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Maribor lost the first Round of 16 match to Galatasaray in straight sets. But they will not just give up today. The fact is, they did not display half of their potential in that first match and they underestimated the opponents. One of the main reasons for the defeat in key opposite Mlakar's absence. SHe is their key offense player who was replaced by an 18-year-old Vovk. Even so, they played a close first set but Galatasaray controlled the rest. Maribor are now complete and have played two matches since the one in Istanbul. They beat the Hungarian champions Linmar 3-2 and then Maldos from Zagreb in straight sets. In both matches, Mlakar was their key scorer with 25 and 20 poonts- Maribor has a team which has been together for a long time and will be much more competent today.

They have 4 CEV Cup wins this season. Galtasaray need just two set today to secure QFs. They have a derby match on Saturday which is why they will try not to get to tired today. They lost a set away to Montanes, who are not even close to Maribor. Apart from the handicap, a good option for a smaller stake is Maribor's win. Details

I can accept that Buducnost are the favorites based on their past few seasons but they cannot be heavy favorites here, especially given their results and current form this season. Apart from their result against Astrakhanochka, Buducnost have just one convincing win this season - the one over Thuringer in Podgorica. Thuringer lost last week to FTC in Budapest by 8 goals. In the other three home games, the team from Podgoriac struggled. They lost to Vardar, beat Glassverket by a goal and beat Metz 21-19. Ferencvaros beat Metz two weeks ago away 28-25. They got a point against Vardar in Skopje (27-27) and got trashed by the same team in Budapest (24-37). We have 6 wins and a draw for Ferencvarsos this season. They did better then Podgorica. Granted, there was a bad defeat to Vardar but Vardar and Buducnost aren't similar. Vardar score a lot of goals and play at a high pace, while Buducnost don't have the kind of a game for the race. They rely on back players and defense. FTC, on the other hand, acquired one more player for back line, both goal keepers are doing brilliantly and have top numbers. To sum up, I think this will be a close game. FTC have a good chance to win, even if this ends up being a game of low numbers. Buducnost is closer to a win but not by more than 2-3 goals. Details

Krim have played twice against the second Danish team in the group phase of the Champions League. They lost in an away game against Team Esbjerg with 25-35, they won against the same team in Ljubljana with 27-22, which was equal to a sensation. Esbjerg and Midtjylland this season can't be put in the same basket. Midtjylland are convincingly the best Danish team (15-1 record in the Danish championship), Esbjerg (9-2-5) and a team who already beat Team Esbjeg thrice this season (29-21, 26-23 and the last time two weeks ago in the CL 38-26). That's the only thing that can serve as a parallel. The other thing is the fact that Krim, unlike the group phase, in this main round are without their best player Elizabeth Omoregia, with 34 goals, their main offense option. As for today's match, two more players are questionable: left-handed Anja Koren (food poisoning) and Tamara Georgijev (ankle), the latter surely won't be out today. The second pivot Laura Kamdop is also out. Midtjylland are complete, with no defeats at home this season. In five out of seven matches in the Danish championship they won with six or more goals of difference. In the Cl they won in all four home games, three matches in the group phase were against teams who are still in the narrowest circle of championship title candidates (CSM Bucuresti, Gyori, Rostov Don), three teams who are currently handball "giants" compared to the potential of Slovakian Krim. The realistic margin is for 1-2 goals over the set one, the real difference compared to the current state is more closer to a double-digit one. Details

Montenegrin selector Dragan Adzic made too big of a cut for this European Championship and the players who are no longer in the team were too important. In this Montenegro team there isn't a single player who can replace the efficiency of right-back K. Bulatovic and right winger J. Radicevic. Not to mention the importance of A. Bulatovic's defense, the security that goalkeeper Barjaktarovic provided.... We have seen the level their team is at in their last two games against rejuvenated Croatia. The first game, which Croatia dominated, Montenegro lost 20-28, and in the second one they played a bit better, but still lost 17-21. Their middle-back Agovic got injured, she got some playing time in the Champions League, and that will put more pressure on captain Milena Raicevic, who had some injury problems in this period and missed the first week of preparations. Pretty much everything regarding their offense has come down to 19-year-old Jaukovic, who will be playing the role of the leader of this team for the first time, and as such she will get more attention from opposing defenses. Denmark had a quality preparation period, they achieved different results, but they played against the best teams, and they defeated Russia twice convincingly. They will be additionally motivated since Montenegro eliminated them from the Olympic qualifications, and they will be playing in Malmo, which is 20 kilometers from Copenhagen, almost at home. We should also mention that Montenegro will be playing against Czech Republic in two days, and they see that game as the most important game for them at this Championship, so in case the winners are decided early in this game, it is possible that Adzic could start rotating players earlier, which is also in favor of this pick. Details

This is the second leg of the Challenge Cup third round currently between third-placed teams in Slovenia's championship Ajdovscina, and Zagnos from Turkey. Both clubs agreed to play both of the legs in the Turkish Trabzon. In yesterday's first leg Ajdovscina surprised the home team and won with three goals of difference (25-22). In the interviews after the match, the home team looked for an alibi in the bad preparation of the first match. We'll see if that will be the case today. In any case, the result of the first match is a big surprise considering their players' quality and ambitions in this cup.

Last season Zagnos earned their first European season. Between the two seasons they got additions with a few international names, and currently they're third in the Turkish championship with six wins, one draw and two defeats after nine rounds, and they have three points less than the leading Ankara Yenimahalla. The main playmakers are the seven "foreigners": Croats Horvat and Pavic, Macedonian Dusica, Gjorgjievsa with Champions League experience, Russian Tarasova, Serbian wing Djokovic, Slovenian Krajnc, and Ukrainian Kyriushina. After last season, Ajdovscina lost their main layr Schuster, and one of their most efficient, Rjoc, has been injured since the start of the season. In yesterday's first leg Zulic (10 goals), Cajko (5), Ferfolja (3) and Pejovic (3) went all in during ll 60 minutes in both directions, and that's going to be one of their main problems in today's second leg. Ajdovscina will rely on eight players in the game, four juniors are on the bench and this will be their third game in five days, after yesterday's against Zagnos and the one against Ljubljana on Wednesday.
- Our expenses for this year's European season are extremely high, and our priorities are a stable club and success in the home league. We will play with honor in Trabzon, but we won't rush into it, since we have a short bench and we don't want new injuries - said the club's president.
Ajdovscina did more than they could last night, and today it's Zagnos's turn who are play-wise and financial-wise with big aspirations in this club. Details

High margins don't really go with this game. Both teams are playing two competitions and this is the 4th game in 10 days for Leipzig. The game against Atrakhanochka on Sunday was exhausting (30-27) and they For the visitors, this is the 3rd game in 7 days. They recorded a win in the big derby against Metzingen (25-24) and then a win over Podravka in EHF Cup 3rd round. Leipzig struggle greatly as they played with 4 injured players against the Russian champions. Their back player dislocated a finger in the last minute and that will see her sidelined for 6-7 weeks. With 12 players on the roster, they are to face the top Budesliga team with the best players and the biggest roster and the top defense. They cannot hope for the win here. Left wing Da Silva finished the season early this month (20 goals in 5 games). Leipzig have 4 unders in the last 5 games, Bietigheim in 3 out of 5. There weren't many goals in their h2h meetings from the last two seasons (56,57,50,49). Details

There are at least two good reasons to favor Galatasary in this match. The first one is that the team only brought three reinforcements since last season, so everyone knows everyone else in the team pretty well. The second reason is that Bursa got a sensational win against Eczacibasi, but spent a lot of energy in five sets played only three days ago. Eczacibasi got the world club champion title in the tournament in Manila only three days before that, playing five matches in seven days, so they didn't show a wee bit of interest in Bursa. Bursa have seven new players, plus a new coach. Another interesting info is that Galatasary beat Bursa in a tournament in Ankara two weeks ago, after only three sets (25-18 25-23 25-17), and won that tournament in the end. Galata won both games last season (3-1 at home, +19 points total, and 3-2 in Bursa). Since this is the first game in the new season at home, Galata will play their best and their convincing win is a surer thing than the odds would make you think.
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These two teams met in QF last season as well. Molde won 32-25 back then for their first ever semis. In the means time, Molde lost to Gjerpen in the two-legged meeting to get relegated from the top Norwegian league. Sola finished in spot 9 with two points more than Molde to avoid the same faith. Sola won in the championship twice last season (24-23, 31-24).
Both of these teams earned a promotion to top division two seasons ago and had almost exactly the same results last season and both lost some important players. But Molde did a better job in acquiring new players.

Sola have just one player who can make the difference. She scored 50 goals in the championship, which is the third of their total goals. They have 5 defeats after 6 rounds in the championship and just one win. They are among the main candidates for relegation. Three defeats were by double digits, one to Oppsala (23-34) who lost to Molde in Cup round of 16 25-24.

Molde have three defeats so far mostly because they struggled with injury and they gather the team late. Since 28.09. Molde are on a 4-game losing run (3 in championship, one in the Cup). They acquired some new players and will not give up here. They want to defend the semis from last season. The margin here should be at least 2 goals lower and it's clearly worth the stake. Details

Neither of the two opponents did great in their last games - Larvik lost the home match to Savehof 22-25, and Glassverket lost the away game against the German Thuringer 16-24. They have to play the second round of the Champions League on Saturday already, Larvik in Ljubljana, and Glassverket will host Budućnost from Podgorica. Larvik only had eight healthy players seven days ago, and only one came back in the meantime. We can expect them to be in similar lineup today, which means they only have one player for the left and right wing and the right back positions. The game in Ljubljana is more important than this one. Larvik only had 37 shots against Savehof.
Glassverket played well defensively against Thuringer, but failed offensively, whcih was kind of expected because the Germans are known for their good defense. Out of 31 shots on German goal, 20 were sent by two players alone.
Glassverket are going to have a similar problem today against the best Norwegian defense, so the only thing they can do is try to play good defense and get a positive result like that. They played five games in the last season, three ended deep under (two at 47 in the regular time, 28-19 and 45 total, 27-18, and 47 in the final cup (28-19), both playoff matches ended over (55 and 54 goals). The winner of the regular part will be the Norwegian champion, and Larvik are a bit more open in their approach. Considering the results, Larvik's limits with their players, Glassverket's better defensive potential, and busy schedule for both teams, I think this game will hardly go over 50 goals. Details

Not even in better times when they were the Norwegian champions and among the biggest candidates for the title, Larvik weren't too convincing in duels against Savehof. In the season 2014/2015 it was 25-20 and 25-17. It's hard to expect crushing tonight. Larvik look convincing in the Norwegian championship, five wins after five games, and four were double-digit. But all four wins were against team who will fight to stay in the league. In a more serious match against Storhamar, Larvik won with only four goals of difference (28-24). Nora Mork left, they have only one right wing players and right back player (and if Kurtovic is out today, then no true right backs). Sanna Solberg is also very questionable.

Savehof are pumped up thanks to the good results from the Swedish championship, they saved the important players from last season, and added three new experienced ones. They have experienced players (Sand, Ekenman-Fernis and Melleggard) who are in high shape. All in all, Savehof can offer a lot more at this moment than being defeated today with less than six points of difference. The margin before the match is at least two goals under the offered one. Details

This is the greatest Budesliga derby which is to be played after a two-week break. Both teams are on a 3-1 record after 4 rounds and another slip would be a potential problem for both.
- Neither team can afford another defeat. That would get Bietigheim and Metzingen 4 points ahead of us and that's unacceptable. Kerstin Wohlbold not playing is a big problem for us - Thuringer's coach Muller said.
Wolhlbord has been their key player for years now. She missed all the games after the first round with an injury. Aguilar has joined this season but her adaptation is not going as fast as expected.
Leipzig have more serious offensive problems. They lost one of the most efficiency players before the break. She and Kudlacz scored 32 goals in 4 championship games. Left wing Urbich is out from season start and Schulz (scored 11 goals) left. The team is left with two players for that position who are not as good.

In German Supercup final on September 4th, Thuringer beat Leipzig 22-21. We have three games from last season, two in the championship (34-30,31-20) and one from the Cup (23-30). So two finished under the margin set today. Points are important for both teams today, they have top German goal keepers and three unders in the last 4 H2H games. Leipzig are without top scorer and first choice pivot, Thuringer without their game organizer. The 56-goal margin is at least 3-4 goals too high. Details