Victory at Rubin Kazan will guarantee Tottenham Hotspur a place in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 with the home side eager to regain the Group A initiative.
Tottenham’s Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko scored the only goal in the clubs’ matchday three meeting; his first successful effort against Rubin from open play in nine encounters.
It was the teams’ first UEFA competition meeting and Rubin’s first game against an English side.
Spurs took on FC 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.
Rubin have lost only one of their last 14 home games in Europe, 2-0 against FC Twente in last season’s UEFA Europa League round of 32. That run includes nine draws as well as four wins.
Tottenham have lost only one of their last five European games on the road (4-0 at Real Madrid CF in last season’s UEFA Champions League quarter-finals), drawing and winning twice in the process.