Tremblay-Paris preview: Derby time!
Handball•
As 2025 draws to a close, our Parisians will travel to the Grand Paris Arena in Tremblay for their Liqui Moly StarLigue Matchday 13 fixture. Find out everything you need to know about Saturday's derby.
Currently fifth in the Liqui Moly StarLigue, Tremblay have made an excellent start to the season. Just two points behind Limoges andthe European places, the Paris-region side will be looking to secure a landmark victory in the derby after losing to each of the top four teams so far. However, Cherif Hamani's men will need to find something extra, as our Rouge et Bleu have been imperious in the league.
With two weeks to go before the end of the first half of the season, Paris have been nothing short of perfect: 12 matches, 12 victories. This is a major confidence boost for Stefan Madsen's men, who will be looking to consolidate their lead before two important final matches for 2025, at home to Limoges and away to second-placed Nantes.
For their second successive season in the top flight, Tremblay are playing attractive handball, driven by strong individual performances. In goal, Rubens Pierre is one of the most effective keepers in the league, and his duel with Mikkel Lokvist will be particularly interesting to watch. Our Danish goalkeeper ranks second among the most reliable goalkeepers after twelve games (35.56% of shots saved), just ahead of Tremblay's custodian (33.42%), who ranks third on the saves table this season (131 saves, three fewer than leader Romain Mathias of Istres).
In terms of out-court play, one man stands out: Matteo Fadhuile. At just 23 years of age, the centre-half has had a dazzling start to the season and leads the assists table with 105 passes, trailing only Noam Leopold and Diogo Oliveira, the division's joint assists leaders with 87 apiece. A great battle is shaping up between the Tremblay centre-half, who was called up to the French national team for the first time in the preliminary list announced earlier this week, and Elo', his half-brother, who is coming off the best game of his career on an individual level, with 14 goals scored against Barcelona on Wednesday.
On Friday evening, Pau will host Nîmes in a thrilling clash between two teams in need of points as the year draws to a close. The same goes for Chambéry and Chartres, who are, however, pursuing very different goals. While the Savoyards could move closer to European places, the CCMHB will be looking to distance themselves from the relegation zone. Later on Friday, Limoges will take on Cesson-Rennes with the aim of ending their two-match winless streak.
At the same time, a bottom-of-the-table clash will see Dijon take on Istres, two teams tied on points, with the difference being that Istres are in the relegation zone. On Saturday, Dunkerque will be keen to end their six-game winless streak, but this will be a difficult task away to Saint-Raphaël. Finally, on Sunday, bottom-placed Sélestat will play host to Nantes, while Montpellier will be looking to keep pace with The H by getting a result in Toulouse.
Our Rouge Bleus' trip to Tremblay - the StarMatch of Matchday 13 - will be broadcast on BeIn Sports MAX 5 at 20:30, with the main highlights available on our X account.