After two months of competition, Toulouse are still looking to find their feet. With four wins and four losses in their opening eight league games, Fenix are already trailing in the race for Europe, with Limoges five points ahead of the south-westerners. This lack of rhythm is also clearly evident on the continental stage, where Danijel Andjelkovic's men have suffered two major disappointments, with home defeats against Kristianstad (28-30) and Vardar (26-28). These performances are putting pressure on a team that will have to fight for qualification despite having to play three away games in the last four matchdays.
Following the first international break of the season, Les Rouge et Bleu will need to pull together to face the upcoming fixtures, which promise to be both important and challenging. A few days after this trip to the south of France, Paris will fly to northern Europe. It will be a homecoming for Stefan Madsen, who will return to his native Denmark for the EHF Champions League Matchday 7 clash against GOG.
Defeated by the Gudme-based side a few weeks ago, the capital club will have to redouble their efforts to win and avoid seeing the Scandinavians pull four points clear. After that, our French champions will head south once again to take on Istres in their third consecutive away game, ahead of a crucial week that will see them host Barcelona (on 19 November at 20:45) and Montpellier (on 22 November at 17:00).
At 35, Nemanja Ilic is still showing no signs of slowing down. For more than ten years now, the Serbian left winger has maintained his place among the league's top scorers. In fact, since the French league was created, only Raphaël Caucheteux (2,642 goals) and Valero Rivera (2,064) have found the back of the net more times than the Toulouse man (1,787).
League top scorer in 2023 (with 202 goals), Ilic seems well on his way to regaining this individual title, currently sitting in second place in the rankings after eight match days. With Tom Pelayo gone, another Dunkerque player has emerged as his main rival at the start of the season: Diogo Oliveira. The Portuguese centre-half has had a sparkling start to the season, with 66 goals after eight games, 11 more than the iconic Toulouse player.
Unfortunately for the Occitans, Nemanja Ilic seems to be the beacon of light in the darkness that surrounds Fenix's offensive zone. The Serbian international's 54 goals account for no less than 23% of all the goals scored by Danijel Andjelkovic's men so far (235), but they can nevertheless rely on a solid defence.
In goal, Jef Lettens and Simon Moller form an promising pairing, with the latter establishing himself over the weeks after a first season in France cut short by a cruciate ligament rupture suffered in his last match with his former team Sävehof before joining Toulouse in the summer of 2024. On Saturday, two of the league's top three defences will clash at the Palais des Sports in Toulouse, with our Rouge et Bleu leading the way with eleven fewer goals conceded (231) than the Occitan side.
On Thursday evening, Aix secured an important victory away to Dunkerque (25-30) to get back in the race for Europe. The northerners, meanwhile, are struggling at home, with a third defeat of the season in four games at the Stade des Flandres. This result leaves USDK two points above the relegation zone for the time being. On Friday, Montpellier will host Sélestat and will be looking to put pressure on our Rouge et Bleu by temporarily regaining the lead in the championship if they beat the Alsatians.
At the same time, Nîmes will try to end their run of four consecutive defeats when they travel to Saint-Raphaël, while Tremblay and Cesson Rennes will face each other in a clash between two surprise contenders in the race for Europe. On Saturday evening, Dijon will try to maintain their momentum after clinching a first victory of the season before the break. To do so, they will need to play a great game at the Phare de Chambéry. Finally, on Sunday, Nantes will travel to Limoges for the StarMatch of Matchday 9, before Chartres and Istres conclude the week's action.
Throw-off in this clash between Toulouse and Paris is at 20:00 on Saturday. The match will be broadcast live on BeIN SPORTS 3 and can also be followed via our live tweet.