betprepare.com

The home team are interested in the win only

Rubin are failing to win lately, and winning today would bring about some peace

Getting into the next round shouldn't be a problem for Rubin, but it has to be noted their game has been in a great decline lately. They won only one out of the last eight championship games (against Anzhi, who are at the bottom of the table). They also lost the Cup game to Luch Energija. 

What exactly is happening to Rubin remains a mystery, but their game might be a problem. They've always created a small number of attempts per match up till now, but Rondon, who is a great scorer, always managed to decide the score himself. Now that they have to do without him, they've turned to offense, which is proving to be a problem.

- The situation on the team is the one of harmony, despite the bad results lately. We are now playing a team who will be our biggest rival in the battle for the first position, and we are interested only in winning at this point - said Ruslan Mukhametshin, Rubin's forward.

Only the aforementioned forward Rondon will miss the match in Rubin. 

In the time between the two Rubin games, Wigan managed to improve their position in the championship and now hold the tenth position in the second division table, being one game short. Their last round home win against Huddersfield is among the biggest reasons for that improvement. Coach Coyle said it could have been settled with a lot less stressing:

- We were in control the first half time, we could have even got two or three goals ahead, but we even conceded an equalizer in the very end. That is why we had to win the game again in the second part, and we did thanks to Powell's great goal.

The English team will have to try to get into the next stage of the Europa League in the last two rounds, but they will decide on it themselves, thanks to the good results they've had so far. Getting any points in this game would be a bonus. There are no changes on the team, but Coyle is expected to reshuffle the starting line up a bit as usually. To adjust to the four hour time difference, they've arrived in Russia on Tuesday already.

- Rubin are tactically mature, they've kept possession well at our stadium, and even when they lost it, they would stick to their principles and start over. We expect a tough game tonight as well, but we stood up to them quite well in the first game, and we are ready to challenge them once again to get closer to the next round - said midfielder Espinoza.

The non-football topics were also discussed before this game, especially racist chanting Manchester City's Yaya Toure was subjected to two weeks ago in Moscow. Coyle said he expects no such thing, while black center back Boyce took a firmer stand:

- As players, we try to focus on the game only, and generally speaking, we should be able to deal with these kind of things. But, if there should be insults, and depending on how bad they are, we might leave the pitch.

I don't think any great explanation is necessary here. Rubin are not able to win for a while now, and they played teams which are not better than Wigan. The situation in the group is almost completely clear and it's not really necessary for them to win today. I'm sure Wigan can get point(s) in this away game, but I will still opt for a +1 handicap.