The Borussia Dortmund women’s handballers will get one of their hottest phases of the season under way when they take on TuS Metzingen on Saturday evening. The visitors from the south have recently shone with some good results and so will not be an easy obstacle to overcome.

BVB won both matches against TuS Metzingen last season, but the clashes were hard-fought. This is also expected to be the case when the two teams go head-to-head at Sporthalle Wellinghofen at 19:00 CET on Saturday evening. Coach Henk Groener can count on the return of Harma van Kreij, while a final decision has yet to be made on Alicia Stolle. Zoe Sprengers will definitely not play. “She has sustained a muscle fibre tear,” according to the coach.

That means that significantly more responsibility will fall on the shoulders of Lena Hausherr, who will form a duo with Lara Egeling on the left flank, in the coming games. The 17-year-old Egeling is bolstering the squad during Sprengers’ absence. “The situation in relation to the injury absentees has therefore not worsened, but at the same time has also not really improved,” said the Dutchman, who does at least have an additional option at the back again thanks to van Kreij’s comeback.

As for the opposition, Groener’s charges find themselves up against a team on Matchday 5 which has a lot of potential but which has not always been able to fulfil it as they would have hoped in recent years. “Perhaps what was possible has not always happened,” commented the BVB coach. This is also reflected in the results this season. Metzingen lost away to BSV Sachsen Zwickau on Matchday 3, but managed to knock HSG Blomberg-Lippe out of the DHB-Pokal away from home.

“It’s a team that still has its ups and downs, but is peppered with established players and young talent,” warned the coach. Werner Bösch, his TuS counterpart, can count on Jana Scheib, who already proved her Bundesliga capability during her time in Bad Wildungen, in the centre-right position alongside international player Maren Weigel. In addition, Poland’s Dagmara Nocun is a winger who is as quick as an arrow and benefits from her team’s high-tempo play.

“I’m expecting it to be a very fast game,” explained Groener. The coach went on to add: “We’ll focus on Saturday for now and then look at the other games. But it would be nice if we could start the season with 10-0 points.” As always, the match can be watched via live stream on the two platforms Sportdeutschland.TV and Dyn Media, with Uwe Kisker and Sascha Staat on the microphone.