New Excitement in Round 6

The 6th round of the Premier League will be played over two days, Saturday and Sunday, each day bringing a fair amount of excitement. At least that's how it seems now. The majority of matches, 4 of them, are scheduled for Sunday, but the Saturday games are not lacking in thrills either.

Rijeka in the Bottom-of-the-Table Derby

In Valjevo, Valis will host Rijeka-based Primorje EB. A literal bottom-of-the-table derby as the two bottom-placed teams on the ladder face off. However, there is a significant gap between them. The home side Valis is the only team in the Premier League with a zero in the points column next to their name. Rijeka has 3 points. Two from a win against Radnički in Kragujevac, albeit via a penalty shootout, and an additional point from a loss, also through penalties, at home against Solaris.

- We are going to Valjevo, we have nothing to hide, for points - Marin Dašić, one of this summer's additions to Primorje, arriving from Trieste, will clearly state at the beginning of the presentation.
- Regardless of Valis being at the bottom of the table, it is not an easy away game. The match is played under a dome, so there might be a bit of home-friendly officiating... I believe we are of better quality, but they can cause us problems if we fall into their 'trap'. I believe we can return with three points.

Jadran Aiming for a Win

The current state champion, Split's Jadran, will face Red Star at home. After a heavy defeat against the European champions Ferencvaros earlier this week, now a realistically weaker opponent comes to the rescue of Split, to 'heal the wounds'. Clearly, this needs to be proven in the pool, but for a team that has been performing well in the Premier League and currently holds a high second place with just one point behind Novi Beograd, the second Belgrade team should not pose a significant obstacle.

Gruž Seek 'Redemption'

Sunday offers the remaining four matches, of which the Croatian perspective particularly highlights the Dubrovnik clash between Jug Adriatic osiguranje and Jadran from Herceg Novi.
Neither team has been flourishing this season in the Premier League. Both teams have suffered 3 losses in the first five rounds, quite atypical for clubs that have been at the top in previous seasons.
Jug in Eurocup has two defeats in three games, just like Jadran (HN) in the Champions League. The Montenegrin team triumphed in the last round in Budapest against the not very impressive Vasas, while Jug had a much tougher task. Besides playing away, but against a much stronger opponent than Vasas, at Brescia, Jug was also without some key players. For the match against Jadran (HN), Kržić and Cabanas are expected to return to the squad, in other words, Dubrovnik will be at full strength. Not only that, but they will seek a sort of 'redemption' for their three defeats in this competition so far. They aim to put an end to that now.

Mladost in Budva against Kotoran

Mladost is visiting Kotor's Primorac in Budva. The opponent is the current Montenegrin champion and a member of the Champions League, which might sound impressive at first, but their performances are not at that level. They are at the bottom of the group with two points (two penalty shootout losses). In the Premier League, they have three losses, being better off only compared to Primorje EB and Valis from Valjevo. They had a glimpse of hope with a penalty shootout loss against Olympiacos in Athens (possibly more due to the Greeks' poor play), and somewhat decent resistance against Novi Beograd in the 1st round with a 14:12 loss. Their standout result is certainly the victory (via penalties) against Jug Adriatic osiguranje, but they convincingly lost at home to Solaris with a three-goal difference the round before. On the other hand, Mladost, under new coach Milanović, seems to have improved, showcasing a more solid defense which then brings liveliness to their attack, giving them an edge. They possess significantly greater depth and individual quality, and just need to translate that into their play and results.

Solaris in Šabac

As for Croatian clubs, the visit of Solaris to Šabac is an interesting match. The hosts suffered a hard defeat this week in Athens in the Eurocup against Panathinaikos, 12:5. In the Premier League, they are in the bottom half, unlike Solaris who is in a high fifth position. More than just the standings, it's their game that is on the rise. They surely didn't just coincidentally defeat Primorac in the midst of Montenegro. In the previous round, they were indeed heavily defeated at home by Mladost (16:8), a team full of enthusiasm and determination under their then new coach. However, that is a completely different level of quality, incomparable to Šabac.

Sunday also features the round's Premier League derby, a Serbian clash between Novi Beograd and Radnički from Kragujevac.