Preview Matchday 9: Runners-up face the league leaders, a DHB goalkeepers’ showdown in Kiel and a relegation battle in Swabia

Thursday, 15 October:

• HSG Wetzlar remain the only winless team in the Opel Handball Bundesliga, with two draws from eight matches. Most recently, the Hessians lost 26:31 away to TVB Stuttgart and remain bottom of the table.
• HC Erlangen, on the other hand, are something of the team of the moment, with four wins in their last five matches. Most recently, Marek Nissen scored the winning goal shortly before the end to secure a 33:32 victory in the clash between the chasing pack against MT Melsungen. With 9:7 points, the Franconians currently sit in eighth place.
• Following his six goals against Melsungen, Nissen is currently the ninth-best scorer in the Opel HBL with a total of 50 goals this season. Niklas Theiß (HSG) has 45 strikes to his name.
• Last season, the Erlangen v Wetzlar fixtures saw two home wins; in the 2024/25 season, there were two away wins – overall, the head-to-head record is almost even, with 10 wins to 9 for the HSG.

• THW Kiel are a force to be reckoned with at home – Börge Lund’s side confirmed this once again recently in the mini northern derby with a 26:19 victory over HC Hamburg. With 15:3 points, the Zebras currently sit in second place, though they have also played one more match than league leaders SG Flensburg-Handewitt.
• After a poor first half, the Rhein-Neckar Löwen suffered a surprising 29:33 home defeat against ThSV Eisenach on matchday eight. With 7:9 points, the Baden-based side have slipped to eleventh place.
• Particular attention is focused on the clash between the two DHB national goalkeepers: with 103 saves, Löwen goalkeeper David Späth leads the Opel HBL rankings, whilst Andreas Wolff (THW) is third with 76 saves.
• On the other hand, Kiel are ahead in the goalscoring charts: Domen Makuc is currently third with 54 goals this season, whilst the Löwen duo Haukur Thrastarson (41) and Dani Baijens (40) are almost level, as is Lukas Zerbe (THW), who has also scored 40 times.
• Last season, THW secured a 3:1 points tally against the Löwen, with a home draw and an away win. In the all-time head-to-head record, Kiel have 30 wins to Baden’s 11; the latter have won only three times at the Ostseehalle, most recently in 2024.

Friday, 16 October:

• The 33:29 win away at Rhein-Neckar Löwen was ThSV Eisenach’s second victory of the season, which has increased the gap between them and the relegation places. The Thuringians, who have secured their only home win so far against SG BBM Bietigheim, sit in 13th place with 5:11 points.
• VfL Gummersbach had a bye last weekend; prior to that, they lost 26:29 away to THW Kiel and are currently in tenth place with a balanced points tally (7:7).
• In Eisenach, two players from the top eight of the Opel HBL goalscoring charts will face off: Nikola Roganovic has netted 53 times for VfL, whilst Felix Aellen has scored 50 times for the Thuringians.
• VfL have won eleven of their last twelve HBL matches against Eisenach, the only exception being the Thuringians’ 32:29 home win last season. Overall, the Gummersbach side lead the head-to-head record 17–7.

Saturday, 17 October:

• A crucial derby in the relegation battle takes place between the 15th-placed and 16th-placed teams in Swabia.
• With a 29:25 victory in the derby against FRISCH AUF! Göppingen, Bietigheim secured their second win of the season and, on 4:12 points, passed HC Hamburg.
• Hamburg have just one win (against Wetzlar) and one draw to their name and are third from bottom on 3:13 points.
• Bietigheim’s match-winner in Göppingen, alongside seven-goal scorer Till Herrmann, was once again goalkeeper Martin Tomovski, who made 13 saves. With 96 saves, he is currently number two in the Opel HBL goalkeeper rankings behind David Späth. In contrast, HCH boast Nicolaj Jørgensen (53 goals), the league’s fifth-highest scorer. Mathias Larson has scored 30 times for SG BBM so far.
• The two teams have faced each other four times – most recently in the 2024/25 season – and on all four occasions the winners were from Hamburg.

• Following their unfortunate 32:33 defeat at HC Erlangen, MT Melsungen missed the chance to close the gap on the top spots. The North Hessians are currently sixth with 9:7 points.
• Bergischer HC had a weekend off, having previously celebrated their first win of the season with a 29:28 victory over SG BBM Bietigheim. However, with 2:12 points, the BHC remain second from bottom in the table.
• Fynn Hangstein has scored 48 times for the BHC in seven matches so far, putting him ten goals ahead of Aaron Mensing, who is currently the MT’s top scorer (38).
• The two clubs will face each other again in mid-November in the round of 16 of the DHB Cup. Last year, the BHC secured their place in the Lidl Final4 with a 30:23 victory over the same opponents in the quarter-finals.
• MT have come out on top in their last three matches against the BHC, although the BHC had previously triumphed twice in a row. Overall, however, Bergischer HC have managed just three wins in 24 encounters so far, whilst Melsungen have prevailed on 19 occasions.

Sunday, 18 October:

• Last year’s runners-up and cup winners are hoested by the current league leaders – the top-of-the-table clash in the ninth round is definitely taking place in Flensburg.
• SG are the only unbeaten team in the Opel Handball Bundesliga, with seven wins (most recently 39:32 away at TSV Hannover-Burgdorf) and a draw at THW Kiel, giving them 15 points from 16 available.
• The Füchse suffered their second defeat of the season on Sunday, losing 36:37 at home to TBV Lemgo Lippe. With one game in hand, the Füchse sit in fourth place with 10:4 points.
• Both sides provided the top scorers on matchday eight: Tim Freihöfer scored 14 times against Lemgo, whilst SG new signing Aymeric Minne scored twelve times against the Recken.
• Both clubs are also represented in the top six of the Opel HBL’s overall scoring charts: Mathias Gidsel (Füchse), who equalled a 17-year-old scoring record last week in the Champions League with 17 goals against Porto, has scored 59 goals, whilst Simon Pytlick, who is set to move to Berlin next season, has netted 51 times for the SG so far.
• In the last two seasons, the Flensburg vs. Berlin fixtures have all ended in home wins. Overall, however, the SG lead comfortably with 26 wins to 9, seven matches ended in a draw.

• TBV Lemgo Lippe provided the highlight of the last matchday with their 37:36 away win in Berlin. For Florian Kehrmann’s side, it was their third win in a row; with 10:6 points, TBV currently sit fifth in the table.
• The record for FRISCH AUF! Göppingen is exactly the opposite: the Swabians have lost their last three matches, most recently at home 25:219 to newly promoted SG BBM Bietigheim. As a result, Ben Matschke’s side have slipped to twelfth place with 6:10 points.
• Following his eight goals in Berlin, Lemgo’s Dutch player Niels Versteijnen now has 42 goals this season; Göppingen’s top scorer is Elias Newel with 39 goals.
• This will be the 58th time these two long-established clubs face in Bundesliga; in their last six encounters, there has been just one home win, whilst the 2025/26 season saw two away victories. Overall, TBV leads the head-to-head record with 27 wins to 23.

• Although SC Magdeburg did not play last weekend, the champions were among the winners – as the Füchse’s defeat means they are now four points clear of the runners-up. With 14:2 points and a game in hand on THW Kiel, SCM currently sit third in the table.
• TVB Stuttgart are also on a roll, having won three of their last four Opel HBL matches – most recently 31:26 against HSG Wetzlar – and are currently seventh in the table with 9:7 points.
• TVB’s Kai Häfner is currently the Opel HBL’s top scorer with 65 goals, having scored ten times in the victory over Wetzlar. SCM’s top scorer is Felix Claar, who has netted 48 times so far.
• On 25 October 2020, TVB secured their only victory in 22 encounters with SCM to date with a 30:29 win at the GETEC Arena; SCM have won the remaining 21 matches.

Monday, 19 October:

• HBW Balingen-Weilstetten are the only team in the Opel HBL to have played just six matches so far and did not play last weekend either. Prior to that, Matthias Flohr’s side had lost four times and currently sit 14th in the table with 4:8 points.
• The run of form enjoyed by the Recken from Hannover-Burgdorf came to a halt with a 32:39 defeat against league leaders Flensburg; centre-back Justus Fischer also picked up an injury. For TSV, this was their second consecutive defeat following the 22:28 loss to Melsungen; the Recken currently sit in ninth place with 9:7 points.
• After eight matches, August Pedersen, the Recken’s top scorer with 50 goals, has scored exactly twice as many goals as Sascha Pfattheicher (25) has managed in six matches for HBW.
• After Balingen had beaten the Recken three times in a row in 2020 and 2021, Hannover-Burgdorf turned the tables with three wins in the three subsequent matches. Ahead of the 25th meeting between the two teams, the Recken lead 14:9 in terms of wins.