Wigan Athletic will look to take over Group D in the Europa League when it takes on Rubin Kazan.
The Russian team is currently first in the group with seven points, but the English side trails by only two. A win for Rubin Kazan would give the team a comfortable four-point lead over its rivals while a loss would push the team into second place.
The teams met on Oct. 24 in Wigan. The home side trailed 1-0 just 15 minutes in but managed a 40 minute goal and settled for a 1-1 draw. Despite the tie, the Wigan players are happy with the result and still believe that the team can finish first in the group.
"Maybe at the end of the day we should have nicked it. We were the better team and have done really well," said defender Ryan Shotton, according to UEFA.com. "Rubin have some great players and great movement - they pulled us out of position as you saw with their goal. They weren't easy to defend against, but I thought we did great. We set the pace, won the ball back and got at them. We've got to get a result there. If we set our stall out, sit in and make ourselves solid, we can counterattack them. It's going to be great."
"It's fun. Everyone likes to play in Europe and even though we're newcomers, we've held our own and I think we can win the group," added forward Nick Powell. "It doesn't matter if we win or not [in Kazan on matchday four] - we are definitely going to go through. I thought we dominated the first 15-20 minutes, but then when they got the goal, they overtook us and we're too hot for us - we were struggling to get a foothold in the game. We got our goal back and then I thought we were the better side."
Prediction: Wigan loses 1-0.
Start Time: Kick-off starts at 12 p.m. EST
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