Kairat vs Pafos Preview: Team News & Prediction | 2025-26 UEFA Champions League | League Phase
by Alex Lawes ·
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Kairat Almaty have been one of the stories of the season so far as the Kazakh champions now prepare to welcome fellow UEFA Champions League debutants Pafos to Kazakhstan.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – TNT Sports / US – Not televised
How to watch online: UK – discovery+ / US – Paramount+
Kairat preview: Poor Kairat
In qualification for the league phase of the UEFA Champions League, Kazakh champions Kairat Almaty managed to defeat Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava and then Scottish champions Celtic, who qualified for the tournament last season, on penalties with home advantage in the second-leg.
The Kazakhs have started this season with a 5-0 loss at home to Real Madrid in their opening home game of the competition. In their first game of the UEFA Champions League, they were hammered by Portuguese champions Sporting CP by four goals to one at Estadio Jose Alvalade.
Pafos preview: Steady Pafos
After a fairly heavy summer of spending following winning the Cypriot league title for the first time ever last season, Pafos headed into this competition as debutants with a chance of trying to upset the odds by being competitive in the 36-team league phase and they have started steadily.
The Cypriots began with an impressive and competitive goalless draw against Greek champions Olympiacos a few weeks ago. Their most recent UEFA Champions League outing, Pafos did suffer a 5-1 annihilation at the hands of German champions Bayern Munich at the Alphamega Stadium in Cyprus.
Kairat team news: No need to change
Kairat have no fresh injury concerns so could name an unchanged eleven if they so choose. They do, though, have a couple of injury issues to deal with for this weekend, such as goalkeepers Temirlan Anarbekov and Aleksandr Zarutskiy.
Predicted XI (4-4-2): Kalmurza; Tapalov, Martynovich, Sorokin, Mata; Mrynskiy, Arad, Kasabulat, Gromyko; Jorginho, Satpaev
Unavailable: Zarutskiy (Injured), Anarbekov (Injured)
Questionable:
Pafos team news: Nothing fresh
Much like their hosts, Pafos have no fresh injury concerns or suspension issues for this one and so they could name an unchanged eleven. Bruno Felipe has returned from suspension, though.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Michael; Luckassen, Goldar, Luiz, Pileas; Sunjic, Rodrigues; Felipe, Dragomir, Orsic; Anderson
Unavailable: Pedrao (Injured)
Questionable:
Kairat vs Pafos prediction
Under the management of Rafael Urazbakhtin, Kairat will have to ensure they take advantage of their games at the Central Stadium in Almaty in eastern Kazakhstan. However, even against weak opposition such as Slovan and Celtic, they still struggled. As a result, a low-scoring encounter between two of the weaker sides is expected for this one, but Pafos have to be slight favourites here as they appear slightly more competitive, despite their hammering to Bayern.
Kairat vs Pafos Tip: Double chance - Pafos to win or draw & under 3.5 goals
