Tottenham will face Irish giantkillers Shamrock Rovers in the Europa League group stage.

Rovers, the first Irish side to have progressed to this stage of European football, beat Partizan Belgrade 2-1 on Thursday night to secure a place in today’s draw.

The clubs are in Group A against Rubin Kazan, from Russia, and Greek side PAOK Salonika.

Fulham face FC Twente from Holland, Odense from Denmark and Wisla Krakow from Poland in Group K.

Stoke will play Dynamo Kiev, Besiktas and Hapoel Tel Aviv in Group E, while Birmingham are in Group H with Club Brugge, Braga and Maribor.

If Celtic are successful in replacing Sion, who are alleged to have breached a transfer ban, they would be in Group I with Atletico Madrid, Udinese and Rennes.

Group A

Tottenham Hotspur, Rubin Kazan, PAOK, Shamrock Rovers.

Group B

FC Copenhagen, Standard Liege, Hannover, Vorskla.

Group C

PSV Eindhoven, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Rapid Bucharest, Legia Warsaw.

Group D

Sporting Lisbon, Lazio, Zurich, Vaslui.

Group E

Dynamo Kiev, Besiktas, Stoke City, Maccabi Tel-Aviv.

Group F

Paris St Germain, Athletic Bilbao, Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava.

Group G

AZ Alkmaar, Metalist, Austria Wien, Malmo.

Group H

Braga, Club Brugge, Birmingham City, Maribor.

Group I

Atletico Madrid, Udinese, Rennes, Sion.

Group J

Schalke, Steaua Bucharest, Maccabi Haifa, AEK Larnaca.

Group K

FC Twente, Fulham, Odense, Wisla Krakow.

Group L

Anderlecht, AEK Athens, Lokomotiv Moscow, Sturm Graz.

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50. Christopher Samba (Hertha Berlin to Blackburn Rovers, £400,000, 2007)

The rugged France-born Congo defender was a bargain after impressing on trial, forming an effective partnership with Ryan Nelsen at centre back. Blackburn now want £15m for the Arsenal target.

49. Peter Odemwingie (Lokomotiv Moscow to West Bromwich Albion, £1m, 2010)

Was unknown before last season, but his 15 goals helped West Brom beat off their yo-yo reputation and remain in the top flight.

48. Claude Makelele (Real Madrid to Chelsea, £16.8m, 2003)

Was so good he had a position named after him. Was quite expensive but he helped turn Chelsea into a Premier League winning machine with his experience and guile.

47. Georgi Kinkladze (Dinamo Tbilisi to Manchester City, £2m, 1995)

Played only one season in England’s top flight before relegation but he lit up the Premier League with his sublime skills and dazzling goals. Would not look out of place in the current mega-rich team. Despite being in the old Division Two, he was sold to Ajax for £5m.

46. Zat Knight (Rushall Olympic to Fulham, 30 tracksuits, 1999)

Not the greatest centre-back in the league but the Cottagers made a profit when they sold him on to Aston Villa for £3.5m, which is not a bad mark-up on the 30 tracksuits that he cost Mohamed Al-Fayed, who was feeling generous.

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Rubin Kazan 1-0 Lokomotiv Moscow (Gorbonets)

Rubin Kazan 2-0 Lokomotiv Moscow (Bukharov)

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Tottenham are set to complete the loan signing of Switzerland World Cup keeper Eldin Jakupovic according to reports.

Harry Redknapp is eager to bring in some competition for Heurelho Gomes after No 2 Carlo Cudicini was seriously injured in a motorbike accident.

The 6ft 4in stopper has already arrived at White Hart Lane for talks and training according to the report. It is understood the Swiss keeper had a major fall out with his club Lokomotiv Moscow, paving the way for a transfer.

The 25-year-old is eager for some first-team action to boost his hopes of joining Switzerland at the World Cup. (Independent)

Harry Redknapp will no doubt look to get some experienced cover for the keeper spot as he looks to push his side onwards towards that coveted top four spot and with Carlo Cudicini out for some months and may feel that neither veteran Jimmy Walker or youngster Ben Alnwick are up for the task.

Eldin Jakupovic is a towering figure and with a fair bit of reasonable experience in Switzerland and Russia and appears to be very keen on a loan move to help boost his hopes of challenging for a spot in the World Cup squad.

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Everton have signed Russia midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov from Lokomotiv Moscow for an undisclosed fee.
The 24-year-old, who has been capped 28 times for his country, has signed a five-year deal at Goodison Park.
Bilyaletdinov will now return to Russia to complete the formalities of a visa application to enter the UK.
He is ineligible for Thursday’s Europa League play-off, second leg with Sigma Olomouc and is unlikely to be available for Sunday’s home game against Wigan. (BBC Sport)

Clearly the impending departure of Joleon Lescott gives David Moyes some cash to splash and the acquisition of talented attacking midfielder Bilyaletdinov is a clever one. The 24 year old former Lokomotiv Moscow man is a regular in the international set up and is a usually contributor to the goal scoring list from his advanced midfield role.

He will take some of the slack from the likes of Mikel Arteta and Tim Cahill and add some much needed creativity to the Toffees side.

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The Rumour

Arsenal midfielder Andrey Arshavin has urged Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez to take a close look at Russia teammate Aleksandr Anyukov.

Arshavin nominated the Zenit St Petersburg fullback as a player Liverpool should consider signing in an interview last week.

Lokomotiv Moscow midfielder Dmitri Torbinskiy is being tipped for a move to Liverpool – by Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko.

Pavlyuchenko was asked for his tip to improve the Anfield squad.

“(Lokomotiv Moscow midfielder Dmitri) Torbinskiy,” he said. “But in reality, no player in our (Russia) team would be lost in England. Let them go, and the more the better. After the European Championship, the Russians are generating great interest.”

The Source: (tribalfootball.com)

The Analysis

Both have been earmarked by two countrymen already plying their trade in England, albeit with vastly different results, so perhaps they are worth considering.

Right Back Anyukov and Multi Purpose Winger Torbinskiy both have a decent level of experience at club and country level but it is always hard to tell just how players from the Russian league will adapt when thrown in at the deep end of the Premier League game.

Many fans of the club would probably rather sign a support striker for Torres ahead of any other transaction but a left winger could well be an important acquisition and maybe a squad player in this role in the form of Torbinskiy is all that is needed as the club still has the likes of Rieira and Babel to count on.

The Likelihood

Russian Pair to Liverpool: Not sure Rafa will be taking the advice of this Premier League pair.

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