Tromsø and Anji back for more

Shot-shy Tromsø IL need to start finding the target as they bring FC Anji Makhachkala to the Arctic Circle on matchday four, with the Russian side eager to strengthen their hold on second place in Group K.

Previous meetings
• Nikita Burmistrov hit the only goal when the sides met on matchday three as Anji prevailed 1-0 in Ramenskoye, where they play their UEFA Europa League home games. It was Anji's first meeting with a Norwegian club and Tromsø's first competitive engagement with Russian opposition.

• Russian sides have had the better of the 20 UEFA club competition encounters between clubs representing the two nations, with the record W14 D2 L4. Russian clubs' overall record in Norway is a more equivocal W4 D2 L4.

• There has already been a Russia v Norway encounter in this season's UEFA Europa League, with FC Rubin Kazan defeating Molde FK 5-0 on aggregate in the play-offs.

Match background
• Tromsø reached the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage, but finished bottom of their five-team section with a win and three defeats.

• Tromsø lost 3-2 on aggregate to Beşiktaş JK in the play-offs but were handed a group stage place after the Istanbul side were excluded from the competition.

• The Norwegian side are unbeaten in their last four European home games (W3 D1). The only side to have beaten them at home in a group stage game was AS Roma (2-1, on 20 October 2005).

• Anji made it through the UEFA Europa League group stage at the first attempt under Guus Hiddink last season, losing out to Newcastle United FC in the round of 16.

• Burmistrov's strike against Tromsø ended a four-game spell without a goal for Anji in Europe. It also ended a five-game wait (D3 L2) for a European victory.

Team facts
• Tromsø had just three shots on target in the first three matchdays – fewer than any other club in this season's group stage.

• Anji and Tromsø have scored just a goal apiece in Group K.

• Tromsø are the only side in the group stage to have made it through all the way from the first qualifying round.

• Based inside the Arctic Circle, Tromsø are the most northerly side in the group stage – 4,299km separates them from the southernmost representatives, Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC.

• Around 3,400km separates Tromso and Makhachkala, though the Norwegian club had a less daunting 1,800km trip to Ramenskoye for the sides' first meeting on matchday three.

• Anji boast a Norwegian international in centre-back Vadim Demidov; born in Riga, Latvia, he moved to Norway with his father, handball star Sergei Demidov, and played for Sandefjord Fotball, Hønefoss BK and Rosenborg BK before heading abroad.

Coach information
• Tromsø dismissed coach Agnar Christensen ahead of matchday two after a 3-2 league defeat at home against IK Start on 29 September left them in relegation danger in Norway.

• Steinar Nilsen has taken temporary command at Tromsø after serving as Christensen's assistant. Born in the city, the 41-year-old defender served Tromsø in two spells as a player, either side of five years in Italy with AC Milan and SSC Napoli. This is his third spell as the club's coach – he notably led them into the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage in his first period in charge.

• A major footballing figure in his native Dagestan, Gadzhi Gadzhiev returned for a fourth spell as Anji coach in summer 2013 with the club adopting a new approach following the departure of Dutchman Guus Hiddink. A player for FC Spartak Leningrad, he has coached in Azerbaijan and Japan, and worked as assistant to Anatoliy Byshovets during his spells in charge of the USSR/CIS and Russia, embarking on the first of his adventures with Anji in 1999.