• 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."
Nonetheless, Diego and Co are still handily placed in Group I. They are two points clear of Celtic FC and Stade Rennais FC and three behind leaders Udinese − and approach the fixture energised by a first win in eight, Sunday's 3-1 defeat of Real Zaragoza. They are, however, without José Antonio Reyes because of flu."Against Zaragoza we were united," said Diego, on loan at Atlético from VfL Wolfsburg. "Victories help us play with confidence and I'm sure our last win will help us tomorrow. I'm especially motivated by playing for Atletico and I have nothing to prove against Italian teams. We won't have many chances to score. Udinese are a very defensive squad and let you control the match, but when they attack they do it very well."
In contrast to Atlético, Udinese are a team in form. The Zebrette are second in Serie A and have lost just once in their last 12 games, yet quite easily could have come unstuck on matchday three. Their prospects of a repeat success have not been helped by the absence of their nine-goal top scorer, Antonio Di Natale, because of muscular problems.
"Atlético played well in Udine and maybe deserved something, but it was a very even match and we were luckier," conceded Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin. "We know we are in a tough group that could be a Champions League one. We must keep rotating players because for us it's very important to continue on the path we set out on at the beginning of the season."
Samir Handanovič, meanwhile, is anticipating a busy night trying to keep Diego et al at bay for a second time. "I'm worried about the whole team, especially their attacking side," said the Udinese goalkeeper. "I'm sure they're going to make me work a lot."
17:00 Rubin Kazan v Tottenham Hotspur
18:00 Shamrock Rovers v PAOK
18:00 FC Copenhagen v Hannover 96
18:00 Vorskla Poltava v Standard Liège
18:00 PSV v Hapoel Tel Aviv
18:00 Legia Warszawa v Rapid Bucharest
18:00 FC Vaslui v Sporting Lisbon
18:00 Lazio v FC Zürich
18:00 Maccabi Tel Aviv v Stoke City
18:00 Besiktas v Dynamo Kiev
18:00 Red Bull Salzburg v Athletic Bilbao
18:00 Paris Saint-Germain v Slovan Bratislava
20:05 Metalist Kharkiv v Malmö FF
20:05 Austria Wien v AZ Alkmaar
20:05 Birmingham City v Club Brugge
20:05 Sporting Braga v NK Maribor
20:05 Atlético Madrid v Udinese
20:05 Celtic v Rennes
20:05 Steaua Bucharest v Maccabi Haifa
20:05 Schalke 04 v AEK Larnaca
20:05 Fulham v Wisla Kraków
20:05 FC Twente v OB
20:05 AEK Athens v Lokomotiv Moscow
20:05 Anderlecht v Sturm Graz
Nov 3
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