betprepare.com

Flensburg beat Kiel but lost Glandorf for the rest of the season

With both Glandorf and Jakobsson out, Vranjes doesn't have anyone for the right back position, meaning he will probably have three right-handed back players or two linemen in the last three games this season, despite the management acquiring Tingsvall a few days ago. Melsungen are on a five-game winning run (Bundesliga), they are doing their best at this point in the season, but have never recorded a win over Flensburg

Melsungen have never been doing better this season. They struggled in the beginning to go on and record 5 consecutive wins and to claim spot 6 in the table. Their good results are accompanied by the good performances (won the last 4 games by at least 5 goals) and the last game with Gummersbarch only went to prove the good streak. Melsungen scored 21 goal by half time, cruising towards the win in the second one with a 6-goal lead.

- When you're on a streak, you hope it will go on for a while. We had a lot more time to prepare for this game, in comparison to the first one. We started off well, but after taking a 7-goal lead kind of let go - staying at a high level throughout the game is tough. This game was just us continuing what we started a few weeks ago - playing good defense and diverse offense. We are looking forward to the next game against Flensburg in a packed arena - coach Roth said. Allendorf scored team-best 10 points at Melsungen.

Just like Roth said, the arena will be packed and very supportive of the home team. The goal is to keep the run going, the team are bursting with confidence and Melsungen want to bring down one of the top teams now. They never beat Flensurg, recording two draws in 19 head-to-head games and their motivation will be running high today, especially since they were defeated easily in both head-to-head games with Flensburg this season. The Cup game failure (22-38) is particularity painful. 

- We're the underdog, Flensburg confirmed how good they were on Sunday. But, we want to do a good game home and we'll do our best to make it difficult for them - Roth said. He should have all of his players at his disposal.

- We're counting on fan support today. They were great for the past few weeks, making a great contribution to this winning run - Allendorf said. 

Goal keeper Sjostrand is to move to Melsungen at the end of the season, which will be great help. 

The win over Kiel put Flensburg back in the title race. The pressure was great last Saturday as the win could have gotten Kiel 7 points ahead (one game more), which would be very difficult for Flensburg to make up for. If Flensburg win the one game they still have to play to have the same number of games as Kiel, they would get only one point short of them and Lowen.

Vranjes' team took the lead in the very beginning and responded greatly when Kiel got only one point short after scoring 5 goals while not allowing Flensburg to score any. Flensburg took their game one level higher and managed to win lead by the brilliant Andersen who saved 23 shots. He finished the game with an efficiency of 50%, driving Kiel's stars crazy and turning into a hero for his team.

- We're thrilled to have won this game. Andersson was great, he kept us going in the second half. But, handball is about the team and the defense was aggressive enough. I'm not completely happy though, I prefer to have lost the game and had Glandorf fit and ready for the next round - Vranjes said.

Glandorf will be out for the rest of the season with an Achilles tendon rupture, which is something Flensburg aren't capable of making up for since Jakobsson is injured as well, leaving Vranjes with basically no choice for the right back position. The management acquired Tingsvall, but he is not that level of quality the two aforementioned players are. It is a great problem ahead of the meeting with Melsungen.

- We know we won't just be given the two points, we need to fight hard - Vranjes said.

Vranjes might put three right handed back players or two linemen on the court, but either way, it won't be easy against the tough Melsungen's defense. Defense will be the key in Vranjes' game once again, with brilliant goal keepers possibly deciding the game.

- I always say we have to focus on ourselves only. In this kind of a situation, even more so - the visiting coach said.

Glandorf's injury is something Flensburg won't be able to make up for today and should change the concept of today's game completely. Melsungen and Flesburg are two great defense teams capable of limiting the opponent to a small number of goals. Flensburg's attacking will struggle without one of its key players against zone defense, which means they will have to play very tough defense, just like against Kiel a few days ago. This margin makes sense statistically (Melsungen 57.5, Flensburg 55.4) but the averages are hyped by one sided wins over weaker opponents. Both teams, Flensburg especially, are usually limited to smaller number of points against powerful opponents. Melsungen will have a great deal of fan support, the motivation will be running high and I expect their very aggressive approach in defense. It seems it will be a very tough game, similar to the one they played early in the season (29-22). The Cup game ended at 60 goals but it was an easy win for Flensburg, which is not expected today.