Thursday, 7 February:

TBV Lemgo Lippe vs HSG Wetzlar (19:00 CET, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• TBV Lemgo made a successful comeback in the duel against their table neighbors with a 32:26 away win at Göppingen and jumped to eleventh place with 19:29 points.
• HSG Wetzlar, which recently lost 30:31 against third-placed Flensburg, have two points more on their account, but are three positions ahead of TBV.
• Lemgo won the first leg in Wetzlar 27:24, it was the 37th success in total in the 49th duel with HSG, who won nine times, most recently the home game in the previous season. This means that both clubs will face each other in the HBL for the 50th time.
• With 136 goals, Wetzlar's Slovenian Domen Novak is eighth in the HBL top scorer list.

TVB Stuttgart vs SC DHfK Leipzig (19:00 CET, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• Despite leading 17:14 at half-time, TVB Stuttgart lost 30:33 to the Recken in Hanover, and are 14th with 18:30 points, five points ahead of the first relegation zone.
• With the double blow against Bergischer HC (33:22) and MT Melsungen (32:27), SC DHfK Leipzig have improved to tenth place with 19:25 points after previously five defeats in a row.
• With a 36:30, Leipzig retained the upper hand in the reverse fixture - and thus lead the overall balance with 8:7 wins compared to the TVB. In the previous season, both teams won the away games.
• Leipzig's Icelander Viggo Kristjansson is the fifth best scorer of the HBL with 148 goals - 14 of which he scored last against Melsungen. Kai Häfner is ninth on the scorer list with 129 goals.

Friday, 8 February:

HBW Balingen-Weilstetten vs MT Melsungen (19:00 CET, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• After two wins in a row, Balingen conceded two consecutive defeats - albeit against cup winners Rhein-Neckar Löwen and champions Kiel. As bottom side, HBW are still only two points behind the first non-relegation spot.
• MT Melsungen has only won one of the last three games against teams from the second half of the table and most recently lost 27:32 in Leipzig. This means that the fifth-placed team's gap over sixth-placed Hanover has fallen to four points.
• In the reverse fixture, the MT narrowly retained the upper hand with a 26:24 victory. In total, Melsungen have won 21 of the 29 previous duels against Balingen. HBW celebrated their seventh and most recent success in March 2021 with a 25:24 in Melsungen.

 ThSV Eisenach vs TSV Hannover-Burgdorf (20:00 CET, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• After an interim high of two wins in a row, Eisenach have lost their last five league games, most recently by a narrow margin 26:27 against Melsungen. The Thuringians are still second to last, but are level on points with the third from last, Bergischer HC.
• TSV Hannover-Burgdorf are the team of the moment with four wins in a row - after the warriors ended Magdeburg's winning streak, they recently managed a 33:30 win against Stuttgart. With 27:19 points, TSV are currently sixth.
• In the reverse fixture, Recken goalkeeper Dario Quenstedt secured the narrow 31:30 win with a save at the final whistle; it was the fifth win in the fifth game for Hannover-Burgdorf against Eisenach.
• After 13 goals against Melsungen, Eisenach's Manuel Zehnder has exactly scored 200 goals this season - and is still the best scorer in the league.

Saturday, 9 February:

HC Erlangen vs Rhein-Neckar Löwen (19:00 CET, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• Erlangen had no chance recently losing 32:39 against league leaders Berlin, after also losing at home against Wetzlar and are in 15th place in the table with 17:19 points.
• The Lions have recently been on the up internationally with their two European League victories against the Recken and most recently against Zabrze. In the league, the Baden team are on the spot after their 34:36 home defeat against Hamburg; they are currently ninth with 20:26 points.
• Löwen have clearly won the reverse fixture against the Franconians 34:24, just like both duels in the previous season. Overall, the Lions achieved nine wins in 16 games, Erlangen won four times.

Sunday, February 10th:

SG Flensburg-Handewitt vs FRESH UP! Göppingen (15:00 CET, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)  

• Third-place Flensburg are unbeaten in four consecutive games, but recently almost stumbled in the 31:30 against Wetzlar. SG are six points behind league leaders Berlin.
• Göppingen took one win (against Eisenach) and one draw (against Stuttgart) from their last five games in 2024, most recently there were two defeats in Hamburg and at home against Lemgo. With 19:29 points, Markus Baur's team is currently twelfth.
• In the reverse fixture, Erik Persson secured Göppingen's victory with his goal for the 32:31 at the final buzzer; for Flensburg it was the penultimate of four defeats of the season so far. Flensburg had previously drawn three times in Göppingen. At home, however, there are 23 SG wins, one draw (in 2008) and one defeat (in 1986). In total there are 35 successes for the SG and eight for FRISCH UP! in the balance.
• In the European League, Flensburg are the only German team to secure a ticket to the quarter-finals; after four clear wins in the main round.
• With 137 goals this season, Flensburg's Emil Jakobsen is currently seventh in the HBL top scorers list, while Göppingen's winger Marcel Schiller is in tenth place with 125 goals.
• Göppingen's Dutch goalkeeper Bart Ravensbergen was seriously injured in the game against Lemgo and will be out for the long term.

SC Magdeburg vs Füchse Berlin (16:00 CET, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)  

• SCM have played one game less than Füchse, are three plus points and one minus point behind the league leaders, have 38:6 points on their tally, including 18 wins, two draws and two defeats (against Berlin and Hanover).
• Füchse (41:5 points) have only lost one of 23 games so far (against Kiel), they were victorious 19 times and tied three times - most recently in Flensburg.
• Both title contenders were successful the last matchday: Berlin won 39:32 against Erlangen, Magdeburg won 38:30 in Gummersbach.
• With 22:0 points, Magdeburg is the only team in the league without losing points at home, Berlin is the best away team with 18:4 points.
• There are two Danish EHF EURO 2024 runners-up in both squads: Michael Damgaard and Magnus Saugstrup at SCM, Hans Lindberg and Mathias Gidsel at the Füchsen, plus five Swedish European Championship bronze medalists: Oscar Bergendahl, Felix Claar, Albin Lagergren and Daniel Pettersson at Magdeburg and Max Darj (Berlin).
• It is the third of four duels this season: The Foxes won the first leg in the league 31:26, the SCM turned the tables in the final of the IHF Super Globe in Saudi Arabia - and both teams will face each other on 13 April in the cup semi-final of the REWE Final4.
• Before the defeat in the reverse fixture, the SCM had won the last seven duels against Füchse, but none of the five home games from 2015 to 2019 (three defeats, two draws). Overall, the Foxes lead the record with 19:10 victories.
• The top scorers of both clubs were also among the three best scorers of last matchday: Mathias Gidsel (Berlin) scored 14 times against Erlangen, Omar Ingi Magnusson 13 times against Gummersbach. With a total of 186 goals, Gidsel is second on the HBL top scorers list, Magnusson is in sixth place with 139 goals.
• Magdeburg (Champions League) and Berlin (European League) both brought European Cup trophies to Germany last season.

Bergischer HC vs VfL Gummersbach (16:30 CET, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)  

• After seven defeats in a row - most recently a 22:33 in Leipzig - Bergischer HC, third from last with 13:33 points, are in trouble.
• After three wins in a row, VfL had no chance against Champions League winners SC Magdeburg last weekend and lost 30:38 at home. With 24:22 points, Gummersbach, in seventh place, are the last team in the table with a positive points account.
• The 33:27 in the reverse fixture was the first win of the season for the BHC after four defeats at the start; overall, the record is balanced with nine wins for both neighboring clubs, but Gummersbach won five of the nine away games at the BHC.

Photo: Goeres