Big Points in the relegation battle?
Due to the international break, it is a relatively football-free Thursday. Meanwhile, it’s business as usual in the Handball Bundesliga. The decisive weeks are approaching and in the duel between TVB Stuttgart and HC Erlangen, the Swabians are mainly concerned with securing further points to stay in the top flight.
Stuttgart are currently in 15th place in the Bundesliga table. This puts Roi Sanchez’s team right in the middle of the relegation battle. While in the upper part of the table, the minus points are more important, in the lower part of the table, the plus points are more important. The Swabians currently have 12:36 points on their account.
The competition is still close. Minden, Nettelstedt-Lübbecke and Balingen are not yet eliminated and can still catch up with the Bitterfeld team. The TVB urgently needs a win on Thursday in order to be able to take a deep breath.
In terms of the table, things are looking a little better for the Franconians. The HCE have 17:31 points and are in 13th place. The Erlangen team have to make sure that they don’t focus too much on the Final Four in the DHB Cup, but that they get the last points to stay in the league. However, the tendency in the duel between Stuttgart and Erlangen is more towards a home win.
Stuttgart – Statistics & current form
The TVB Stuttgart is a surprise package this season. Sometimes they bring a very good game on the record, but the number of weak games outweighs this season and so it is not surprising that the Swabians are still very much threatened by relegation. At least there are some rays of hope, because especially in their own arena they have more often played up to their potential.
Crisis in Stuttgart
While they have only picked up one win in their last twelve games, they have still managed three points in their last three home games. Roi Sanchez’s side will now have to look to their home strength and if they can do that, then it could be successful to play the odds on a home win in the match between Stuttgart and Erlangen.
The team wanted to take the momentum from the home games into the game at Hannover-Burgdorf after the handball internationals. However, this mission completely backfired. Already after a few minutes, the Swabians were 1:6 behind and did not get into the game at all. In the end, Roi Sanchez’s team suffered a clear 23:33 defeat.
It was clear that the Bitterfeld management was pissed off afterwards. Now they want to change the trend in their own hall. A reaction from Stuttgart should be expected in any case, especially as a win would also draw Erlangen back into the relegation draw and, of course, improve the team’s own prospects.
Predicted line-up of Stuttgart:
Pesic, Vujovic – Augustinussen, Häfner, Hanusz, Kristjansson, Lönn, Müller, Nicolaus, Pesevski, Runarsson, Schulze, Weiß, Zieker – Coach: Sanchez
Last matches played by Stuttgart:
Bundesliga
03/31 2022 – TVB 1898 Stuttgart 34 – 29 HC Erlangen
03/24 2022 – TSV Hannover-Burgdorf 33 – 23 TVB 1898 Stuttgart
03/13 2022 – TVB 1898 Stuttgart 27 – 30 SC Magdeburg
03/03 2022 – TVB 1898 Stuttgart 26 – 26 HSG Wetzlar
02/26 2022 – TVB 1898 Stuttgart 27 – 26 Bergischer HC
Erlangen – Statistics & current form
The HC Erlangen has a team together, in which numerous current and former national players can be found. Therefore, Raul Alonso’s team should actually be a few places higher up in the table. This also means that it is somewhat surprising that the Franconians could well still be relegated at this point in the season, even if the probability is not particularly high.
However, HCE have conceded four defeats in their last five games, although you also have to take into account that they also had to take to the plate against Kiel and Flensburg in that period. Perhaps, however, they have celebrated too much their entry into the semi-finals of the DHB Cup, which is one of the greatest successes in the club’s history.
Even though there was an improvement last week, the Erlangen team still had to admit defeat at home against Frisch Auf Göppingen with 23:25. The HCE were still ahead at the break, but fell behind early in the second half and never got back into the game. Nevertheless, there were many positive aspects that coach Raul Alonso can work on.
On the negative side, however, one of the Franconians’ key players, Christoph Steinert, remains unavailable. The national player is still out of action due to a knee injury. Steffen Fäth, on the other hand, already made his comeback last weekend. Playmaker Nico Büdel is also likely to return after recovering from illness.
Projected line-up of Erlangen:
Ferlin, Ziemer – Bissel, Büdel, Fäth, Firnhaber, Jäger, Jeppsson, Leban, Link, Metzner, Olsson, Överby, Seitz, Sellin, Zechel – Coach: Alonso
Last matches played by Erlangen:
Bundesliga
03/31 2022 – TVB 1898 Stuttgart 34 – 29 HC Erlangen
03/24 2022 – HC Erlangen 23 – 25 FA Göppingen
03/10 2022 – HSV Hamburg 30 – 29 HC Erlangen
03/06 2022 – HC Erlangen 29 – 22 TuS-N-Lübbecke
02/27 2022 – THW Kiel 34 – 24 HC Erlangen
Stuttgart – Erlangen Direct comparison / H2H balance
In a direct comparison, the Swabians and the Franconians are not that far apart. The two teams have played 25 duels to date. The fewest of these were played in the Bundesliga. On the other hand, the two clubs were companions in the second division for several years and played against each other several times in the DHB Cup.
After victories, HC Erlangen is only a razor-thin lead with 13:11. Two games ended in a draw. The Stuttgart team won the first leg in Erlangen this season. After 60 minutes, the score was 32:27 for the Swabians. With seven goals, Viggo Kristjansson was the match-winner for TVB Stuttgart.
Stuttgart – Erlangen Tip
A look at the table shows that TVB Stuttgart need the points in this southern German duel a little more than HC Erlangen. The Swabians are in acute danger of relegation and have only picked up one win in their last twelve games. However, three points from the last three home games, with SC Magdeburg also among the opponents, were a good haul.
The Franconians have lost four of their last five games, but can now fall back on their playmaker Nico Büdel. This should make the HCE much harder to count on. The loss of Christoph Steinert, however, still weighs heavily on the team.
We can imagine that the lead will change several times in this duel. In the end, however, we see the slightly higher quality in the ranks of the Franconian guests. We do not expect a high success, but in the end we have decided to play the betting odds on a guest victory in the duel between Stuttgart and Erlangen.
