bwin Sportsblog - Football - Spurs ready to play Russian roulette

Tottenham are not necessarily taking the Europa League as seriously this season as they have in the past and almost came unstuck last time out against brave Irish minnows Shamrock Rovers, who took the lead at White Hart Lane before being turned over 3-1.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is likely to rotate his squad again as Rubin Kazan arrive in north London for Thursday night’s key Group A showdown, but he should not underestimate the Russians, who can boast an away win over Barcelona on their recent European CV.

Stoke City have made an impressive start to their first European campaign since the 1970s, building on an away draw with Dinamo Kiev by beating Besiktas 1-0 at the Britannia to move top of Group E. Tony Pulis’ men have a great chance to take a stranglehold on the group by winning their latest home match, this time against Israeli outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv.

An Andy Johnson brace was enough for Fulham to score a valuable away win over Odense and the Cottagers will be looking for a repeat performance when they make the trip to Poland to face Wisla Krakow, who have lost both their matches in Group K so far.

Of the other British teams, Championship side Birmingham showed they can punch their weight at this level with a 2-1 away win over NK Maribor, having been outclassed by Braga at St Andrew’s in their opener. The Blues hit the road again this week for a clash with early group leaders Club Brugge.

Meanwhile, Celtic head south to face Rennes. The Bhoys were denied a home success over Udinese by a late penalty which salvaged the Italians a 1-1 draw but will be giving everything against the French side to register their first win in this season’s competition. Also in Celtic’s group, the clash between Udinese and Atletico Madrid at Stadio Friuli is the stand-out fixture of the week, while Shamrock’s fairytale campaign continues with a visit to PAOK Salonika.