Tottenham vs. Rubin Kazan: 4 Things to Look for in Spurs' Europa League Matchup
In what will be the club's toughest competition in its Europa League campaign so far, Tottenham will host Champions League dropouts Rubin Kazan on Thursday night at White Hart Lane.
Unlike Shamrock Rovers from Ireland, Tottenham fans will not be able to put a mark in the wins column until the final whistle.
Honestly, I'm excited to see what some of the reserves for Spurs can do against a Champions League caliber team. Rubin Kazan placed third in the Russian Premier League last season and would still be in the Champions League if not for a 4-2 loss on aggregate to French champions Olympique Lyonnais.
Rubin Kazan has also never played an English club, so it will be interesting to see how the club fares in its first trip over.
Here are some things Spurs fans can look for in Tottenham's mid-week Europa League matchup with Rubin Kazan.
Who Will Harry Redknapp Start?
1 of 4Before any questions are answered on the field, manager Harry Redknapp is going to have to answer some off the field.
With Ledley King's injury sidelining him for a month and Vedran Corluka sidelined indefinitely, selecting a defensive back line to beat Rubin Kazan and having one fresh to face Blackburn three days later isn't the easiest task. Will Sebastien Bassong play all 90 minutes? Do they bring back Benoit Assou-Ekotto into the 18-man squad? It was already a thin group of defenders. Injuries don't help anything.
If Corluka can't go, one possibility is midfielder Gareth Bale moving back in defense. Another is going with a formation that employs only three defenders, like what we saw against Shamrock.
Hey, fans at White Hart Lane would love to see another three-goal performance, especially against the Russian champions.
Other positions seem pretty set, with Carlo Cudicini playing well in goal so far and Danny Rose, Jake Livermore and Thomas Carroll cemented in the midfield for non-league matches. Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko have played well together, and I see no reason why they shouldn't be good to go against the Russian club.
How Long Can Carlo Cudicini Hang On?
2 of 4To say that Carlo Cudicini is past his prime would be an understatement.
Make no mistake, I think the Italian goalkeeper is doing an incredible job in non-league matches for Tottenham. But that's just the thing—they're in non-league matches.
Cudicini hasn't played in a league match since last season, and only then did he make eight appearances. The last time he played in 20 or more games was during the 2003/2004 season, when he was with Chelsea. Since then, he has averaged just under 11 appearances a year, most of which weren't against teams in the Premiership.
The Spurs backup turned 38 this season. Can he continue to perform into his 40's like Brad Friedel, or will he fade off into the sunset, ending a solid career that started in 1992 at Milan.
Can Roman Pavlyuchenko Be Consistent?
3 of 4Harry Redknapp has made no bones about his displeasure over Roman Pavlyuchenko's dodgy performance so far this season, stating publicly to The Sun that he hopes the Russian international will "hopefully...come to life."
So far, loanee Emmanuel Adebayor is playing like the striker Tottenham paid him to be, Jermaine Defoe is as good a complement as Adebayor will find at White Hart Lane and Rafael van der Vaart is improving as the season wears on, playing well despite Redknapp's inconsistency at making him the starter or bringing him on in the second half.
That leaves Pavlyuchenko as one of the Premiership's most expensive substitutes. He's one of the most likely candidates to leave White Hart Lane in January, but his consistency will be the indicator in just how much in transfer fees that Tottenham can squeeze out of the young forward.
Will Tottenham Win?
4 of 4The question is asinine, but it begs to be asked: Can Tottenham win against a Champions League dropout like Rubin Kazan?
Last season, Spurs topped their group, beating teams like Inter Milan and Twente before losing to Real Madrid in the quarterfinals (a pair of games fans at White Hart Lane would soon forget).
Now they're in the Europa League and playing significantly weaker competition (Shamrock Rovers, anyone?).
Tottenham will certainly make it past the Group Stage, but can they run the table? Do they deserve a place back in the Champions League? The competition's weaker on the whole, but teams like Anderlecht and Sporting CP can trip up anyone at Europa.
Their performance on Thursday night, against their toughest opponent thus far, will say a lot.
