Handball Bundesliga Favorites and Odds for 2015/16

The list of the Handball Bundesliga favorites 2015/16 does not bring any novelty: THW Kiel, Flensburg-Handewitt and Rhein Neckar Lowen still on the top.

The German Handball League (HBL) has started last weekend. As it is usual before the beginning of the season, several speculations circle around by the handball fans trying to guess who will be the next HBL champion? On their lists of favorites three teams could not be avoided. THW Kiel, SG Flensburg-Handewitt and Rhein-Neckar Lowen are still on the top.

• Flensburg: favorite according to the fans
• Kiel is once again favourite
• Rhein-Neckar Lowen won’t miss the title this season

As gambling news report, nothing has changed practically from the situation in the last two HBL seasons. However if we have in mind the last week thriller match from the Super Pokal of HBL between SG Flensburg-Handewitt and THW Kiel, which was solved in the last second in favor of the current German Handball champion, we might say that one of the most interesting HBL seasons in the past 5 years is in front of us.

Nothing new on the handball Bundesliga favorites list 2015/16

The competition seems to be one of the more equalled ones in the past ten years. It might remind some handball fans of the season 2010/11 when the absolute domination of the THW Kiel was interrupted by the super team of HSV Hamburg. However we must admit that there is a considerable difference between that season and this one. While then those two clubs had several world handball players, this year the HBL has only one, Domagoj Duvnjak. From all the active IHF Players of the year, for example, 4 play in the French Handball League (LNH), one in the Spanish ASOBAL, one in Poland and one in the Macedonian Vardar Skopje.

This does not, however, decrease the level of quality of the Bundesliga considerably, but it is an indicator that there are other European teams on the same level as those in Germany. However, as online sportsbooks in Germany report, the Bundesliga favorites are also favorites in any European competition, especially the leading teams. SG Flensburg-Handewitt, top favorite according to many fans for the title this year, will have one of the most attractive teams in HBL. They already incorporated in the team some of the best young players in the world such as the Danish central back Rasmus Lauge Schmidt from THW Kiel, as well as Petar Djordjic and Kentin Mahe from HSV Hamburg. If we add on this list some of the experienced players already playing in Flensburg like Holger Glandorf, Lasse Svan Hansen or Anders Eggert then it is understandable why the fans consider them to be top handball Bundesliga favorites for this season. They are expected to the second place by handicappers though, with odds higher than Kiel (4.00 at Intertops, 4.00 at ComeOn!, 3/1 at 138 Sportsbook, and 8/1 at Winner).

THW Kiel: the eternal handball Bundesliga favorite

No matter how difficult the situation is in THW Kiel after the departure of Filip Jicha the zebras are always top favorites for all the titles in all the competitions – national and European. Just reading the names of the players for their 2015/16 squad sounds frightening enough for any of their opponents. They might be a little short on the back line this year with only five players there, but those five are definitely some that can take all the weight on their shoulders. Many are sceptical about the left back position considering the hole created there with the departure of Jicha, but Canellas have already shown in the years he played in Madrid that he functions perfectly left from the center too. How Gislasson will arrange his strategy for this year is something we need to see. But that THW is again top contender for the title is beyond any question.

Being favorites shows in their odds, too, usually the lowest for the title at all sportsbooks: 1.50 at Intertops, 1.57 at ComeOn!, 4/7 at 138 Sportsbook, though only second to Lowen at Winner (1/4). But hey, it’s almost certain money, right?

Not if the last on the top handball Bundesliga favorites list, the Lions from Mannheim have anything to say about it! Rhein-Neckar Lowen let two consecutive years the HBL champions title in the last rounds. This year they assure us that they will not repeat the mistakes from the past. They left one of their greatest stars, Niklas Landin, to move to the biggest rival THW Kiel, but gained the experienced Darko Stanic as his replacement. Apparently sportsbooks count them amongst the favorites, too, with odds around the second place: 4.50 at Intertops, 4.00 at ComeOn!, 3/1 at 138 Sportsbook.  Winner however gives them the favourite’s odds: 3/1 as opposed to Kiel’s 4/1.

Whatever the odds, with the super powerful back line leaded by Andy Schmid, Du Rietz, and Petersson, it is clear that Rhein-Neckar Lowen will attack on all the titles in the national competitions this year. Whoever bet on sports in Germany will not be mistaken if he places his bet on the lions. This might finally be their season.