In a week’s time, Celtic will face a very long away trip. In fact, more than 5,000 kilometers separate Glasgow from Almaty, where Kairat, the real revelation of these qualifiers, plays.
The Scots will therefore be looking to settle the tie at Celtic Park to avoid having to play for all the marbles in Kazakhstan, where, for logistical reasons above all, there could be some pitfalls. The Hoops are one of the teams that did not have to go through any qualifying rounds: Brendan Rodgers’ men will start their Champions League adventure in the play-offs.
The Scottish champions have won all three games played so far at home: two in the league (St. Mirren and Aberdeen) and one in the national cup (4-1 against Falkirk).
An excellent start, although there were signs of this during the friendlies with resounding victories over Sporting and Newcastle. Obviously, the gap between them and Kairat is clear: the Kazakh ‘fairytale’ should end in the play-offs, although Rafael Urazbakhtin’s team has already secured qualification for the Europa League group stage, where they would be relegated if eliminated. Kairat has only played in the final stage of a European competition once in its history: in the first edition of the Conference League (2021-2022), when it finished last in its group. The Kazakh club has already made it through three rounds, knocking out Olimpija Ljubljana, KuPS, and Slovan Bratislava, the latter after a penalty shootout. The fact that its league is still underway—Kairat is tied for first place with Astana—has perhaps been a significant advantage.
Odds comparison
The “Over 2.5” bet is quoted at 1.42 on Lottomatica and 1.38 on Snai. The “Home 3-4 Multigoal” bet is quoted at 2.25 on Lottomatica and 2.30 on Snai.
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Prediction
This time, Kairat Almaty will have little chance against a much stronger team like Celtic, who usually give their all in front of their fans: we imagine a big win for the Scots, with a margin of at least three goals.
Probable line-ups for Celtic-Kairat Almaty
CELTIC (4-3-3): Schmeichel; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Tierney; Engels, McGregor, Hatate; Nygren, Idah, Maeda.
KAIRAT ALMATY (4-3-3): Zarutskiy; Tapalov, Sorokin, Martynovich, Luis Mata; Glazer, Gromyko, Arad; Satpaev, Edmilson Santos, Jorginho.