Barely two days after their European victory over Elverum (35-39), Paris Saint-Germain Handball return to the Lidl StarLigue action, doing battle away to Ivry in Round 5.
Satisfactory starts
Apart from the defeat conceded at home to Dunkerque in Round 3 (20-23), Ivry have been getting good results so far this season. This is evidenced by their victory away to Tremblay (24-25) last week, which came thanks in part to six goals from Antonin Mohamed. Their accounts could be could even be better had they managed to deny Saint-Raphaël a draw at home Saint-Raphaël (34-34). On the back foot for a long part of the match, they had managed to recover and could have gone ahead had Walid Badi transformed his penalty at the buzzer. After four rounds, they have two defeats, a draw and a victory. For their part, Les Rouge et Bleu top the table with four wins in four games.
Face off: Goalkeepers
Since the beginning of the season, the both teams’ goalkeepers have been on fire. For Paris, it’s Vincent Gérard who has distinguished himself the most and who tops the Lidl Starligue saves chart with 49 (39% success). In third place, we find Croatian Mate Sunjic, who has already pushed back 45 shots (35%). He was one of the driving forces behind the win in Tremblay, winning 12 of his duels with the THFB’s attacking line. It should be noted that he made exactly the same number of stops against Nantes (30-24) and Saint-Raphaël.
Key stats
Defensively, Paris and Ivry are very close – ninth (110 goals conceded) and tenth (111 goals conceded) on the defensive table respectively. It is offensively that Les Rouge et Bleu have been making the difference, with a league-high 151 goals scored compared to Ivry’s 103. An excellent record that comes thanks to several big names, such as club top scorer Kamil Syprzak (22 goals) and Mikkel Hansen (21). Walid Badi, with his 14 goals, is Ivry’s main man in attack.
💥 Les journées de @LidlStarligue passent et ne se ressemblent pas 🤪 Découvrez la #DreamTeam de la J4 où nous retrouvons déjà quelques habitués 👋🏽 Karabatic Syprzak et Briet.
🔥 Un 7⃣ composé par les joueurs & approuvé par @lequipe
📅 Aix-Chambéry, report à une date ultérieure pic.twitter.com/kMxhg7U52e— AJPH (@AJPHandball) October 12, 2020
Head-to-head
In addition to the two pre-season match between the sides – both of which went Paris’s way – our side have dominated the recent head-to-head record. Indeed, in 27 league matches, PSG handball have won 21 times for two draws and four defeats. They remain on a run of 13 consecutive successes, form that began on April 28, 2012, after a defeat at the Gymnase Auguste Delaune (32-26). Paris Saint-Germain Handball have also won 9 of their 14 away games against Ivry.
To follow the match (kick-off at 20:30):
- Television: LNH TV
- Live tweet: our official page
(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)
