Kairat have made it this far by grinding out low-scoring stalemates, and it’ll be interesting to see how they fare against one of Europe’s most free-scoring sides.

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• Kairat are the second-ever Kazakh team to qualify for the Champions League, matching the achievement of FC Astana, who did so in the 2015-16 season. 

• Seven of Kairat’s last eight games have finished either 0-0 or 1-0, and just two goals were scored across their previous four qualifiers.

• Sporting have scored 15 goals in five matches, more than any other side in the Liga Portugal.

🟢 Sporting Bounce Back After Porto Defeat

Sporting have gotten off to a typically strong start this season, recording four wins across their opening five, the only tarnish being a painful defeat at the hands of bitter rivals Porto.

They’ve bagged 15 goals across those games, the most of any side by some distance, but have avoided sacrificing defensive solidity, having conceded just four so far.

Last time round, Sporting came from behind to beat Famalicao 2-1, although that scoreline fails to reflect their dominance. The open play xG read 2.0-0.27 in their favour, and it always looked like they’d take all three points back to Lisbon.

🟡 Kairat Pair Continental Success With Domestic Dominance

Domestically, Kairat have maintained a consistently high level this season, topping the Kazakhstan Premier League with 49 points from 22 games. Notably, this represents an improvement in terms of PPG from the 1.96 they managed last season to 2.17. 

Kairat have kept clean sheets in each of their last four matches, which consisted of two 1-0 victories in the league, alongside a pair of 0-0 stalemates with Celtic.

As the above would suggest, low-scoring affairs have been a recurring theme in Kairat’s season but particularly in recent matches, with seven of their last eight across all competitions ending either 0-0 or 1-0.

📊 Sporting v Kairat Almaty H2H

Perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly, this is the first-ever meeting between Sporting and Kairat, whose qualification represents a rare feature in European competition.

Football Predictions at Andy's Bet Club

Keep up with our Champions League Predictions for this week's fixtures, as well as Football Betting Tips, Accumulator Tips, and Gem Bets.

For Thursday, we also have Frankfurt v Galatasaray Tips and Copenhagen v Leverkusen Predictions, as well as a Bet Of The Day, Man City v Napoli Bet Builder Tips and Newcastle v Barcelona Betting Tips.

On top of that, we also have Champions League Accumulator Tips, a Player Prop Acca, and Both Teams to Score Tips.

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* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.