Matchday 11: Chaser’s duel between Hannover and Magdeburg, traditional duel in Gummersbach, and bottom line duel on Monday

Thursday, 21 November:

• The surprising 28:28 against the second-placed team from Hannover-Burgdorf on Sunday meant the first home point of the season for promoted team SG BBM Bietigheim. After three points in the last two games, the Swabians improved to 13th place with 7:13 points.
• SC DHfK Leipzig ended its series of three defeats in a row with a 27:25 win against Göppingen on the last matchday - with an equal number of points (10:10) and an almost equal goal difference (299:298), the Saxons are tenth in the table.
• Leipzig had previously lost to Eisenach in the cup round of 16.
• Leipzig won both previous matches against Bietigheim in the 2018/19 season.

Friday, 22 November:

• League leaders MT Melsungen made another statement on the last matchday with a 31:23 win against defending champions SC Magdeburg - it was the seventh HBL victory in a row, with 18:2 points, MT are in the lead, two points ahead of Hannover-Burgdorf.
• After three home defeats at the start of the season, ThSV Eisenach clearly won the last two games at home - 30:22 against HSG Wetzlar and 35:25 against Göppingen.
• With 8:12 points and after the 28:31 in Lemgo on the last match day, Eisenach is currently eleventh.
• Both teams also proceeded to the cup quarter-finals, where Eisenach will be visiting Rhein-Neckar Löwen and MT will face SG Flensburg-Handewitt at home. Eisenach had defeated Leipzig in the round of 16, Melsungen won in Essen.
• Players from both teams are in the top 5 of the HBL rankings: Nebojsa Simic (Melsungen) is currently the best goalkeeper with 107 saves, ThSV national player Marko Grgic is the fifth best scorer with 73 goals.
• MT Melsungen are also the favorite based on statistics, they have won all six previous matches against Eisenach.

• Both teams won their matches in the round of 16 of the DHB Cup last week - and will duel in the quarterfinals on December 19th in Kiel in the fight for a ticket to the "Lidl Final4" in Cologne.
• It is the 105th duel between both teams in the HBL, Kiel won 58 times, VfL was the winner 42 times. Kiel won five of the last six duels, but Gummersbach won the home game last season.
• While Gummersbach - currently sixth with 14:6 points - had a free last weekend, THW lost the North Derby at home 33:37 against the SG Flensburg-Handewitt.
• For THW it was the second defeat in a row; currently ninth in the table (12:8 points) they are already six points behind league leaders Melsungen.
• VfL coach Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson, who just extended his contract in Gummersbach, played for THW from 2012 to 2014.
• Both goalkeepers are high up in the HBL statistics: Andreas Wolff (THW) is second with 100 saves, VfL newcomer Dominik Kuzmanovic has 85 blocked shots. Kiel's best shooter Emil Madsen is also in the top 10 of the top scorers list with 63 goals.

Saturday, 23 November:

• With the 37:33 derby victory in Kiel - the third success in a row - the SG Flensburg-Handewitt have passed Füchse and Magdeburg in the table and are now third with 15:5 points.
• TBV Lemgo have won five of their last six games, most recently a 31:28 against Eisenach. They are currently seventh in the table with 14:6 points.
• While Lemgo were surprisingly eliminated in the cup round of 16 by second division team Coburg last week, SG qualified for the quarter-finals with a 33:26 win in Hanover.
• The match will see the currently second-best HBL scorer Emil Jakobsen (79 goals for the SG) and the third-best HBL goalkeeper, Constantin Möstl (TBV, 99 saves).
• Lemgo's last and fifth away win in Flensburg dates back to 1996, but TBV has not lost its last three home games against the SG. Overall, there are 35 Flensburg wins and 26 Lemgo wins in the statistics, in the previous season, SG won their home game, the duel in Lemgo ended in a draw.

• Both teams failed to win in the previous round: Recken could not get past a 28:28 draw with promoted Bietigheim, Magdeburger lost 23:31 to league leaders Melsungen.
• In the table, Hannover-Burgdorf are still second with 16:4 points, having played one more game, SCM are fifth now with 14:4 points.
• Last week, both teams also had to bury their cup dreams: Hannover were eliminated in the round of 16 by SG Flensburg-Handewitt, as was defending champion Magdeburg, losing in Kiel.
• The current best HBL shooter Renars Uscins (87 goals) will face his training club from Magdeburg, with whom he became German B-youth champion in 2018, among other trophies.
• Last season, the Recken won their home game against Magdeburg 28:27, they lost in the GETEC Arena 29:31 - in total, the SCM has won 19 of the 30 games, the TSV eight.

• Löwen new signing and german national player Sebastian Heymann returns to his former club, for which he played for eight years until the summer.
• Heymann moved into the cup quarter-finals with Löwen last week after the 30:29 win against Berlin, and will now face Eisenach.
• In the league, Löwen celebrated their sixth win of the season with a 25:18 win at promoted team Potsdam after two previous defeats and are in eighth place with 12:8 points.
• Göppingen are 14th with 6:14 points, most recently losing 25:27 in Leipzig.
• The best Lions shooter is currently Ivan Martinovic with 73 goals, Ludvig Hallbäck scored 46 times for FRISCH AUF!
• Last season there was a 27:27 draw between the two clubs in Göppingen, the return match was won by the Lions, who are also clearly ahead in the overall statistics with 26:9 wins against FRISCH AUF!.

Sunday, November 24th:

• On Monday evening, Hamburg managed an incredible comeback against the Füchse Berlin, which was crowned with a 29:29.
• However, HSVH have not won any of the last six games and are currently in twelfth place with 7:13 points.
• HC Erlangen have only one win to its name, having recently lost the bottom line duel against HSG Wetzlar 22:25 - the fifth defeat in a row - and still third from last with 2:18 points.
• After the match against HSG Wetzlar, it is the second "coming home" for HCE coach Martin Schwalb - from 2005 to 2014 he was HSV coach, led the club to the German championship, DHB Cup victory and Champions League triumph, later and until the summer he was vice president of the new HSVH.
• The two teams have met eight times so far, and the home team has won eight times.

• The new Stuttgart coaching duo Jürgen Schweikardt and Jens Bürkle, who succeeded on Michael Schweikardt, will make their debut in Berlin, as will new signing Samir Bellahcene, who came to the Swabians from THW Kiel.
• While the TVB did not play last weekend, Füchse gave a win in Hamburg from their hands and had to settle for a 29:29 after a clear lead.
• Füchse also had to cope with the cup elimination at Rhein-Neckar Löwen (29:30).
• The Berliners are fourth in the table with 15:5 points, the Stuttgarters are second to last with 2:18 points.
• The best scorers of both teams are Mathias Gidsel with 74 goals for Berlin and the Swiss Lenny Rubin with 43 goals for the TVB.
• Füchse remained unbeaten in eight of the last nine duels with the TVB, which celebrated their last victory against Berlin in May 2023, overall the score in this duel is 14:2 for the capital club.

Monday, 25 November:

• Fourth from last against last is the name of the game in the bottom line duel that concludes the eleventh matchday.
• Wetzlar recently celebrated a "four-point victory" with a 25:22 win over third from last Erlangen and now have 6:14 points; Potsdam have lost all nine games so far.
• It is the first duel ever between the two teams.