Arsenal Tula vs Rubin Kazan Predictions

• Rubin Kazan have won just one of their last 15 games in the Russian Premier League.
• Arsenal Tula come into this game having won three of their last four league outings.
• Rubin Kaan have averaged just 0.33 goals per game in their last nine league away days.

Rubin Kazan’s demise continues

European football fans may well recognise Rubin Kazan, who were Liverpool’s opponents for Jurgen Klopp’s first ever match at Anfield back in 2015. However, they are far from the powerhouse of old. Rubin currently sit just one place off the bottom of the table, having scored just 11 goals in 21 games. 

More worryingly for Rubin, they have won just 1 of their last 15 games, losing 7 and drawing 7. Away from home, they have regularly failed to scored with just 3 goals in their last 9 Russian Premier League away games. Their purchase of Ivan Ignatiev for £6m from Krasnodar in January showed their awareness of this issue, but he was an irregular starter for Krasnodar in the first half of the season and appears unlikely to solve their goal scoring issues quickly.

Goalshy Rubin to struggle at Stadion Arsenal

Arsenal Tula sit 7th in the table, comfortably mid table and unlikely to threaten those above or be threatened by those below. Picking up Evgeny Lutsenko on a free transfer in summer proved a wise move, as he’s bagged 9 goals in 19 games and linking up well with one of their star players from last year, Sergey Tkachev. The latter ,along with fellow midfielder Gorbatenko, are both doubts though as they recover from injuries.

Our predictions still see Arsenal Tula having enough to get past Rubin Kazan though. Rubin’s recent scoring record and overall form both make for grim reading, and it is difficult to foresee this game being a classic. Arsenal Tula’s win odds look attractive value given those stats, and a correct score prediction of 1-0 to Arsenal reflects the expectation that this may be a low quality game.