While Celtic have started the season with a perfect three wins from three, it would be fair to say that they have not been at their free-flowing best. Instead, Brendan Rodgers’ side have put in a trio of professional performances, particularly in their wins over both St Mirren and Aberdeen. Rodgers' team is currently looking a little light and lacking in star quality, something the club are looking to address before the transfer window closes. Thus, I think a landslide Celtic victory is unlikely on Wednesday night, with Under 4.5 Goals looking like a solid selection.

While Kairat Almaty are understandably huge underdogs in this week’s first leg, they have shown in each of the previous three rounds of Champions League qualifiers that they are capable of keeping things tight, with five of their previous six contests featuring Under 2.5 Goals.

On a similar line of reasoning to the above, I’m also prepared to side with Both Teams to Score No at Celtic Park on Wednesday night. Celtic have managed to keep their opponents quiet in each of their opening two Scottish Premiership matches of the season, not to mention they posted a clean sheet in 13 of their 19 outings at home in last season’s top-flight. While the Bhoys failed to keep the back door shut against Falkirk in the Scottish League Cup last Friday night, I’m not going to read too much into that as Rodgers opted to field an understrength side, and that certainly won’t be the case here.

As for Kairat Almaty, they have been BTTS No in five of their six Champions League qualifying ties en route to the play-off round, including each of their last two continental contests away from home.

Celtic are one of my favourite teams when it comes to corner betting. The Hoops have long had a reputation as a side that racks up corners by the bucket load, and the early signs suggest that they will continue in that vein this season. Brendan Rodgers’ side have racked up a combined total of 28 corners across their two home games this term, earning 12 against St Mirren and then 16 against Falkirk.

In last season’s Champions League, Celtic cleared the 7+ corner line in four of their five home matches, most notably hitting seven when hosting European heavyweights Bayern Munich. What's more, Celtic earned no fewer than 11 corners in their home game with Slovan Bratislava last season, and I would argue that Kairat Almaty will represent a similar standard of opposition.

While Kairat have conceded six and five corners across their last two qualifiers away from home, I expect those numbers to increase here as Celtic will represent their toughest test to date. The recent hit rate suggests we at least get a good run for our money with this leg.

Dan Glazer is the one to watch from a cards perspective in this contest. The Israel international has been a regular on the referee’s radar throughout Kairat’s Champions League qualifying campaign, racking up three yellow cards across his five outings to date. 

On top of that, the 28-year-old has been shown four yellow cards and one red card across his 13 appearances for Kairat in this season’s Kazakhstan Premier League. Dig a little deeper, and it can be seen that Glazer has been booked in three of his previous five outings on the domestic scene. 

Given that Glazer will now be coming up against opposition of a higher calibre, I think there is plenty of scope for him to tackle his way into trouble at Celtic Park. The Kairat Almaty midfielder could be in direct battle with Celtic’s Reo Hatate - a player that was fouled nine times across his final eight appearances in last season’s Champions League.