Friday, 12 April:

SC DHfK Leipzig vs TSV Hannover-Burgdorf (19:00 CEST, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)  

• Five points currently separate seventh-ranked Hanover from eighth-placed Leipzig. While the warriors lost the last two games against the northern clubs Hamburg and Flensburg, the visitors achieved two wins against Lemgo and in Balingen. 
• Leipzig have won five of their last six games - the only exception being the defeat in the East derby against Eisenach. 
• The reverse fixture ended 25:25, the warriors are unbeaten in the last four comparisons against Leipzig with two wins and two draws. In a total of 16 duels, Hannover won six times and Leipzig won seven times. 
• Before the last two defeats, the Warriors had not lost six games in a row (one draw, five wins). 
• Before he became national coach, current Recken coach Christian Prokop was coach of SC DHfK. 
• With 160 goals, Viggo Kristjansson is currently the sixth best scorer in the HBL. 

Rhein-Neckar Löwen vs Bergischer HC (20:00 CEST, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV) 

• BHC have lost the last eleven games, most recently the bottom line duel against newly promoted Eisenach at home with 27:30 - the gap between the second-to-last and the 16th place is already five points. 
• Rhein-Neckar Löwen also only managed one win in the last eleven games – the 33:29 against Göppingen on the penultimate matchday. With 22:32 points, the 2023 cup winners are eleventh. 
• Before he joined the Lions in 2022, Sebastian Hinze was the coach of Bergischer HC. 
• Löwen won the first leg 31:29, it was the 19th success in the 21st duel; The BHC achieved its only victory in 2022. 
• The Lions are the eleventh best home team, the BHC the second worst away team – identical to their overall rankings. 
• Internationally, the Rhein-Neckar Lions are much more successful, being in the quarter-finals of the European League, where they will duel with Sporting Lisbon. 

Handball Sport Verein Hamburg vs THW Kiel (20:00 CEST, live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV) 

• Hamburg have won their last five games, most recently in Hanover (26:25) and against Melsungen (29:22). The reward is ninth place in the table with 24:28 points. 
• THW Kiel had to bury its trophy dreams with the derby defeat against Flensburg (26:33), but then won against Erlangen and Lemgo. The record champions are fourth in the table with 38:14 points. 
• In the reverse fixture, HSVH had no chance losing 23:34 in Kiel. Overall, THW won 24 of 31 duels, Hamburg's last win dates back to October 2010. 
• When looking at the top scorer list, however, Hamburg is ahead: The Dane Casper Mortensen is the fourth best scorer with 185 strikes, Niclas Ekberg has scored 118 times for the THW in his farewell season.

Photo: Klahn