FK Krasnodar (A)

FC Krasnodar vs Everton

Europa League

Kuban Stadium

Thursday October 2nd 5pm

Firrst game Ive missed since Sporting Lisbon away in 2010, 210 games ago! Sadly £700+ including a Visa was just a little too far to stretch! 

Team News

Lineup could be unexpected, with us having United away on Sunday. The first teamers have all travelled though, barring the injured ones, Sylvain Distin, James McCarthy, Seamus Coleman, Steven Pienaar and Kevin Mirallas have all stayed at home.

Howard

Hibbert-Stones-Jagielka-Baines

Besic-Barry
McGeady-Naismith-Atsu
Eto'o

Ones to Watch

Unsurprisingly, I dont know an awful lot about Krasnodar. They are famed for their academy though, and a develop a lot of young players. Like a lot of Russian sides too, they have a couple of Brazilians on their books.

The Ex Factor

Again unsurprisingly, there are no former players of either club involved tonight. Samuel Eto'o and Aiden McGeady have both previously played for Russian clubs.

The Stadium

Kuban Stadium, home since 2009 (shared with Kuban Krasnodar)

Capacity: 31,654

Previous Meetings

(UEFA Cup Group Stage, December 5th 2007)

Everton 1-0 Zenit St Petersburg

(Cahill 85)
Lombaerts sent off 29

Thats our only previous meeting with any Russian club. Closest we have come to playing away there was the visit to former USSR Belarus, when we won 2-1 at BATE Borisov in the group stage in 2009.

Prediction

Given the unknown quantity Krasnodar are, its hard to really make a prediction. Given we have the lead in the group and a good goal difference from our first game, a draw wouldnt be a bad result at all.