Rubin gear up for Tottenham rematch

Victory at FC Rubin Kazan will guarantee Tottenham Hotspur FC a place in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 with the home side eager to regain the Group A initiative. Previous meetings • 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 Modri? 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. Match background • 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. Team facts • Three of Rubin's five group stage goals this season have come within 15 minutes of the restart. • Rubin striker Obafemi Martins knows all about English football from his time as a Newcastle United FC player, where he spent three seasons between 2006 and 2009. He returned to England last year for a loan spell at Birmingham City FC. • Martins scored in his first four games against Spurs with Newcastle – all four of them wins. However, he failed to register and was on the losing side in his final two meetings with the north London club during the 2008/09 season. • Martins and Spurs defender Sébastien Bassong were team-mates at Newcastle in 2008/09. • Spurs boast Russian talent in the form of Pavlyuchenko, who played in the Russian Premier League with SC Rotor Volgograd (2000-02) and Spartak Moskva (2003-08) before moving to London in September 2008. • Pavlyuchenko played eight league games against Rubin with Spartak, winning three and losing five. He scored from the penalty spot in two of those three victories. • Ukrainian striker Serhiy Rebrov was a Spurs player between 2000 and 2004 and ended his career with a spell at Rubin. • Spurs boss Harry Redknapp spent the bulk of his playing career with West Ham United FC and AFC Bournemouth, and managed both clubs prior to spells with Portsmouth FC and Southampton FC. He has been in charge at Tottenham since 2008. • Kurban Berdyev has been at the Rubin helm since 2001, with the Turkmenistan-born coach leading them to Russian titles in 2008 and 2009. Rubin captain Roman Sharonov once said of his serious-minded boss: "He has football in his mind 24 hours a day. If I thought about football that much I would probably lose my mind."