Next difficult match for the Wasserfreunde
You don’t have to be a great prophet to realise that Wasserfreunde Spandau are unlikely to get past the Champions League group stage. It would be a medium-size miracle if the Berliners were to start a race to catch up now. But it wouldn’t be too late for that, because the last match of the first round is on Wednesday.
In the table of the group of eight, Spandau is currently only in sixth position. Four points from six games are not enough for Spandau to dream of the Final Eight, especially as they have an extremely difficult away game ahead of them on Wednesday. The Wasserfreunde have to travel to Hungary to face OSC Budapest.
The Magyars are in fourth place with ten points before the last day of the first round. At the moment, it looks good for Daniel Varga’s team to maintain this important position. The lead over fifth place, where Waspo Hannover currently lies, is five points. In the duel between OSC Budapest and Spandau, the forecast goes more towards a home win.
It is interesting that Budapest have not yet scored at home in the Champions League, while the Berliners are still waiting for their first point away from home. One of those two series will end on Wednesday.
OSC Budapest – Statistics & current form
The Hungarians could already be seen as one of the teams fighting for the fourth place in this group in the run-up to the Champions League. OSC Budapest have fully lived up to this role in the first leg so far. With a win on Wednesday against Spandau, the target would already be more than fulfilled.
Budapest still without a home point
A three-pointer could even mean a jump to third place, because rival Jug Dubrovnik will most likely not score against Pro Recco. The only problem is that Budapest have yet to pick up a point at home, while their opponents in their own pool have also been extremely strong with Marseille and Pro Recco.
Conversely, this also means that the Hungarians still have some solvable tasks ahead of them at home. The Final Eight is more than within reach for OSC Budapest. A milestone was perhaps the game before Christmas in Dubrovnik, when they had won against the Croats with a narrow 12:11. If Budapest can follow that up on Wednesday, they will be right on track.
In the national league, too, things are looking very good in the face of strong competition. Budapest are currently top of the table. In this condition, we think it is almost inconceivable that the Hungarians will stumble on Wednesday. Therefore, in the duel between OSC Budapest and Spandau, the odds on a home win should be a good choice.
The squad of OSC Budapest:
Levai, Devai – Sziladi, Manhercz, Varnai, Csacsovszky, Dala, Toth, Vigvari, Burian, Bundschuh, Harai – Coach: Varga
Spandau – Statistics & current form
The only thing left for the Wasserfreunde this year is probably to look at the Champions League as a basin to develop their own team. Every game at this level certainly does not make the Spandau team worse. The big successes and especially the titles can only be achieved nationally again for the four-time Champions League winners.
Supplier of points in foreign pools
This was clear beforehand, however, and it therefore remains to be seen whether the Berliners will have their hearts fully in the game on Wednesday, as the German water polo classico against Waspo Hannover follows in the Bundesliga at the weekend. In Germany, at least, several titles beckon and, given the supposedly hopeless position in the top division, it would not be reprehensible if the priorities were rather the duel against Hannover.
The problem for the Wasserfreunde is that they have not yet achieved anything away from home in the top flight. They have lost three of their three away games. So we assume that in the match between OSC Budapest and Spandau 04, the forecast has to go towards an away defeat for the German record champions.
Petar Kovacevic’s team played their last match two days before Christmas at CN Marseille. Basically, the Berliners kept up relatively well in all four quarters, but on balance lost all four sections. In the end, the score was 7:12, without the Wasserfreunde having the slightest chance of taking anything worthwhile with them.
The Spandau squad:
Baksa, Vernet Schweimer – Nikolaides, Bozic, Cuk, Tkac, Jüngling, Strelezkij, Dedovic, Chiru, Kholod, Restovic, Sekulic – Coach: Kovacevic
OSC Budapest – Spandau Direct comparison / H2H-balance
The trip to Budapest is also a bit of a trip into the unknown for Spandau 04, because the Berliners have never been guests of OSC before. This is also due to the fact that the Hungarians and also the Berliners are not regulars in the late rounds of the Champions League. From that point of view, both clubs will cross blades for the first time ever on Wednesday.
OSC Budapest – Spandau Tip
Perhaps it is the last chance for the Berliners to make it to the Final Eight of the Water Polo Champions League. However, the prospects are rather slim, because even with a win, they would not make it into the top 4 in this group. Moreover, the Wasserfreunde are travelling to the Hungarian capital as big underdogs.
Spandau has not scored a single point away from home in the Champions League this season. That’s not the only reason why we’re leaning towards a clear bet on a home win between OSC Budapest and Spandau on Wednesday. However, the Hungarians have not yet scored in their own pool in this top division.
Nevertheless, we expect to see a difference in quality. In fact, we think that the Hungarians will win with a difference of three to four goals. Therefore, we have decided to play the betting odds on a handicap win (-2.5) for the Magyars between OSC Budapest and Spandau.
