Kazakhstani champions FC Kairat will make their Champions League debut on Thursday evening as they travel to the Portuguese capital to take on Sporting CP at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
After winning their first Kazakhstan Premier League title in four years last season, Kairat entered the first qualifying round of the Champions League in which they saw off Olimpija 3-1 on aggregate.
Narrow successes in the next two rounds over KuPS and Slovan Bratislava set up a tie against Celtic in the playoff round, and after no goals in both legs, Rafael Urazbakhtin’s men eventually prevailed on penalties, becoming only the second Kazakh side to qualify for the Champions League proper.
Sporting, on the other hand, had automatically qualified for the league phase of the Champions League after securing their second consecutive Primeira Liga title.
Rui Borges’s men are currently second in the Primeira Liga title after winning four of their opening five league matches, with their solitary defeat coming at home to leaders Porto on an evening our man Gabriel correctly backed Over 2.5 Goals.
The Portuguese champions reached the quarter-finals of this competition last season, where they were eliminated 0-3 on aggregate by Borussia Dortmund, and will be keen to make a winning start here on home soil.
How the bookies view it: Sporting clear favourites
As expected, Sporting CP are clear favourites to make a winning start to their Champions League campaign on Thursday night, with BoyleSports pricing the Portuguese champions at just 1/16.
Kairat are a whopping 20/1 at Skybet to win on their debut, whilst the draw is 19/2.
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Head to head: First-ever meeting
Unsurprisingly, this is the first-ever meeting between these two clubs.
Players to watch: Another goal for Goncalves?
Pedro Goncalves endured an injury-ravaged campaign last season, as he made only 20 appearances for Sporting, scoring on six occasions.
However, the Portuguese international has featured in all six of The Leoes’ fixtures this campaign, scoring four times in his last three matches, and I like the look of the 5/6 on offer at BoyleSports for him to continue his impressive form in front of goal.
Predicted line-ups:
Sporting will be without the injured trio Nuno Santos, Daniel Braganca and Geny Catamo.
Kairat will be without goalkeeper Aleksandr Zarutskiy and forwards Joao Paulo and Elder Santana through injury.
Sporting CP: Virginia, Vagiannidis, Debast, Inacio, Mangas, Kochorashvili, Hjulmand, Quenda, Trincao, Goncalves, Suarez
Kairat Almaty: Anarbekov, Mrynskiy, Martynovich, Sorokin, Mata, Arad, Tapalov, Glazer, Gromyko, Ricardinho, Jorginho
Anything else catch the eye?
Kairat don’t score many, especially with both of their first-choice strikers being out injured, but Sporting to Win to Nil pays an unbackable 11/20.
Whilst I don’t expect the visitors to score, they have proven to be pretty solid defensively in the qualifiers, meaning the 6/5 on offer at BoyleSports for a Sporting Win & Under 3.5 Goals appeals to me.
Sporting have drawn 3+ cards from 5/6 of their opponents this season, and with Kairat expected to be on the back foot for the majority of the game, I like the 5/6 on offer at Bet365 for the Kazakhstan champions to collect three or more cards.
GambleAware