Matchday 17: Magdeburg aim to finish the first half of the season unbeaten as the hunters face off in Kiel

Saturday, 13rd September

• The 29:30 defeat in Minden on Wednesday extended Erlangen’s winless run to five matches. With 11:21 points, the Franconians sit 13rd in the table.
• At SC DHfK Leipzig, things finally clicked under new coach Frank Carstens: Wednesday’s 29:27 win over HSVH Hamburg was their first victory of the current HBL season after twelve defeats and three draws. Leipzig are now level on points with second-bottom Wetzlar (5:27), having earned three of these five points in recent matches.
• Leipzig have won the last four duels with Erlangen and lead the overall head-to-head 11:7.

• Due to Thursday’s 26:27 defeat at Bergischer HC, ThSV Eisenach slipped to 14th place, level on points (11:21) with Stuttgart and Erlangen. It was the fourth match in a row without a win for the Thuringians.
• FRISCH AUF! Göppingen could not halt TBV Lemgo Lippe’s winning streak and lost 26:33 on Wednesday. The Swabians are 10th with 15:17 points.
• Eight of the last nine meetings ended with home victories, including both in the previous season. Göppingen lead the overall head-to-head clearly with eight wins to three.

Sunday, 14th December

• Both hunters are on seven minus points, but as Lemgo have played one match more, Florian Kehrmann’s team sit second with 25 points, while THW are two points behind.
• Both sides won on Wednesday: TBV comfortably 33:27 in Göppingen, Kiel narrowly 33:32 against TVB Stuttgart.
• TBV have won their last five matches, claiming big scalps in Berlin and Flensburg (both 34:33).
• After losing to Füchse, THW are unbeaten in three matches (two wins and a draw).
• The league’s third-best scorer, Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu (Kiel, 121 goals), faces the fifth-best, Tim Suton (Lemgo, 102).
• This will be the 83rd HBL match between both clubs; Kiel lead 54–21 and have won all five encounters since 2022.

• Hannover-Burgdorf have lost only one of their last five matches and secured a clear 38:28 away win in Wetzlar on Wednesday. They sit 11th with 14:18 points.
• After victories against Leipzig and Wetzlar, TVB Stuttgart came close to a sensation on Wednesday, but narrowly lost 32:33 in Kiel. With 11:21 points, Stuttgart are 12th, three points behind Hannover.
• Kai Häfner (TVB) is the HBL’s second-best lscorer with 135 goals.
• Last season, Hannover won both fixtures against Stuttgart and lead the overall record 14:4.

• MT Melsungen kept up well at league leaders Magdeburg on Wednesday for a long time, but ultimately lost 27:31; they rank 8th with 17:15 points.
• Bergischer HC grabbed two vital points in the relegation battle with their 27:26 win over Eisenach on Thursday. With 10:22 points, BHC are 15th, now five points above the drop zone.
• BHC have earned two wins and a draw from the last four matches with Melsungen, but MT lead the overall statistics clearly with 17 wins to three.

• Following Thursday’s 39:40 defeat in the top-of-the-table match in Flensburg, Füchse are 5th with 22:10 points — already nine behind leaders Magdeburg.
• After Wednesday’s 28:38 defeat to Hannover — their 11th competitive loss in a row and 10th in the HBL — Wetzlar’s coach Momir Ilic resigned. The two-time Champions League winner as a player had joined the club early in May. With 5:27 points, Wetzlar are second-bottom, level with last-placed Leipzig.
• With 144 goals, Mathias Gidsel (Berlin) continues to lead the HBL scoring chart; Philipp Ahouansou is Wetzlar’s best scorer with 83 goals.
• Wetzlar have not beaten Füchse since April 2021; Berlin have won all eight matches since. The champions also clearly lead the all-time record 27:6.
• VfL Gummersbach vs SC Magdeburg (18:00, live on HBL TV)
• Gummersbach’s 32:34 defeat at Rhein-Neckar Löwen on Thursday cost them the chance to move up to fifth; they remain 6th with 21:11 points, having previously been unbeaten in five matches.
• SC Magdeburg continue to dominate at the top: Wednesday’s 31:27 victory over Melsungen was their 14th win in 15 matches. With 29:1 points, SCM remain unbeaten.
• Magdeburg’s Omar Ingi Magnusson is the league’s fourth-top scorer with 112 goals.
• The two Croatian national goalkeepers face each other: Dominik Kuzmanovic (Gummersbach) and Matej Mandic (Magdeburg). Nikola Portner is also eligible to play again for SCM.
• Magdeburg have won the last eleven games against Gummersbach; the last VfL victory dates back to 2016.

• Hamburg returned from Leipzig on Wednesday with a surprising 27:29 defeat; with 15:17 points they sit 9th.
• Meanwhile, GWD Minden celebrated a crucial 30:29 victory over Erlangen, earning two important points in the relegation battle. With 9:23 points, they are 16th — four points above the relegation zone.
• Hamburg’s Danish winger Nicolaj Jørgensen needs seven more goals to reach the 100-goal mark.GWD’s last win against Hamburg was on 23 November 2014 (36:30), and their only away win dates back to 2006. Hamburg lead the overall record clearly with 23-2 wins.

• With Thursday’s 40:39 goal-fest against Berlin, the SG strengthened their role as Magdeburg’s closest challengers. Level on points with third-placed Lemgo (25:7), Ales Pajovic’s team remain six minus points behind SCM, but nearly threw away a four-goal lead against Füchse.
• Rhein-Neckar Löwen are also on the rise: Thursday’s 34:32 win over Gummersbach was their third victory in a row. They now sit 7th with 18:14 points.
• Flensburg’s Marko Grgic scored his 100th goal of the season on Thursday. Together with Simon Pytlick (96) and Emil Jakobsen (91), they have scored 287 of the SG’s 575 goals.
• In the 2024/25 season, the Löwen won both matches against SG. Before that, Flensburg had celebrated three consecutive victories. After 42 league meetings, Flensburg lead 22:17 and have won 14 of 21 home fixtures.