Preview Matchday 5: A wild week for the Recken: first zebras, then lions

Thursday, 18 September:

• TSV Hannover-Burgdorf will play three times in seven days: On Monday, they suffered a 29:37 defeat at SG Flensburg-Handewitt, three days later they have a rescheduled match from the third matchday against the next northern club, before facing the Lions on Sunday.
• With 2:6 points, Recken are currently in 15th place, while THW Kiel are second with a clean slate and 6:0 points; The Zebras most recently won the small northern derby 27:25 against Hamburg.
• Recken have only beaten the Zebras three times, most recently 36:33 in November 2023, followed by two Kiel victories and a draw. The overall record speaks for itself, with 27:3 wins for THW.

• After four match days, the Swabian neighbours are one point apart, each with one win. FRISCH AUF! (4:4 points) has drawn twice, TVB (3:5) once.
• Most recently, Göppingen drew 24:24 against Leipzig, while Stuttgart lost 23:33 to runners-up Magdeburg.
• Stuttgart veteran Kai Häfner has scored 31 goals this season, putting the former Göppingen player fourth in the DAIKIN HBL rankings. Göppingen's Swedish player Ludvig Hallbäck has scored 22 times.
• Göppingen's last away win at Stuttgart was almost exactly four years ago, a 34:27 victory on 26 September 2021. Last season, the neighbours won their respective home games, with Göppingen leading 10:6 overall.

Friday, 19 September:

• The eighth-placed team is visiting the fourth-placed side – and both teams can be satisfied with their start to the season: Lemgo are on 6:2 points and have celebrated three consecutive victories, including a 26:21 win in Wetzlar.
• Hamburg have 4:4 points and are the only team to have beaten Rhein-Neckar Löwen so far, but they recently lost 25:27 to Kiel.
• HSVH's new Danish signing Nicolaj Jørgensen is currently the fifth-best scorer in the league with 28 goals, while Lemgo's Dutchman Niels Versteijnen has netted 25 times.
• On the other hand, Lemgo's goalkeeper Constantin Möstl has saved 37 shots.
• In last season's encounters, both teams won their home games, with Hamburg leading 18:10 in terms of overall victories.

• The two traditional clubs are facing each other for the 83rd time in the Bundesliga – Gummersbach have won 49 times, Minden 22 times. In the 2022/23 season, VfL took 3:1 points against the Westphalians, who had previously celebrated four wins in a row against VfL.
• The 30:23 on the fourth match day at Bergischer HC was the first win of the season for GWD, which currently rank 14th with 3:5 points.
• The VfL's run has been quite different: 6:2 points, only one defeat (against Lemgo) and most recently a spectacular 34:29 victory over champions Füchse Berlin.
• Against the capital club, Danish VfL goalkeeper Bertram Obling surpassed himself, and with 33 saves he is currently sixth in the goalkeeper statistics.
• The top scorers of both clubs are almost neck and neck: Karolis Antanavičius has scored 22 times for Minden, while new signing Kay Smits has scored 20 times for Gummersbach.

Saturday, 20 September:

• With 8:0 points, SC Magdeburg is the only club with the maximum 8:0 points and lead the table, while HCE Erlangen is tenth with 3:3 points after a 32:32 draw against Melsungen.
• With an outstanding scoring rate of over 88 per cent, Magdeburg's Icelander Omar Ingi Magnusson leads the DAIKIN HBL scoring list. He needed only 43 attempts to score 38 goals in four games.
• Another Icelander is the HCE's top scorer: Viggó Kristjánsson is the sixth-best scorer in the DAIKIN HBL so far, with 27 goals.
• Magdeburg also leads on the other end of the court: with 48 saves, Sergej Hernandez tops the DAIKIN HBL goalkeeper rankings.
• Since the 30:28 defeat in April 2021, Erlangen has been waiting for a victory against SCM, which won the eight league games against HCE that followed and also leads the overall record with 17:3 wins.

• After their opening victory against Leipzig, Eisenach has lost their last three games, most recently suffering a 28:31 defeat at Rhein-Neckar Löwen on the return of coach Sebastian Hinze to Mannheim.
• For Wetzlar, a 25:24 win against Leipzig was their only victory, leaving HSG in 13th place with 3:5 points, most recently losing 21:26 to Lemgo.
• The best HSG player of the current season is Qatari national goalkeeper Anadin Suljakovic, who is third in the DAIKIN HBL goalkeeper rankings with 40 saves. One place behind him is Eisenach goalkeeper Matija Spikic with 38 saves.
• Two new coaches will face; Sebastian Hinze (Eisenach) took over in the summer, while Momir Ilic's move to the HSG bench was brought forward to May.
• The Thuringians won both games against Mittelhessen side in the 2024/25 season, but overall the HSG lead with 12:6 victories.

Sunday, 21 September:

• The Füchse suffered two consecutive defeats in the DAIKIN HBL under new coach Nicolej Krickau; however, but the Berliners showed that they have not forgotten how to play handball with a 40:34 win over Nantes in the Champions League.
• With 4:4 points, the champions are one point ahead of last year's third-placed team Melsungen (3:5), who recently could not get past a 32:32 draw against Erlangen due to injuries.
• With 35 goals after four games, Mathias Gidsel is currently the second-best scorer in the DAIKIN HBL, while Florian Drosten has scored 24 times for MT.
• The Füchse have the third-best attack with 132 goals, but also the second-worst defence with 126 goals conceded.
• The 37:29 win on 29 May at the Max-Schmeling-Halle was a decisive victory for the Füchse in their quest for their first championship, while Melsungen's title race was over after this match – despite their 33:31 win in the first leg. Overall, the score after 35 matches is 20:11 in favour of Berlin.

• Just three days after their match against THW Kiel, Recken continue with their next home game.
• Rhein-Neckar Löwen have made an almost perfect start, sitting in fifth place with 6:2 points and a recent 31:28 win over Eisenach.
• With 44 saves, David Späth, who extended his contract with Löwen until 2029 last week, is currently the second-best goalkeeper in the DAIKIN HBL.
• Even though the Recken have won the last four games against the Lions, the overall record tells a different story: the Baden team has 24 wins in 32 matches, while the Lower Saxony side is on seven.

• After four defeats, Bergischer HC is the only team in the DAIKIN HBL without any points. Most recently, the ‘Bergischen Löwen’ lost the duel of the promoted teams against GWD Minden 23:30.
• SG, on the other hand, are undefeated: after two draws at the start, there were two wins, most recently a convincing 37:29 victory over European League participant TSV Hannover-Burgdorf. With 6:2 points, Flensburg are third in the table.
• After scoring eight goals in the landslide victory against Recken, Flensburg's new signing Marko Grgic currently is on 32 season goals and is third in the DAIKIN HBL ranking. Noah Beier has scored 25 times for BHC so far.
• No team has scored more goals after four match days than SG, which netzted 139 times, and no team has conceded more goals than BHC (137).
• Bergischer HC celebrated their only home win against SG on 28 March 2015 with a 36:31 victory, followed by a 24:22 away win in 2022; however, Flensburg has prevailed in 23 of 26 matches.

• With a 24:24 draw against Göppingen, SC DHfK Leipzig gained their first points after three previous defeats, but still remains in a relegation spot with 1:7 points.
• After Thursday's match in Hanover, THW will play their second away game of the week.
• Iceland's Blær Hinriksson is the top scorer in the team of new coach Raul Alonso, who was formerly youth coach and assistant coach at THW Kiel, with 22 goals.
• There has never been a draw between Leipzig and Kiel, with the Zebras winning 16 of the 19 encounters. Leipzig's last victory came two years ago with a 35:34 home win.