Spurs and Spartak battle for survival

Tottenham Hotspur FC need a point to confirm their place in the UEFA Cup Round of 32 but a win by two goals or more for FC Spartak Moskva could trigger a Group D doomsday scenario for Harry Redknapp's side.

• Tottenham were not in action on Matchday 4, but came within minutes of qualifying anyway. Had Spartak won or drawn against NEC Nijmegen, the English side would have gone through. Spartak led 1-0 until the 84th minute before the Dutch side levelled and then won the game with an 87th-minute Lasse Schöne strike.

• The situation now is that Tottenham will finish above Spartak in the section and qualify with a win, a draw or even a defeat by a one-goal margin on Thursday.

• Should Spartak win by two goals or more, they will finish above Tottenham either on goals scored or away goals, and would be sure to qualify.

• Should NEC win at Udinese Calcio, they will have six points. If a NEC win coincides with a Spartak win, three sides will finish Group D with six points and one will not qualify. Only Rangers in 2004/05 have failed to qualify from the UEFA Cup group stage with that tally in the past.

• If NEC and Spartak lose, a side will qualify with three points for the first time in the five-season history of the UEFA Cup group stage. NK Dinamo Zagreb, who finished their campaign on Matchday 4, could even still qualify if NEC and Spartak go down by substantial margins.

• If Tottenham win and Udinese lose, the English side will finish top of the section. Group winners will be paired with third-placed sides from other UEFA Cup sections in the Round of 32, while second-placed finishers will be drawn against one of the eight sides who finished third in the UEFA Champions League groups. The UEFA Cup group winners and runners-up will play the second leg at home.

• This is Tottenham and Spartak's first meeting in UEFA club competition.

• It is also Tottenham's first game against a Russian club.

• Spartak have played 14 games against English opposition in the past, and have played in London twice, winning 5-2 and losing 1-0 against Spurs's local rivals Arsenal FC at their old Highbury home.

• Of those 14 games, Spartak's record reads W9 D1 L4, while their record on English soil is W4 D0 L3.

• Spartak did not lose in their first nine games against English teams prior to going down 1-0 to Leeds United AFC at Elland Road in the second round of the 1999/00 UEFA Cup.

• Tottenham's Jonathan Woodgate was on the winning side for Leeds that night.

• Spartak have now lost their last three games against English sides, home and away.

• Tottenham and Spartak have one significant player in common, with striker Roman Pavlyuchenko having moved from Moscow to north London on 1 September this year, taking up the No9 shirt left vacant by Dimitar Berbatov's move to Manchester United FC.

• The 26-year-old may have some useful insight on his former team-mates, but he will not be able to help Harry Redknapp on the pitch as he is ineligible, since moving when both sides were involved in the UEFA Cup.

• Spartak coach Michael Laudrup will have some great memories of White Hart Lane. His Getafe CF side beat Tottenham 2-1 there in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage in what was Martin Jol's final match as Spurs manager. That was Laudrup's first game against English opposition as a coach.

• Laudrup played in just one UEFA club competition game against English opponents, going down 2-1 to Manchester United as an FC Barcelona player in the 1990/91 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in Rotterdam.

• He played in five international games against England for Denmark, his record reading W1 D1 L3.

• Redknapp, who replaced Juande Ramos as Tottenham coach in late October, has never been involved in a competitive game against a Russian side.

• Spartak have won both of their UEFA Cup away games this season by the same margin, 1-0.

• Tottenham have won both of their UEFA Cup home games this season.

• Udinese host NEC in the evening's other Group D game. Dinamo are the only Group D side not in action.

• Tottenham's Gareth Bale is within a booking of a one-match ban.

• The draw for the UEFA Cup Round of 32 (when teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other) and Round of 16 will be held at UEFA Headquarters in Nyon on Friday 19 December at 13.00CET.