Friday, 15 December:

TVB Stuttgart vs HC Erlangen (19:00 CET, live on Dyn)

• After two recent defeats against Leipzig and Kiel, HC Erlangen have fallen back to third-to-last place with 10:20 points.
• TVB Stuttgart are just one point ahead with 11:21 points after only one win in the last four games, most recently the Swabians lost 28:33 at Bergischen HC.
• With 90 goals, TVB national player Kai Häfner is currently the most successful German shooter in the HBL top scorers list.
• Erlangen have won 15 of the previous duels, Stuttgart twelve.

ThSV Eisenach vs THW Kiel (20:00 CET, live on Dyn)

• ThSV Eisenach showed a sign of life in the relegation battle with the 25:24 win against SC DHfK Leipzig on matchday 16 and shortened the gap to the first non-relegation place to one point.
• Winning 31:27 in Erlangen, THW Kiel continued their race to catch up and achieved its fifth win in a row. With 23:9 points, Kiel is now five points behind the top duo.
• Despite a great fighting performance, Eisenach missed out on a place in the quarter-finals of the German Cup on Tuesday with a 28:31 defeat in Hamburg. THW Kiel had already failed in the third round of the cup against Wetzlar.
• Eisenach's Swiss Manuel Zehnder, together with Mathias Gidsel (Berlin), is currently first in the LIQUI MOLY HBL top scorers list with 118 goals - and scored already 52 more goals than Kiel's best shooter Niclas Ekberg (66).
• Almost exactly 23 years ago, Eisenach achieved the last of two wins against Kiel, THW won the last eleven duels and 14 in total.

Saturday, 16 December:

SC Magdeburg vs Rhein-Neckar Löwen (18:30 CET, live on Dyn)

• The last but one time the two teams met was in the dramatic cup final in April, which the Lions won 36:34 after extra time and a penalty shoot-out, celebrating their second cup victory since 2018.
• In the current cup season, both teams reached the quarter-finals again on Wednesday. The Lions won 33:24 at second division team TuSem Essen, Magdeburg took a 39:31 against Kiel conqueror HSG Wetzlar at the comeback of Gisli Kristjansson.
• SC Magdeburg have been unbeaten in all competitions for 22 games, after 20 wins there was their first draw with 29:29 in Melsungen - but the Champions League winner is still leading the table with 26:4 points.
• Along with SG Flensburg-Handewitt, SCM are the only team in the HBL with a clean slate at home – eight wins in eight games in the GETEC Arena.
• Rhein-Neckar Löwen achieved 5:1 points in the last three games, including a draw (34:34) against TBV Lemgo on matchday 16 and are sixth with 18:14 points.
• Jon Lindenchrone (Löwen) and Omar Ingi Magnusson (SCM) were in a scoring mood last weekend, both contributing nine goals for their teams. Magnusson is also the best Magdeburg scorer with 85 goals in total, while Niclas Kirkelökke is the Lions’ one with exactly the same number.
• The overall record is surprisingly clear, the Lions won 32 times against the SCM, Magdeburg won twelve times against the Baden team.

TBV Lemgo Lippe vs Füchse Berlin (19:00 CET, live on Dyn)  

• TBV Lemgo have scored seven points from the last five games, most recently Florian Kehrmann's team achieved a 34:34 against cup winners Rhein-Neckar Löwen.
• Füchse gave a 29:26 lead against Frisch Auf Göppingen from their hands last Sunday and had to settle for a 29:29 in the end - but are still level on points with Magdeburg at the top of the table.
• While TBV Lemgo had already failed in the third round of the cup against Göppingen, Füchse booked their quarter-final ticket with a loose and easy goal festival (42:33) against the second division team SG BBM Bietigheim.
• Thanks to his three goals against Göppingen, Hans Lindberg made it on Sunday: he is the first player with more than 3,000 HBL goals.
• With 118 goals, nine of them on the last matchday against Göppingen, Berlin's Dane Mathias Gidsel has once again taken the top spot on the HBL top scorers list, level with Zehnder.
• The home teams prevailed in both duels in the previous season, with a total score of 27:10 victories in favor of the Foxes.

HSG Wetzlar vs MT Melsungen (19:00 CET, live on Dyn)

• Fourth from last against fourth in the 38th Hessenderby: HSG Wetzlar have lost the last three league games and are on 11:21 points in 15th place.
• MT Melsungen stopped the winning streak of table leaders and Champions League winners SC Magdeburg last weekend with 29:29 and now have 23:9 points on their account.
• In the cup round of 16 on Wednesday, HSG Wetzlar lost 31:39 at SC Magdeburg, MT Melsungen moved into the quarter-finals with a commanding 27:21 away win at SC DHfK Leipzig.
• With just two wins and one draw, HSG Wetzlar is the second weakest home team in the league.
• Two top 10 scorers are on the court: Wetzlar's Domen Nowak is sixth with 92 goals, Melsungen's Timo Kastening has scored 89 times.
• Melsungen won 23 derbies against Wetzlar, HSG won ten.
• Melsungen's Croatian Ivan Martinovic contributed ten goals in the top game against Magdeburg, making him the second-best thrower of the previous matchday.

Handball Sport Verein Hamburg vs HBW Balingen-Weilstetten (20:30 CET, live on Dyn)

• Handball Sport Club Hamburg have only won one of the last five games, most recently there were three defeats against Berlin, Rhein-Neckar Löwen and VfL Gummersbach. With 12:20 points, HSVH are in 13th place, only three points ahead of a relegation zone.
• HBW Balingen-Weilstetten were also unable to end their series of defeats on matchday 16; the bottom team lost 25:29 against TSV Hannover-Burgdorf.
• Hamburg have made it to the quarter-finals of the German Cup, but had some problems in the 31:28 win against promoted team Eisenach.
• HSV winger Casper Mortensen is currently the third best thrower in the league with 115 goals.
• Balingen have won five of the last seven games against Hamburg, but have only achieved six wins and 19 defeats overall.

FRISCH AUF! Göppingen vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt (20:30 CET, live on Dyn)  

• With 3:1 points from the last two games including the sensational draw at Füchse Berlin, FRISCH AUF! Göppingen are now twelfth, but also only three points ahead of second-to-last Eisenach.
• With eight wins in a row, SG Flensburg-Handewitt is currently the most successful team in the HBL, most recently it was 33:26 against HSG Wetzlar. The SG is only two points behind the top duo Magdeburg/Berlin.
• In the German Cup on Wednesday, Göppingen lost 28:33 to VfL Gummersbach, Flensburg moved into the quarter-finals with a 37:29 win against Bergischer HC.
• The two top scorers of both clubs are almost on a par: SG left wing Emil Jakobsen scored 84 goals, Marcel Schiller (Göppingen) 83.
• The last three home games of Göppingen against Flensburg ended in a draw, a total of eight wins for Frisch Auf and 36 for Flensburg are in the overall list.

Sunday, 17 December:

SC DHfK Leipzig vs VfL Gummersbach 15:00 CET, live on Dyn and BILD.TV)

• SC DHfK Leipzig lost the East derby 24:25 at ThSV Eisenach last matchday, but lodged a protest against the score.
• After three defeats, VfL Gummersbach managed a narrow 24:23 win against Hamburg on the last match day, which puts them exactly one point and one place ahead of Leipzig with 16:16 points.
• In the duel between the traditional teams, VfL Gummersbach reached the German Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday with a 33:28 win against Frisch Auf Göppingen. Leipzig’s Cup dream ended on Tuesday in the round of 16 with a 21:27 home defeat against Melsungen.
• Leipzig's Icelander Viggo Kristjansson is only two goals short of the 100-goal mark; VfL's currently most successful thrower is Milos Vujovic with 73 goals.
• In the previous season, Gummersbach won 3:1 points against Leipzig, the overall balance is balanced with four wins each.

 TSV Hannover-Burgdorf vs Bergischer HC (16:30 CET., live on Dyn)

• At TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, victories and defeats have alternated from matchday to matchday; last weekend the warriors managed a 29:25 win at bottom team HBW Balingen-Weilstetten. They are currently seventh with 17:15 points.
• Bergischer HC ended its series of three games without a win last matchday with a 33:28 against TVB Stuttgart and are eleventh with 13:19 points.
• BHC lost 29:37 to SG Flensburg-Handewitt in the DHB Cup round of 16 on Wednesday.
• Just when his move to the Rhein-Neckar Löwen was announced, BHC wing Tim Nothdurft showed his class as best thrower of the 16th HBL match day with twelve goals.
• Both teams have nine wins in direct duels, and there were two away wins in the previous season.

Photo: Klahn