Thursday, 29 February:

MT Melsungen vs ThSV Eisenach (7:00 p.m., live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• Both teams were defeated on the last match day: MT Melsungen lost 31:33 at TVB Stuttgart, ThSV Eisenach lost 27:31 in Kiel.
• Melsungen are fifth in the table with 29:15 points, Eisenach are still second to last with 13:33 points.
• MT won the first leg in Thuringia 27:24, it was the fifth victory in the fifth duel for them.
• With 187 goals, including ten most recently against Kiel, Eisenach's Manuel Zehnder continues to lead the HBL's top scorer list; best Melsunger scorer is Timo Kastening with 111 goals.

TSV Hannover-Burgdorf vs TVB Stuttgart (7:00 p.m., live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• After three wins in a row (against Gummersbach, Magdeburg and most recently at Bergischen HC), the warriors from Hannover-Burgdorf have shortened the gap to the top quintet and now have 25:19 points in their account.
• TVB Stuttgart are also on the way up after just one defeat in the last five games, including the win against Melsungen on the last matchday, and are now in eleventh place with 18:28 points.
• Stuttgart had won the first leg 32:28, but it was only their fourth success in 17 HBL games against the warriors, who had won eleven times.
• With 124 field goals, Stuttgart's Kai Häfner is fourth in this ranking.
• With 615 Bundesliga games played, TVB goalkeeper Silvio Heinevetter is now in third place in the all-time HBL statistics.

SC DHfK Leipzig vs Bergischer HC (7:00 p.m., live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• No team has currently played fewer games than SC DHfK Leipzig, which have only appeared 20 times - and only once in 2024, in the narrow 29:30 defeat in Gummersbach.
• Leipzig have lost their last five games and have slipped to 15th place (15:25 points).
• One place behind - and with 13:31 points tied with second-to-last Eisenach - are Bergischer HC, which had even lost the last six games.
• The first leg ended 31:31; the BHC had previously won the last four games against Leipzig.
• Although he has played three games less than the competition, Leipzig's Icelandic Viggo Kristjansson is seventh on the current scorer list with 127 goals.

Rhein-Neckar Löwen vs Handball Sport Verein Hamburg (8:30 p.m., live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• Both opponents ended their negative series on the last match day - each with 33:31 wins: the Lions against Balingen-Weilstetten, Hamburg against Göppingen.
• Rhein-Neckar Löwen had only snatched one point from six previous games, their last but one win dates from 2 December, the 36:32 win in the reverse fixture in Hamburg. The cup winners are in ninth place with 20:24 points.
• Hamburg's penultimate victory was on 13 November, the 31:23 against Erlangen, followed by six defeats and two draws - HSVH is 14th in the table with 16:28 points.
• In 27 Bundesliga duels so far, the Lions have won ten times and Hamburg team 16 times.
• In the win against Göppingen, HSVH wing Casper Mortensen was the best thrower of the last match day with 13 goals, and with a total of 162 goals he is currently third of the top scorer list.

Saturday, 2 March:

HSG Wetzlar vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt (7:00 p.m., live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• After two defeats against Balingen and Stuttgart, HSG Wetzlar got back on the road to success by winning 27:26 in Erlangen on the last matchday. With 21:25 points, HSG are currently in eighth place.
• SG Flensburg-Handewitt recently gave a win from their hands against leaders Füchse Berlin, with the 31:31 the gap between the third-placed team (33:11) and the leaders remained at six points.
• The two best scorers of both clubs are “neighbors” in the top scorer list being fifth and sixth ranked: Wetzlar's Domen Novak scored 134 times, Flensburg's Emil Jakobsen 130 times.
• SG has won 43 of the 51 HBL games against Wetzlar so far, the HSG two - and both at home, Flensburg won 33:26 in the reverse fixture.

THW Kiel vs HBW Balingen-Weilstetten (7:00 p.m., live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• After the Füchse draw against Flensburg, the record champions are fourth in the table with 32:12 points, seven points behind the leaders.
• For THW is It's the second consecutive duel against a promoted team after the hard-fought 31:27 against Eisenach on the last matchday.
• After 4:0 points in a row, HBW Balingen-Weilstetten lost their last game 31:33 at Rhein-Neckar Löwen and remain bottom of the table with 11:33 points.
• The Balingen team have been waiting for their third win against THW since September 2014 (22:21 at home). The last point was a 22:22 in April 2016. The Swabians have never won in Kiel. The overall balance in 29 games is 26:2 victories for Kiel, who won the first leg with 36:25.

VfL Gummersbach vs SC Magdeburg (8:30 p.m., live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• VfL Gummersbach has won the last three games against Eisenach, Leipzig and most recently Lemgo and has consolidated sixth place with 24:20 points.
• Magdeburgers did not play last weekend; before the 27:28 defeat in Hanover, the Champions League winners had remained unbeaten in 17 Bundesliga games in a row and are currently in second place (36:6), one minus point behind league leaders Berlin.
• Two Magdeburg players have already scored more than 100 goals this season: Omar Ingi Magnusson (127) and Felix Claar (115).
• The two coaches Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson and Bennet Wiegert already played for VfL - both as left wings.
• Gummersbach's last win against SCM was in September 2016 with a 30:27, followed by eight Magdeburg victories in a row, including the narrow 32:30 in the reverse fixture. Overall, the SCM won 34:13 times in 57 games, drawing ten times.

Sunday, 3 March:

Füchse Berlin vs HC Erlangen (3 p.m., live on Dyn, WELT TV and worldwide on HBL TV)

• With 39:5 points (including 21:1 in the Max-Schmeling-Halle at home), Füchse are still in first place; last weekend Berlin achieved a lucky 31:31 draw in Flensburg.
• At HCE Erlangen, victories (2) and defeats (3) have alternated consistently - the Franconians are currently in twelfth place with 17:27 points.
• In Berlin, the Füchse have never lost against Erlangen - and have only given up one point, 26:26 in October 2014. Overall, the capital team, which won the first leg 35:27, achieved 13:2 victories against HCE; Erlangen's last victory was in February 2021.
• In Mathias Gidsel (172 goals) and Lasse Andersson (151), Füchse not only have the second and fourth best overall scorers in the HBL, but also the two best field goal scorers - because neither of them has scored from a penalty so far.

SC DHfK Leipzig vs MT Melsungen (4:30 p.m., live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• Both teams will play their second game this weekend after their Thursday games.
• MT won the first leg by a narrow margin 28:27 and thus secured their tenth victory in the 16th duel with Leipzig. However, SC DHfK won both games in the previous season - two of their five wins against Melsungen.

Monday, 4 March:

 FRISCH AUF! Göppingen vs TBV Lemgo Lippe (7:00 p.m., live on Dyn and worldwide on HBL TV)

• Both teams have only won one game in 2024: Göppingen against Eisenach, Lemgo against Rhein-Neckar Löwen – and both teams lost on the last matchday: Göppingen in Hamburg, TBV against Gummersbach.
• Göppingen have already beaten TBV twice this season: in the league with a 26:21 away win and in the cup (also in Lemgo) with 31:25.
• FRISCH AUF! are in tenth place with 19:27 points, two points ahead of Lemgo, 13th in the table.
• Overall, Göppingen won 21 times in the league against TBV, Lemgo has 25 successes in the balance.
• With 121 goals, Göppingen's Marcel Schiller is the second best German (behind Kai Häfner) in the HBL top scorer list, closely ahead of Lemgo's best scorer Samuel Zehnder with 116 goals.

Photo: Mann