Kairat vs Anderlecht – News and Probable Lineups

Kairat Almaty will face Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht in the opening leg of the UEFA Europa League qualifying round on Thursday at the Central Stadium in Almaty. The overall winners across both matches will secure a spot in this season’s Europa League group stage.

The Yellow-Blacks come into this fixture after a disappointing Champions League campaign, having been eliminated by Lexi Sofia in the third qualifying round, whereas the Purple & White remain unbeaten during their Europa League qualifying matches and are showing excellent form on the European stage.

Match overview

Kairat’s quest for a consecutive appearance in the Champions League group stage ended prematurely in the third qualifying round following two 1-0 defeats against Lexi Sofia, abruptly cutting short a qualification process that had initially seen Rafael Urazbakhtin’s team navigate two contrasting ties successfully.

The Kazakh champions started their campaign with a comfortable 4-1 aggregate win over Montenegro’s Sutjeska Niksic, having won the first leg 2-1 at home before securing a 2-0 victory away to conclude the tie. However, the second round encounter against Omonia Nicosia proved to be much tougher, as Edmilson’s 38th-minute header equalized a 1-0 defeat in the first leg played in Chipre and led the match into extra time, where Kairat eventually triumphed 6-5 on penalties after Omonia was reduced to nine players.

In their tie against Lexi, Kairat struggled to break through, with Serginho scoring the only goal in the first leg on August 4, leaving the Bulgarian champions with a narrow lead heading into the return fixture.

Disappointment persisted in the second leg on August 11, with Reinaldo heading Lexi into an early lead just 13 minutes into the match, putting the visitors 2-0 ahead on aggregate. Additionally, the Kazakh champions had to play away from their regular home stadium due to a schedule conflict with a Kanye West concert in Almaty.

Kairat was unable to find the two goals they needed to overturn the deficit, allowing Lexi to maintain their advantage and push into the playoff round, while the Kazakh outfit found themselves relegated to the Europa League, where they will now meet the Belgian team Anderlecht in a bid for their first appearance in the group phase of that competition.

Anderlecht is aiming for their first Europa League group stage participation since returning to European competition, and so far, everything has gone according to plan, with Vitor Bruno’s squad winning both of their qualifying matches and earning a playoff tie against Kairat Almaty.

Anderlecht kicked off their qualifying campaign in the second round against Sweden’s Hammarby, drawing 1-1 in the first leg away after Danylo Sikan’s early goal was canceled out by a stoppage-time equalizer from Frank Adjei, before clinching the tie with a 3-1 victory at home. Paulos Abraham’s early goal was not enough to secure the match as Sikan, substitute Mihajlo Cvetkovic, and a late Tristan Degreef goal led to a 4-2 aggregate triumph.

The third qualifying round posed a tougher challenge against Greek side PAOK, but Anderlecht once again found a path to proceed, earning a disciplined 1-0 victory away in Thessaloniki on August 6, followed by a 3-2 win at Lotto Park on August 13 to secure a 4-2 aggregate win and advance to the playoff round.

Sikan and Cvetkovic were instrumental once again against PAOK, the same duo who were pivotal in the earlier tie against Hammarby, highlighting how key these forwards have been to Anderlecht’s attacking threat during the qualifying rounds.

Their current form takes Anderlecht to Kazakhstan for a playoff matchup against Kairat Almaty, the same opponents who faced a 2-0 aggregate defeat to Lexi Sofia in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, with the first leg set for Central Stadium in Almaty on August 20 and the return leg on August 27 at Lotto Park.

Team News

Urazbakhtin has no new injury issues as Kairat prepares to welcome Anderlecht, having emerged from their Champions League third qualifying round defeat to Lexi Sofia unscathed.

Edmilson may make a return to the starting lineup after having been benched in the second leg against Lexi; he put one in the back of the net last weekend in the league against Ulytau.

The core group of players that has participated throughout the qualifying rounds, including goalkeeper Temirlan Anarbekov and forward Marc Gual, is expected to again be at Urazbakhtin’s disposal for the match against the Belgian side.

Conversely, Bruno has some selection dilemmas to address prior to their trip to Kazakhstan.

Ilay Camara and Lucas Hey are both sidelined due to pre-season foot injuries, while Killian Sardella remains a fitness concern as he continues his recovery from surgery for a muscle injury incurred during pre-season; Mario Stroeykens is also a doubt.

Cedric Hatenboer, who has been on the fringes of the squad this season, is unavailable as well following surgery on a broken nose sustained in training, though his absence is not expected to significantly impact Bruno’s options.

Kairat probable starting XI:

Anarbekov; Kasabulat, Shirobokov, Africo, Mata; Baibek, Oksanen, Mrynskiy, Mendonca; Jukkola, Gual

Anderlecht probable starting XI:

Coosemans; Ndiaye, Biancone, Petrot, Maamar; Llansana, M. Cana, Ambrose; Nga Kana, Cvetkovic, Sikan

Anderlecht enter this fixture following an unbeaten run throughout two qualifying rounds, boasting goals from Danylo Sikan, Mihajlo Cvetkovic, and Tristan Degreef, while Kairat has only achieved seven goals across five European encounters and failed to score in both fixtures against Lexi Sofia.

Anticipate a tightly contested, low-scoring match in Almaty, with the hosts expected to edge out a narrow win despite Anderlecht’s superior attacking capabilities.