Rubin Kazan

Rubin Kazan overcame a woeful start of last season to become one of the most defensively sound and well-organised teams in the division, pulling off some really impressive results on their way to securing a spot in mid-table. They will look to build on that good work and once again establish themselves as a side competing in the upper half of the standings. Rashid Rakhimov was heavily rumoured to be leaving at the end of last season but instead signed a new deal and for now will aim to further make the team into his own image. That means that Rubin will once again play with five across the back and aim to be a nightmare to play against for the most part. However, the Kazan side did lose one of the pillars of their side in goalie Yuri Dyupin. He has consistently been one of the best shot-stoppers in the league for years and was always winning a handful of games by himself. Now he is heading to Krasnodar and Arthur Nigmatullin id the man tasked to fill the gap. He is a decent and reliable keeper but hardly the shot-stopper that Dyupin is and there is likely to be a drop-off in that department. Rubin still retain some key players mile Milan Vijacic at the back and Mirlind Daku up front, while players like Valentin Vada and Aleksandr Zotov can come up with moments of quality from midfield. Therefore, the skeleton of a strong team for Rubin remains there and whether they are able to be just as sound defensively and effective up front as they were last season will determined their placing.