Karviná secured a 26:23 victory over RK Koprivnica in the Extraliga on Saturday evening, keeping their unbeaten run intact. The hosts remain top of the table with five wins from five matches, while the visitors continue their draw-heavy campaign from tenth place.
And here's the thing — we had this one right. The prediction was a host win with seventy percent confidence, and Karviná delivered exactly that. Not a comfortable margin, but enough to extend their perfect start to the season.
Karviná's form before this match had been inconsistent. They had lost to Torrelavega and Holstebro TTH in their previous two games, while taking points against Lovosice, Brno and Strakonice. To be fair, the result against Koprivnica brings some stability back to their campaign.
Koprivnica's recent run tells a different story entirely. Four consecutive draws before this match, then five straight losses including defeats to Brno, Zubži, Zlín and Novo-Veseļi. The draw against Frýdek-Místek was their only result worth noting in that stretch.
By then, the visitors had nothing to lose and everything to prove. A narrow defeat away from home keeps them rooted in the lower half, but the fact they remain unbeaten with four draws and one loss suggests they are not as fragile as the results show.
The ten-point gap between the two sides at the top and bottom of the table remains significant. Karviná's perfect record puts them in a strong position, while Koprivnica will need to find more wins to climb away from tenth place.