Lyon v Rubin Kazan
Both sides still have a few injuries at the moment, Rubin without Ryazantsev, Carlos Eduardo and Cesar Navas but the line-up they have is reasonably settled, two thirds through their season they lie fourth in the league. They faced one of the hardest challenges in the last round defeating Dynamo Kiev 4-1 over 2 legs, a pretty even tie on paper..I have highlighted their away record in Europe before, they are very solid and very compact, their last 5 have gone under and their away record in general is good they don't give much away.
They are probably not the force they were a couple of years ago, they lost a few players and haven't looked likely to hit title winning form again. They will be defensive, a trip to Russia is never easy and Lyon will obviously be looking to take an advantage over there.
Lyon have started well in the league, winning 3-1 away to Nice and somehow drawing 1-1 with Ajaccio despite murdering them, hitting the post 3 or 4 times. Lisandro looks very sharp up front and could be a good bet for first goalscorer, very much the main man up top. Gourcuff is still missing and that is a blow but they still have plenty of quality, Kallstrom, Bastos, Gomis, Lisandro. Lyon's home record in Europe is also excellent losing only 4 in 38, they are not the threat they were 5 years ago but are capable and should have too much for Rubin.
It does point to a under 2.5 game but I wouldn't rule out a Rubin goal, they have a bit of a history of scoring with the few attacks they create against better sides and I don't think anyone can be too sure of Lyon's credentials this early in the season. Rubin will revel in the underdog role thats for sure. Lyon for me by one goal.
