Wolfsburg - Rubin Kazan
Football: Europa League 2009/2010.1/8 finals.1st leg.
Thursday,18th March 2010. Kickoff 19:00

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VFL Wolfsburg (Germany)

Wolfsburg continues its’ fine form in 2010 and currently holds a 4 match winnings streak in the Bundesliga. Schalke, Hannover, Bochum and Borussia Moenchengladbach have all been subsequently conquered and as many as 11 goals scored in the process.

Reining Bundesliga champions snatched a positive 1-1 draw in Kazan a week ago and is now looking with justified optimism at the upcoming fixture. Wolfsburg managed to overcome the horrible pitch condition and score a beautiful equalizer in the second half.

After the interval their physical superiority over Rubin really began to show, so the eventually scored goal was a logical outcome of the situation on the pitch. Ziani, Barzagli, Grafite and Benaglio form a massive casualty list, however the quartet was also out of the first leg in Kazan.

Expected formation and line up :
Wolfsburg (4-3-1-2)
Hitz,
Riether, Ricardo Costa, Madlung, Schaefer,
Josue, Dejagah, Gentner
Misimovic,
Dzeko, Martins

Unavailable
K. Ziani, A. Barzagli, Grafite, D. Benaglio.

Rubin Kazan (Russia)

Rubin is still undefeated in 2010 as they have won 3 and drawn 2 of out 5 fixtures. Wolfsburg is the only team so far to have upset goalkeeper Ryzhikov, on all other occasions the Russian champions had kept clean sheets.

After the first round match of the Russian Premier League season Kurban Berdyev admitted his players are using all their physical resources to the maximum and at times struggle to overcome the inevitable fatigue.

The return of captain Sergey Semak for the match in Germany is perfectly timed as his presence will boost the midfield line. After Alejandro Dominguez departure to Valencia the center of the field is possibly the most problematic department.

Expected formation and line up :
Rubin Kazan (4-2-3-1)
Ryzhikov
Kaleshin, Salukvadze, Navas, Ansaldi
Noboa, Murawski
Karadeniz, Semak, Kasaev
Bukharov

Unavailable
R.Sharonov, A.Ryazantsev

Rubin Kazan

Something tells me that Rubin's first major European adventure may come to its end on Thursday evening.

The physical strain will have a mark on Russian's display.

HANDICAP BETTING :

Take Wolfsburg (AH -0.5) @ 1.85 with Bet365