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We will rarely see Metalurg at a 53.5 margin, and I honestly don't recall the last time I saw such a margin in one of their European games. Even if they were playing vs Odema Zagreb this would be a bet to take, with all due respect to the team from the lower league. The Macedonians have played offensively strong teams in previous seasons as well, such as Kiel or Hamburg, and still managed to leave their opponents at 25-26 goals. PSG is no doubt a powerful team, but only on paper so far. They are not tuned in yet, and this margin is the consequence of victories vs Minsk(34-30) and Cesson (41-28). However, those games have no relevance for this one, and they played Minsk 12-11 in the first half too. The PSG under 28.5 option is very attractive, but I'll take a shot at the total under. We must keep in mind that Metalurg cannot count on Mirkulovski, who is one of their very important offensive players. Pavel Atman is to substitute him, but they have very few alternating options, and the last thing Cervar wants to do is have a chasing match with Abalo, Honrubia and the rest... Details

Dunkerque have been underestimated quite a bit. Their 10 point difference from Kielce is not indicative of the team's value, They've been together a long time now and have a better game than Cadenasov's Wisla. The French were at 23-22 in the 48th min against the strong Kielc, before a few counterattacks and defense mistakes that killd the match. They can play evenly against Wisla, and it will be so tonight. The Polish are very weakend by Lijwski's not playing. Nincevic is just coming back, they don't have a left wing and they won't score points easily here. Wisla below 28.5 is also a very good , but I'll go with Dunkerque not losing. Details

They played three times last season, two times in the league and once in the cup. Skjern scored 33, 33 and 31 goals on those occasions. In the preliminary period they played once, and Skjern won that one with 30-27. This Skjern is stronger and faster than they were last season and I truly doubt that Sonderjyske can leave them under 30 goals. Both of them are fast teams, both coaches prefer fast handball, Skjern's coach said that he expect an attractive match and I think that that there can easily be more than 60 goals in total. Total over is another option, I'm betting on Skjern. Sonderjyske haven't conceded over 27 goals in the first four rounds, but they didn't play against the best teams either. Details

Nordsjaelland's games have so far ended in 58, 55, 49 and 63 goals. The 49 came against Skive, after 9-8 in the second half. They do not have a powerful defense and have many young players that are not strong. Skanderborg had a 49-goal game against Morso in the first round (13-12 in the second half), 54 goals with Skjern and 53 against GOG, and lost 19-18 against Skive. The preview explains the circumstances of this match and the way Skanderborg's coach decided to take in this game which caused such a low-scoring affair. We will not see an of that today, this game will be much more efficient, I expect around 55 goals and this bet should be made. Details

I can not agree with appointed handicaps. Vardar is better team at this point that's not questionable. On the other hand they will surely rotate a lot , they come after match against Minsk and they are not pressured as much as Brest are. The Belarus team were defeated in the domestic league by weak SKA, the situation in the club is very turbulent, coach Babic is under a lot of pressure and players need to redeem themselves before upcoming derby against Dinamo Minsk. That match will be much more important for them than this one for sure but if they continue with their bad performances today that can only deepen their crisis. They badly need to play a good game even if that ends up in a defeat. They played against Vardar in pre-season and at home court they got a draw 28-28 and lost by 9 goals margin in Macedonia. Even if quality and performance are not their main strength at this point they certainly don't lack the motivation and they are certainly aware of importance of this match. I believe they will show their quality and that their defeat won't be persuasive. Details

Ivry have shown in the opening matches of the season that they are having some problems in attack, which was visible when they lost at home to Nantes 28-24 (6-1 in the last 10 minutes when the away team made a lot of changes) and against Aix 21-20. They are in dire need of points and I don't doubt the fact that they will again focus on their defence, which is their strong point. Touluse is a better team offensively, but coach Da Silva already said that they have to be concentrated in defence too. They didn't play under a lot of pressure in their first two matches , against stronger oppositions, and they showed that they will be better than last year. Against PSG they conceded 29 and against Dunkerque they lost 31-27 with four missed 7-meter throws. Both games ended with 58 goals in total, and I don't believe that this will be the case against Ivry. This margin seems two goals too high. Ivry's last four away games ended with 53, 49, 51 and 54 goals. Today I don't expect them to go over 56. Details

St. Raphael are not backing away from their game, they played very well in the first two rounds, especially in offense, and those who followed me in French Handball and last season in German Handball know that the reason for those games is Morten Olssen, a Dane who plays in the outer middle back position and arrived from Hannover. Atlason is getting back to his rhythm, and St. Raphael have good right back, Di Panda-Sthelik, even without the injured Barachet. They're going to demand a faster handball against everybody. In the first two round they went over the 55.5 margin, I don't see why they wouldn't d the same today. Aix are not a defense oriented team, their last round 21-20 victory was more due to Ivry's style rather than Aix. In the last two seasons the two teams had 56 and 62 goals, but we shouldn't pay too much attention to that because this is a different St. Raphael, and so are Aix because they had Nikola Karabatic in that 62 point game Details

This should be a cat-and-mouse game in Montpellier today. Nantes are missing four important backcourt players, which makes for more than half their team's strength. It's simply not the same Nantes anymore. Last season they played their last fixture at Montpellier. Nantes played without Entrerrios and Sayad, their two left backs, and lost 33-24. Those two are out for today's match as well, while Maqueda and Vujic have joined them on the sidelines. Their replacements don't have what it takes to confront Montpellier, who are the far superior team with the likes of Omeyer, Simonet, Accambray, Kavticnik, Dolenec, Gajic, Hmam and Tej in their ranks. Details

After a point taken in the match against Chambery and beating Nimes, this match for Cesson is one of those nothing to lose situations. They demonstrated proves on the offense in the Chambery game, and have fared equally well against the division newcomers, Nimes who needed to win that match. With roster bustling with big names like Hansen, Narcisse, Kopljar, Abalooa, Vori and Csaszar, PSG's offensive options are innumerable. Against Minsk they scored 22 goals in the second half and such a game is expected today as well. Cesson are not a classically burly French handball team, with lighter backs (the brothers Briffe, Dore, Batinovic) who will not be able to stand up to PSGs offense, and I’m convinced they will go for easy goals and quick ball transition. Cesson are unchanged since last year, when they conceded 32 and 34 goals respectively. As the PSG defense is still not fully organized and does not instill much confidence, Cesson will give a helping hand to this over and we will probably see an over 60 goals match, possibly more. Details

Bjerringbro enter this match without Jakobsen, Madsen and their first goalkeeper Green, which means they are quite weakened in the defensive line. However, attack-wise, having an excellent back line that features Kjelling - Jorgensen - Mads Christiansen, along with reliable wings and a strong pivot Kristjansson, they can meet the requirements of the match. In four rounds they only have one under at 51.5 margin, and it was against the best defence of the league, Kolding, in the match that saw Kolding win 26-25 . Holstebro are known as a defensive team but they haven't had much luck in this arena, having conceded 30 or more goals in 6 of the last 7 matches. Now they arrive with two back-to-back matches over 51.5 margin so there is no reason for today's match to end with 50 goals or less. Moreover, Holstebro's best back-court player, Michael Damgaard, returned to the lineup, scoring 5 goals against Kolding. Details

The Aarhus coach has admitted that they have a lot of problems in the defence, which was visible to anyone, especially in the last game which they lost against GOG 34-29. They are weaker in both directions without Hansen, who probably won't play today. Last season when they had Hansen and a couple of other important defensive players, like the pivot Petersson, they went over the 52.5 margin in 4 of their 5 matches against Skjern. Skjern are a very formidable attacking team and their coach wants them to play transition handball. Last season they had the stronger attack in the league and they scored 30 and 31 goals in their last to matches. They also have Mollgaard, who is a beast in the second wave... Aaruhus, on the other hand, has very good backcourts, Rune Ohm (right back) picked up where he left off last season when he played for Sonderjyske and was one on the best scorers of the league. Now he's on top too. Aarhus will have an answer in the attacking department and this match will have more than 55 goals scored in my opinion, which is over the margin. Details

At the moment, Manolo Cadenas is, in my humble opinion, in top five, maybe even top three world coaches. He took over Wisla after he accomplished amazing things with average team of Ademar Leon. He immediately got them in the Champions League. They defeated Montpellier after two matches. I have no doubt he will find some tactic against Kiel. And Cadenas is a true master when it comes to slowing down your opponent. He left Montpellier at 23 goals. I remember Kiel playing in Leon a few seasons ago. They had Narcisse, Omeyer and Ahl playing for them. The final score was 28-28. The Poles are pumped, the hall will be covered in blue colors and they will be a hard opponent for Kiel, I have no doubt. I originally wanted to take 3.5 on the Poles, but it's already down to 2.5, so I'll rather take the complete under. Apart from Nenadic and young Milas, Wisla are not a very fast team, which is seen in their results thusfar. Kiel are not very convincing lately, two lucky wins against Wetzlar and Gummersbach, and they didn't show much against recently promoted Eisenbach (29-23). But Kiel's defense did get a little bit better in the last few matches and Sjostrand improved on goal. That's going to be very important today. Details

Montpellier destroyed Aix in the first round with 12 scored goals more, and Aix is better than Dijon by 3-4 goals. Dijon is a newcomer in the league - they were third in the second division but got in the first one because the runner up Muhlhouse didn't. They lost to Sélestata 25-21 at the opening, but the score was even better than how it seemed on the court (Dijon was losing 16-7 by the half time). Montpellier have all the players on disposal: Omeyer as the goalkeeper, Hmam in defense, Simoneto as the center of offense, Kavticnik, Gajic, and Dolenec right. They are not in the Champions League, their only focus is the French championship, and this match is the test for the matches against Nantes and PSG. I expect them to be in full swing and wouldn't be surprise if they finish with 10 goals more than the opponent. Details

Balingen started their season only in the last league round. Their coach Brack finally has a right team with healed players and his main players are finally at his disposal. Now they look respectable with Martin Strobel in the middle, national team player Häfner at right back, Austrian Schlinger on the left, Theuerkauf on the line, good goalkeepers (Puhle, Katsigianis), reliable wings (Liniger, Billek). Hannover will not win this match easily, although they had a lot of time to prepare for this match. I expect an interesting match, maybe even a close one and I would not write off Balingen easily. Hannover has three wins so far, but none of them with more than 4 goals difference. Details

I am playing this on the count of Jan Paulsen's return to Mors' bench, which was welcomed by the whole team, and especially the supporters. I expect a huge effort and a great fighting spirit, and they have enough quality to win against an opponent like RIbe. Their top goalkeeper Pedersen, good middle back Karlsson, right back Meinby, left wing Skram... Mors is not as bad as -14 against Sonderjyske in the previous round may suggest. Paulsen's arrival, with whom they played last season's championship semifinals, is a huge thing and I think that it will be seen today. They were close to winning points in their first home game with former coach Thomsen, but they lost against Arhus 27-26. Arhus is a stronger and better team than today's opponent Ribe, who barely won their only away game against TMS Ringsted. Details

Nantes have won all of their three meetings last year with ease and shown impressive form in the opening game of the season. They defeated the home team, Ivry. They were leading 14-6 in the first half, but the game ended 29-24 only because they rotated a lot in the last 10 minutes and their determination dropped. The guests had 28-18 but Ivry took advantage of their lax attitude and scored 6 while they conceded only 1. Today Nantes have their first game, they won't rotate that much and will be very motivated to play to their maximum. It will be a very tough 60 minutes for the away team, who lost here last season in the league 33-23 and 33-25 in the cup. Selestat is returning with an unchanged line-up, nobody has left and they added just one player, while Nantes is even stronger than last season. Details

St. Raphaël showed nothing special this season. Although they led 26-18 against first league rookie Nimes, they allowed them to return into the game (31-30) and had to struggle to keep the points at the end of the game. Goalkeeper Djukanovic was their key factor in those moments. Atlason is expected to play more today, but he missed a significant part of the training camp and he surely needs to play more with Olsen and the rest of the team. St. Raphaël is a favorite, but not by 6 goals. Tremblay has a good team, I will say that again. I bet they will not lose by more that 3.5 against Dunkerquea at the start of the season, they lost by 4 with 4 missed 7 meter shots and a very bad performance by their goalkeeper Gajic who is expected to play good this season. I am convinced they will be good today, last year they lost against their today's opponent in the last seconds of the game (32-31) and today we could see another close game since Bosquet and his teammates want to show that defeat against Dunkerqe is not their reality. Details

The last season second-division team Gudma opened the elite season in style. Three wins out of three matches are a guarantee for quality. They play well, with an excellent defense, but I don't think that this evening they will not have such a huge win like in the past rounds. At the start they had Nordsjaelland who are a completely new team. Then they won against Skanderborg at home, although they had trouble in the second half, while at Arhus they seized the chance of their best player not playing in the match (middle back Hansen). Ahead of today's duel they are left without their first right wing. This place will have to be taken by the cadet national team player Kildelund, and that player wasn't the first option even at the World Championship in Hungary in his generation. GOG has two more cadet players, on the right back and on pivot positions, the future starts of Danish handball, but for now they are still 19-year-olds. Sonderjyske is a different story. They are still undefeated as well and if I would compare the players by positions, it is difficult to give GOG the advantage although they have Snorri Gudjonsson in their ranks. Sonderjyske has a superb goalkeeper, a pivot who was among the best seven of the round in all three rounds, an excellent right back, a very good back line and it is no accident they won against Kiel and Bjerringbro in the preparation matches. In their only away match so far they played 25-25 at strong Holstebro who is not weaker in quality than GOG. From the host ranks as well come announcements that the match will be resolved in the last 10 minutes, with which I completely agree and so I have to take these 2.5 on Sonderjyske. Details

In their last three rounds, Lemgo played against relegation candidates Minden and Eisenach and againt Melsungen at home. They got two draws and were crushed by Melsungen. Göppingen are on a par with these three teams and are coming highly motivated after 23-23 against Löwen, in a game in which they were down 19-12. They were quite unlucky before that. They lost against Flensburg in the last moments, they lost very close games to Hannover and Magdeburg. I think that point is bound to lift their spirits, they don't have many injured players, and they can match Lemgo in all positions. Their middle back is better (Kraus - Herth), their left bak is better (Rnic - Lönn), their goalkeepers are much better (Prost and Marinovic - Dressrüse), their pivots and wings are at least as good as Lemgo's. The only advantage the home team has is the right back position where Hermann reigns supreme, while Göppingen are somewhat short there, despite having Thiede and Lobedank. Details

The game Toulouse played in the first round against PSG simply forces me to make this bet. It ended 29-29, even though they were the better team and they deserved to win. The recovery of Daniel Andjelovic is a big plus for the team, and it seems their other reinforcements were good choices - Ilic as left back, Montoro as right back. In addition, the Spaniard played a bad game then and I expect him to be much better today. Fernandez is still playing like a young boy, and not a man nearing his 40s. Their flow is great, they are always looking to pass the ball around, they have great cooperation with their pivot and Miha Zvizej, the man who didn't play against PSG, is returning to this position. When they were fighting to avoid relegation, they played 26-26 here. I think they can give the runner-ups a run for their money. And if the goalkeepers are better than in the game against PSG.. Dunkerque have also left a good impression at Tremblay, they played much better than in the preparations. Cazal's team is well-organized and they haven't made any changes during the summer, except bringing in the middle back Guillard. But this is the first home game, and they have an away game in Kielce this weekend which means Cazal will have to rotate more than last season, which means the difference won't matter. I think we are in for a very interesting game in Northern France. Details