Will Waspo attack in the top division?
The Advent season is usually a time for reflection. In sport, that is not yet the case, in many sports things are still getting busy before Christmas. In water polo, the fourth matchday in the Champions League is scheduled for this week. The German champions Waspo Hannover have to play Red Star Belgrade in Serbia on Wednesday.
Waspo will have a close look in the Serbian capital, because Belgrade is the destination of dreams. The Final 8 of the best eight teams will take place there this season. For that, the Lower Saxons have to reach one of the first four places in the group phase. A lofty goal, but one that does not seem so unrealistic at the moment.
At the moment, Hannover are in sixth place with two points. Karsten Seehafer’s team is still waiting for its first win, but there have been some good results recently. Crvena Zvezda is one of the hot competitors for fourth place. The Serbians currently have three points on their account and are in fifth place. At the well-known bookmakers, the prediction in the duel between Red Star Belgrade and Waspo Hannover is slightly in favour of a home win.
For Belgrade, of course, the goal remains to play the Final 8 at home. However, local rival Novi Beograd has been chosen as host, so Red Star will have to qualify regularly. To stay on track, a home win on Wednesday is a must, but we think it’s conceivable to place a tip on a guest win between Red Star Belgrade and Hannover.
Red Star Belgrade – Statistics & current form
In general, you always have to take Serbian teams into account in water polo. Red Star Belgrade is currently not a team that pulls out trees – neither nationally, nor regionally in the Balkans or in the Champions League. In most competitions, Crvena Zvezda lags behind the music, sometimes significantly. It doesn’t look like a title this season.
Mighty workload at Red Star
In addition, the Serbians are extremely busy at the moment. They have matches in the Serbian Super League, the Regional League and the Champions League on the agenda. It is only a question of time before all these stresses and strains cause lasting damage to the team’s substance.
From 25 November to 28 November alone, five matches were played in four days in the Regional League, in which teams from Croatia and Montenegro also play. In the Regional League, the team is currently only ranked sixth out of 13 teams. In the Serbian Super League, things are not looking particularly rosy either, with fifth place.
After the multitude of games, there might be problems with freshness on Wednesday. But that also means it’s hard to pick the right odds between Red Star Belgrade and Waspo Hannover.
The squad of Red Star Belgrade:
Misovic, Ivanovic – Tankosic, Durdic, Markovic, Subotic, Milojevic, Pjesivac, Basara, Raden, Vukicevic, Smiljevic – Coach: Filipovic
Hannover – Statistics & current form
Germany is not one of the big names in water polo at the moment, but Waspo Hannover seem to be on a good path of development. It’s hard to keep up with the best teams on the continent, but Red Star Belgrade should be a team that is on a par with the Lower Saxons at the moment.
Significant upward trend for Waspo
Waspo remains unbeaten for four games. At first glance, that doesn’t sound like much, but that included the games in the Champions League against German rivals Spandau Berlin and especially against OSC Budapest, one of the favourites for the Champions League title. From that point of view, we have to speak of good form for Hannover.
The match against Spandau, when they came back from a clear deficit to win 11:11, was perhaps the key to their good form. Afterwards, against Budapest, it even looked at times as if they might be able to inflict a defeat on the Hungarians. However, coach Karsten Seehafer was very satisfied with the 12:12 result.
Last weekend, there was a clear victory in the Bundesliga at SG Neukölln Berlin. Waspo kept the upper hand with 21:6. The form is right, the team is hot for the game in Serbia. That’s why we think it’s very possible to predict a win for the visitors in the duel between Red Star Belgrade and Hannover.
The Hannover squad:
Schenkel, Götz – Corusic, Macan, Real, D. Brguljan, Radovic, Muslim, Nagaev, Kubisch, M. Brguljan, Schütze, Winkelhorst – Coach: Seehafer
Red Star Belgrade – Hannover Direct comparison / H2H-balance
The teams of Crvena Zvezda and Waspo have not crossed paths very often so far. Only one duel is in the books. In 2014, both teams met in the intermediate round of the Champions League. Waspo won 11:10 at home, but Hannover was still eliminated. Red Star finally had to call it a day in the following play-offs.
Serbia Red Star Belgrade – Hannover tip
The quotes make it clear that a match of equals will be played in Belgrade on Saturday. Marseille, Red Star and Hannover are probably fighting for the fourth place and thus the qualification for the Final 8. Therefore, this duel on Wednesday may already be groundbreaking. The winner will significantly improve his chances.
Crvena Zvezda currently have an extremely tough programme to complete. From last Thursday to Sunday, five matches were played in four days. Aleksandar Filipovic’s team is lagging behind in the regional and national league. It doesn’t sound like you have to place a bet on a home win in the duel between Red Star Belgrade and Waspo Hannover.
The Lower Saxons are clearly in a better mood, the national tasks are completed in the usual confident manner. The draw against Budapest in the Champions League was a clear sign that Waspo could be a force to be reckoned with. Therefore, we have decided to play the betting odds on an away victory between Red Star Belgrade and Hannover.
