In-form Esseners meet in-form Eulen Ludwigshafen away on Monday evening. There is great respect on both sides for one another.
A golden November lies behind the Tusem Essen handball team, who have won all five of their games in the second handball Bundesliga. December is now approaching and the challenge of continuing this series could hardly be more difficult.
Because on this Monday evening (7 p.m., Friedrich-Ebert-Halle) it is against the Eulen Ludwigshafen, who are also in good form.
In principle, the Palatinate have two very strong months behind them, losing only one of the last nine games. With the exception of the slip-up against HSC Coburg (26:32), the owls won all games and have made themselves comfortable in fourth place in the table.
“An extremely difficult game awaits us in the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, which will be a great challenge for us. The owls have recently had a strong winning streak,” said Tusem coach Michael Hegemann. The respect for the opponent is great – but in the best case not greater than one’s own self-confidence.
Confidence skyrocketed in Tusem
This has increased by leaps and bounds for the Esseners in recent weeks and also ensures that tight games are decided in their favor. “We have a good feeling in the team at the moment and it’s great that we were able to start such a series. This means that tricky phases can simply be managed better for us,” says left winger Tim Mast, who recently scored a few decisive goals in the home win against Coburg.
In any case, a different caliber than Coburg is waiting in Ludwigshafen, also because the owls can show a strong offensive. In the last eight wins, they always scored at least 28 goals. Jannek Klein in the half-right backcourt (53 goals this season) as well as circle player Max Heider (45 goals) and right winger Alexander Falk (40 goals) played a large part in this.
Ludwigshafen benefits from new coach Abt
They all seem to be benefiting from new coach Michel Abt, who has built a strong squad quite quickly since the summer. Michael Hegemann takes his hat off to that: “With Michel Abt, they have signed a new coach this year, who has already given the team his own signature in a short time. Ludwigshafen plays a very variable and offensively oriented handball.”
Accordingly, it will again be important to provide a strong defense. That could be the key to victory, because the Essen defense is currently the showpiece in the winning streak. Led by Lukas Diedrich, who is one of the best goalkeepers in the league, through to the strong defense group around Malte Seidel – the Tusem defense is difficult to crack. The Margarethenhöhe team currently has the fewest goals conceded in the league.
The respect on the part of the owls is great
“The team has come together a lot in the last few weeks, which of course helps a lot,” said coach Hegemann after the win against Coburg. Accordingly, it will not be easy for Ludwigshafen to overcome this strong association.
In any case, the respect on the part of the Owls is great, for example with goalkeeper Matej Asanin: “Essen will be a very difficult opponent because he will come full of self-confidence.” A winning streak will break, that’s clear. Only which it will be, both teams have in their own hands.
Here you can find all the news from the Essen sports scene
