Sporting CP vs Kairat Almaty prediction 18.09.2025 | Champions League
Sporting CP
Kick off:
Date:
Kairat Almaty
1
1.10
X
13.40
2
31.00
Contents
- Competition: Champions League
- Date: 18th September 2025
- Kick-off: 20:00 UK / 21:00 CEST
- Venue: Estádio José Alvalade
Sporting will welcome Kazakhstan Premier League side Kairat Almaty to Lisbon this week, with both teams aiming to start their UEFA Champions League group stage campaign with a win. This will be the fourth time in six seasons that Sporting have competed at this stage of the competition, whereas this is Kairat's first ever Champions League group stage appearance. Read our Sporting CP vs. Kairat Almaty preview for the latest team news and predictions.
H2H stats
Thursday’s game will be the first ever meeting between the two teams in any competition. Sporting has faced Kazakhstani sides twice before, both times against FC Astana, and remained unbeaten in both encounters (one win and one draw). Meanwhile, Kairat Almaty have never faced a Portuguese side before.
Sporting CP team overview
Sporting are playing in the Champions League group stage for the second year in a row, having won the Portuguese top flight last season.
Their previous participation is one they would rather forget, having picked up just eleven points from a possible twenty-four before losing the play-offs 3–0 to Borussia Dortmund.
Rui Borges’ side have been in good form recently as they have won four of their five Primeira Liga games so far this season. However, their fans will be concerned that their sole defeat came against title rivals Porto, and that they are winless in their last three home games in Europe.
Nuno Santos (patellar tendon), Daniel Bragança (cruciate ligament) and Geny Catamo (muscle) have been ruled out of Wednesday’s game due to injury.
Last matches of Sporting CP
-
Famalicao
1 : 2
Sporting CP
Liga Portugal
-
Sporting CP
1 : 2
Porto
Liga Portugal
-
CD Nacional
1 : 4
Sporting CP
Liga Portugal
-
Casa Pia
0 : 2
Sporting CP
Liga Portugal
-
Sporting CP
0 : 1
Benfica
Super Cup
Sporting CP lineup
Goalkeeper
-
12
João Virgínia
Defenders
-
91
Ricardo Mangas
-
6
Zeno Debast
-
25
Gonçalo Inácio
-
13
Georgios Vagiannidis
Midfielders
-
14
Giorgi Kochorashvili
-
17
Francisco Trincão
-
42
Morten Hjulmand
Forwards
-
8
Pedro Gonçalves
-
97
Luis Suárez
-
7
Geovany Quenda
Kairat Almaty team overview
Despite winning the Kazakhstan Premier League last season, Kairat Almaty had to go through a long route to reach the League Phase.
The Nation's Team progressed through three qualifying rounds before beating Celtic 3–2 on penalties following a goalless draw in the play-off round.
Rafael Urazbakhtin’s side will take an unbeaten run of four matches into Thursday’s game, with two wins and two draws. They only scored twice in that period, but their fans will be encouraged by the fact that they kept a clean sheet in all four matches.
Élder Santana, João Paulo and Aleksandr Zarutskiy will miss the trip to Portugal this week due to injury, but there are no suspensions for the visitors.
Last matches of Kairat Almaty
-
Kairat Almaty
1 : 0
Aktobe
Premier League
-
Okzhetpes
0 : 1
Kairat Almaty
Premier League
-
Kairat Almaty
3 : 2
Celtic
Champions League
-
Celtic
0 : 0
Kairat Almaty
Champions League
-
Kairat Almaty
2 : 3
Yelimay Semey
Premier League
Kairat Almaty lineup
Goalkeeper
-
77
Temirlan Anarbekov
Defenders
-
3
Luís Mata
-
4
Damir Kasabulat
-
14
Alyaksandr Martynovich
-
15
Ofri Arad
Midfielders
-
80
Yegor Sorokin
-
20
Yerkin Tapalov
-
24
Aleksandr Mrynskiy
-
55
Valery Gromyko
Forwards
-
7
Jorginho
-
9
Dastan Satpayev
Prediction
The departure of last season's top scorer, Viktor Gyökeres, to Arsenal has had a significant impact on how Sporting CP play. The Portuguese side has only scored three goals in their last two matches, and their recent goal-scoring record in Europe isn't the best, having scored under 1.5 goals in each of their last five fixtures. Kairat Almaty are solid defensively at the moment, with a clean sheet in each of their last four matches. This makes Thursday’s game likely to be close, with no more than three goals expected.
Three reasons we expect under 3.5 goals in this game
- Four of the last five home games of Sporting ended with under 3.5 goals.
- Only one of the last eight games of Kairat produced more than one goal.
- Bets on under 3.5 goals won in each of the last five games of Sporting in Europe.
Main prediction Sporting CP - Kairat Almaty
Under 3.5 goals
Best Odds:
22bet
2.02
Sporting CP vs Kairat Almaty standings in Champions League
| League Stage | P | W | D | L |
G - A
|
GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Union Saint-Gilloise | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 - 1 | +2 | 3 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 - 0 | +2 | 3 |
| 3 | Qarabağ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 - 2 | +1 | 3 |
| 4 | Real Madrid | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 - 1 | +1 | 3 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 - 0 | +1 | 3 |
| 6 | Borussia Dortmund | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 - 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Juventus | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 - 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Inter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Monaco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FC København | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Kairat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | FC Bayern München | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Atlético Madrid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Olympiacos F.C. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Slavia Praha | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Liverpool | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Bodø / Glimt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Manchester City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Galatasaray | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Club Brugge | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Chelsea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Atalanta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Paris Saint Germain | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Ajax | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Napoli | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Newcastle United | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Pafos FC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Sporting CP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | FC Barcelona | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Bayer 04 Leverkusen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 - 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Benfica | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 - 3 | -1 | 0 |
| 33 | Olympique Marseille | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 - 2 | -1 | 0 |
| 34 | Villarreal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 - 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 35 | PSV | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 - 3 | -2 | 0 |
| 36 | Athletic Club | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 - 2 | -2 | 0 |