Hot duel for the Champions League
It’s not only in soccer that the season is entering the decisive phase. In handball, too, the next few weeks will be groundbreaking in the Bundesliga, the DHB Cup and on the international stage. In the middle of it all, as always, is THW Kiel. The Zebras welcome the Füchse from Berlin on Sunday in the league for the top match of the day, in which the home side wants to take a step towards qualifying for the Champions League.
The Schleswig-Holstein team will probably have to forget about the championship. Currently, Filip Jicha’s team is in second place, but in handball we tend to look at the minus points when it comes to the gap. THW has 38:8 points. Leader Magdeburg comes to 42:2 points and still has one game less. The SCM can therefore still leave five points on the way to the title.
For Kiel, it is therefore a matter of securing second place. The opponents are Flensburg and Berlin. The Foxes currently have 33:9 points and two games less. With a win on Sunday, the Capitals could move past THW on minus points.
But the Berliners will do everything they can to keep the chance of the Champions League alive. At least one point should be enough to avoid falling further behind. With a win, Jaron Siewert’s team would have everything in its own hands. However, we tend to place a tip on a Zebra victory in the duel THW Kiel vs. Füchse Berlin.
THW Kiel – statistics & current form
The focus of THW Kiel can be completely on the Bundesliga in the coming weeks. In the Champions League, the team of Filip Jicha has already reached the quarterfinals. It will not continue there until mid-May with the duels against Elverum or Paris Saint-Germain. In the DHB Cup, the Final Four starts at the end of April in Hamburg with the duel against defending champion Lemgo.
Extremely successful in 2022
Till then, there are only games left in the Bundesliga. The Zebras probably won’t fancy themselves much in terms of defending their title, but if leaders Magdeburg stumble, Kiel have to be there. After all, the team from Schleswig-Holstein is in very good form and has won all of its games in 2022. They currently have a total of twelve wins in a row.
During the week, the match in the Champions League against Meshkov Brest from Belarus was actually scheduled. For well-known reasons, this match did not take place, so that the Zebras could prepare for the landmark duel against the Foxes for a week. Also due to the breather of THW, we clearly tend to play the odds on a home win between Kiel and the Füchse Berlin.
In terms of personnel, the big question is whether the stricken keeper Niklas Landin will be in the game. Last week, the Swede had to pass during the guest game in Balingen. Otherwise, Filip Jicha can probably send his desired team to the plate, which has been very successful in recent weeks and should also be clearly favored in this top match.
Predicted lineup of THW Kiel:
N. Landin, Quenstedt – Bilyk, Benitez, Dahmke, Duvnjak, Ehrig, Ekberg, Horak, M. Landin, Pekeler, Reinkind, Sagosen, Weinhold, Wienczek, Zarabec – Coach: Jicha
Last games of THW Kiel:
Bundesliga
03/13 2022 – THW Kiel 27 – 31 Füchse Berlin
Champions League Grp. A
03/10 2022 – THW Kiel 10 – 0 HC Meshkov Brest
Bundesliga
03/06 2022 – Balingen-Weilstetten 25 – 31 THW Kiel
Champions League Grp. A
03/03 2022 – RK Zagreb 27 – 28 THW Kiel
Bundesliga
02/27 2022 – THW Kiel 34 – 24 HC Erlangen
Füchse Berlin – statistics & current form
When there are two legends of handball in the management of a club with Bob Hanning and Stefan Kretzschmar, then you can assume that they have a lot planned in the capital. The squad is getting a huge upgrade. Viran Morros is already on board. The upcoming season will see the addition of two more world-class players in Denmark’s Mathias Gidsel and Sweden’s Max Darj.
With big investments in the Champions League?
With such a team, of course, you want to play in the Champions League, especially since the current squad is already top-class. First of all, they have to punch their ticket for the top division and with this in mind, Sunday’s match is a key game. Should the Berliners lose, they could possibly say goodbye to their big dreams.
But as a consolation, there is probably at least the participation in the European League, in which the foxes already earn this year. During the week, however, they suffered a 29:30 home defeat against Wisla Plock on the international stage and thus finished second in the group phase. At the end of March, they will face HBC Nantes in the round of 16.
The defeat against Plock was the first loss after four wins in a row. Every now and then, the Berlin team suffers a defeat, which is why the forecast for the clash between the in-form THW Kiel and the Füchsen Berlin is more likely to be a home win. However, the last time that Jaron Siewert’s team lost two games in a row was four months ago.
Predicted lineup of Füchse Berlin:
Milosavljev, Genz – Andersson, Beneke, Chrintz, Drux, Holm, Koch, Langhoff, Lindberg, Marsenic, Mathes, Morros, Vujovic, Wiede – coach: Siewert
Last matches of Füchse Berlin:
Bundesliga
03/13 2022 – THW Kiel 27 – 31 Füchse Berlin
EHF European League Grp. A
03/08 2022 – Füchse Berlin 29 – 30 Orlen Wisla Plock
03/01 2022 – Bidasoa 32 – 35 Füchse Berlin
Bundesliga
02/27 2022 – TuS-N-Lübbecke 26 – 32 Füchse Berlin
EHF European League Grp. A
02/22 2022 – foxes Berlin 35 – 23 Bidasoa
THW Kiel – Füchse Berlin Direct comparison / H2H balance
To date, the match between THW Kiel and Füchse Berlin has been played a total of 47 times. The direct comparison is a crystal clear affair for the Zebras. The Kielers are 38:5 ahead after victories. Four games ended in a draw. That doesn’t exactly sound like the capitals will necessarily win on Sunday in the Sparkassen Arena.
THW has also won all of its last 14 home games against Berlin. However, the Füchse draw their self-confidence from the draw in the first leg. In the end, there was a 28:28 draw in the Max-Schmeling-Halle. Until shortly before the end, however, the Berliners were still trailing by two goals and so the point gained for Jaron Siewert’s team can be considered lucky.
THW Kiel – Füchse Berlin Tip
For the foxes it is probably already a final on Sunday for the entry into the Champions League. With a defeat, they will probably not be able to make up the then three-point deficit to THW, especially since the Zebras are in exceptionally good shape. Filip Jicha’s team has won all its games in 2022.
In addition, they can fully concentrate on the Bundesliga, because the next rounds of the DHB Cup and Champions League do not await the Schleswig-Holstein team until the end of April and mid-May, respectively.
The Berliners are playing a decent season, but lost again during the week in the European League after four wins in a row. In addition, the Foxes last conceded 14 defeats in a row in Kiel. Basically, all the facts speak for the Zebras and therefore we have decided to play the betting odds on a handicap victory (-3.5) of the home side in the duel THW Kiel vs Füchse Berlin.
