The Handball Bundesliga is the top league of the ever-popular sport of handball in Germany and the 2015-16 campaign is the 51st season of the competition. Running from 21st August 2015 to 4th June 2016, the season is long and with 153 matches to be played there are plenty of betting opportunities too. So check out our handball betting tips and predictions as we try to help you win some cash by betting on this fast and furious game, while our live odds comparison tables will ensure you get the best value for all your bets.
The team to beat in the Handball Bundesliga in recent years has been THW Kiel who have won 10 of the last 11 championships and are the leading team overall with 20 titles to their name. After 17 games of the current season, Kiel are nicely positioned in second place in the table on 28 points, four behind Rhein-Neckar Lowen, who are clearly just keeping top spot warm for their more illustrious rivals having never won the title themselves.
Having said that, Rhein-Neckar do have one of the most highly rated players in the division in the form of Uwe Gensheimer, and his 88 goals to date this season have kept his side flying high. The bookies have been taken in somewhat by Lowen’s decent form and they have inexplicably priced the side as the 2/5 favourites (Bet365) to win the title. This is far, far too short a price and should be opposed at all costs.
Lowen are only the fifth highest scorers in the division – behind THW Kiel, SG Flensburg-Handewitt, HSV Hamburg and Fuchse Berlin – and it has been their formidable defence (the best in the league) which has kept them at the top of the table so far. We predict, however, that as the season goes on teams will learn how to break through the organised Lowen defence and suddenly their main weapon will be nullified.
This makes the betting odds on champions Kiel of 5/2 with 10Bet look an absolute steal. As mentioned, they have won most of the titles on offer in recent memory and they are also the top scorers in the division this term. Alfred Gislason’s team has goals all the way through it and they don’t rely on one man as Lowen and some others (like Hamburg) tend to. With a style of play that is beguiling to watch and bewitching to play against, we simply can’t envisage a scenario in which the champions will let their title slip to the upstarts of Lowen.
Of course, sport by its nature can be very unpredictable at times, and there is always a chance one of the other sides will sneak into contention for the title. Looking at the outright winner betting, you wouldn’t count on that happening, though. Third favourites SG Flensburg-Handewitt are out at 14/1 with 10Bet and it is 66/1 bar from there, so really this season is looking like a very definite two-horse race. As with almost all sports betting, it tends to be a good idea to follow the value, and given Rhein-Neckar Lowen are priced at such short odds and the champions are out a very nice price, we have to side with Kiel. Lowen are not used to being at the top of the table and the pressure is sure to show at some point, probably when they start conceding more goals. Given Kiel have been there so many times in recent years it is simply a no-brainer: our betting tip for the Handball Bundesliga 2015-16 season is to back THW Kiel.