Rubin Kazan v Tottenham

The bookies are being surprisingly generous offering 4/1 (Bet365) on a Tottenham away win at Rubin Kazan, despite the difficult nature of the encounter. Spurs are in fantastic form, and they will have enough quality in their starting line-up to seriously threaten a repeat of the win they secured at White Hart Lane against the same opponents a fortnight ago.

Harry Redknapp won’t travel following a routine procedure on his heart, but Joe Jordan is plenty capable of holding the fort for the visitors. The Spurs side will include a few youngsters, but let’s not discount the experience that will surround them. Gomez or Cudicini will start in goal, with the influential figure of Gallas likely to get a run-out on his return from injury. That would allow Corluka to return to right back, with Sandro playing in the midfield enforcer role if he is fit. With Pavlyuchenko and Defoe almost certain to start up front, there is plenty of proven quality to call upon. The England striker has been on great form this season, and the former Spartak Moscow favourite will want to impress on a rare return to his homeland.

For their part, the Russians look someway short of their imperious form of recent seasons. Lying sixth in the Russian Premier League, Rubin could only muster a 1-1 home draw with FC Rostov on Saturday, a side in the lower reaches of the table. A day later Spurs were impressing yet again in a comfortable win over QPR.

There may be different personnel on the pitch on Thursday, but the odds still look overpriced for a Spurs win. The assumption is that the Londoners would settle for a point given that this is arguably their toughest game in the group; the equally credible view is that they want the win that would more or less ensure qualification with two games to spare.