The leading lights in UEFA Europa League Group A meet on matchday three hoping that their strikers may have a useful inside line on their opponents at White Hart Lane.
The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition, and this is also Rubin Kazan‘s first game against an English side.
Tottenham Hotspur took on Spartak Moskva in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage, Luka Modrić and Tom Huddlestone striking as they came back from 2-0 down at White Hart Lane to draw their only previous match against a Russian side 2-2.
Prior to the 3-1 win against Shamrock Rovers FC on matchday two, Spurs had not scored in three European home games, recording two 0-0 draws and a 1-0 loss against Real Madrid CF in last season’s UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
Rubin’s 3-0 win at Shamrock Rovers on matchday one was their biggest away victory in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League and matched their previous European best on their travels, a 3-0 victory at Zalaegerszegi TE in the 2007 UEFA Intertoto Cup.