Will the Füchse keep the title race open?
Only two teams are still fighting for the championship in the Handball Bundesliga. Our Füchse Berlin vs THW Kiel betting tip makes it clear that the capital city team could still win the title, but that they don’t have it in their own hands. Now it’s up to Jaron Siewert’s team to win their own matches and hope for a slip-up from leaders SC Magdeburg
After SCM won the top match in Flensburg on Friday, the Foxes’ hopes have been reduced to a minimum. The team from Anhalt still has one point less than the Berliners and would still have to lose any game. However, Magdeburg’s remaining program is not particularly demanding. The motto for the Foxes is therefore to focus only on themselves.
With a win on Sunday, the Berliners could regain the lead in the table, but it would not change the starting position in the title race in the Handball Bundesliga. However, if the Foxes lose at home to the Zebras, the telegram of congratulations can already be sent to Magdeburg. However, the odds point to a clear home win in the match between Füchse Berlin and THW Kiel
The Bundesliga season is basically over for the team from Schleswig-Holstein. Whether they finish third or fourth in the end doesn’t really matter. However, in the event of a defeat, Kiel must be careful not to be pushed into fifth place by MT Melsungen.
Füchse Berlin – statistics & current form
The Berliners are really playing a terrific season, but have the problem that they are competing with SC Magdeburg in three competitions and the Anhalt team is simply that little bit better. SCM came out on top in the final of the IHF Super Globe and the Berliners also lost to Magdeburg in the DHB Cup Final Four last week.
Two titles still possible for the Füchse
That’s why it’s hard to believe that things will be any different in the Bundesliga. It is the third competition in which the Foxes are close to the trophy, but will probably not lift it. After all, there is still the European League, where the Berliners have to play the first leg of their quarter-final against Nantes next Tuesday. At least SC Magdeburg can’t play spoilsport there
Let’s return to the final week. The Berliners traveled to Cologne for the Final Four with great ambitions. They had won six games in a row beforehand, but the Foxes were the big losers of the weekend. They lost 25:30 to Magdeburg in the semi-final and also lost the match for third place against SG Flensburg-Handewitt on Sunday. It almost seemed as if the Foxes were running on fumes. After all, they have yet to lose at home this season.
If they fail to win the championship, there are at least individual titles up for grabs. Mathias Gidsel has currently scored 221 goals in the league and could yet become the top scorer in the Bundesliga. The Danish world handball player is currently only six goals behind Manuel Zehnder in second place. Lasse Andersson is another goal scorer in the ranks of the capital city, so the odds on more than 61.5 goals between Füchse Berlin and THW Kiel could be interesting.
Predicted line-up of Füchse Berlin:
Milosavljev, Kireev – Andersson, Darj, Drux, Freihofer, Gidsel, Jacobs, Kopljar, Langhoff, Lichtlein, Lindberg, Marsenic, Teigum, Tollbring, Wieder – Coach: Siewert
THW Kiel – Statistics & current form
For the zebras from the far north, the season has actually gone as expected. It was basically clear that they would not be playing for the championship this season. Now the aim for the rest of the season is to secure at least fourth place in order to be sure of a place in the European League next season. However, they would also like to challenge their old northern rivals from Flensburg for third place
The focus is mainly on the Champions League
More important, however, are the appearances in the Champions League. Parallels with FC Bayern are clear to see. The first leg of the quarter-final in Montpellier is on the agenda next week. The goal should be to reach the Final Four in Cologne. The focus is therefore more on the top flight. How much Filip Jicha’s team can still concentrate on the top match in Berlin is difficult to say
It’s not as if nothing is going right for Kiel this season. After all, they have only lost once in their last twelve games. However, the Zebras have only won two of their last four matches, including a seven-goal defeat in the derby at home to Flensburg. The team from Schleswig-Holstein then struggled to victories against Lemgo and Erlangen.
Last week, another derby at HSV Hamburg was on the agenda. Despite being 26:21 up midway through the second half, THW was unable to put the lid on the game and had to share the points at 28:28. In this state, we would at least not predict an away win for the Zebras between Füchse Berlin and THW Kiel.
Predicted line-up of THW Kiel:
Bellahcene, Mrkva – Bilyk, Dahmke, Duvnjak, Ehrig, Ekberg, Ellefsen, Johansson, Överby, Pekeler, Reinkind, Szilagyi, Wallinius, Weinhold, Wiencek – Coach: Jicha
Füchse Berlin – THW Kiel head-to-head comparison / H2H result
When looking at the direct comparison, the Foxes are like all other German teams when they face THW Kiel. The two clubs have faced each other in a total of 51 games to date. The Zebras have won 40:7. Four encounters have ended in a draw. Of the last eight games, the capital side have won just one.
In the Max-Schmeling-Halle, they have at least kept a clean sheet in the last five encounters, with two wins and a draw in each. That shows that the Berliners have made a leap forward in recent years. However, the first leg went to the Zebras in Kiel last November with a 30:26 win. It was the first defeat of the current season for the Berliners
Füchse Berlin – THW Kiel betting tip
The Berliners are the clear favorites. If they still want to have a chance of winning the title, and at least Jaron Siewert has announced that they will not give up the championship prematurely, then they should win at home on Sunday. We expect that the Berliners, who are still unbeaten at home this season, could have a good chance of taking the two points
Although Jaron Siewert’s team has conceded two defeats in its last two games in the DHB Cup, the Zebras have not covered themselves in glory in recent weeks and were not even involved in the Final Four in Cologne. So we maintain that it may well make sense to place a bet on a home win between Füchse Berlin and THW Kiel in the Bet365 app
However, you also have to look at how the Berliners have taken the news of SC Magdeburg’s win in Flensburg. In our opinion, the odds on a home win are too low to be really attractive. More interesting is the number of goals and because the Berliners have two outstanding scorers, we have decided to play the odds on more than 31.5 goals for the capital city team between Füchse Berlin and THW Kiel
