May, and Flensburg was also successful against the Füchse in the match for third place in the last DHB Cup final tournament.