Can Arsenal use Kairat Almaty to get their season back on track?

The disappointment is still oozing from the Manchester United defeat. The season feels like it’s on a knife edge right now. Will it fall in favour of success or will we fall short again? Outside of the Premier League, it’s been nothing but wins. The Champions League has seen us win all seven games so far. We won our first FA Cup fixture and are into the EFL Cup semi finals, with a win in the first leg. That form needs to translate back to the Premier League and the Gunners can use the Kairat Almaty game as a springboard. It’s a dead rubber game, but a few players need a good 90 minutes so they can kick on. Going 8/8 will be an incredible return and will set us up for a an easier route to the final.

Kairat Form

To sum up Kairat Almaty’s Champions League campaign would be very easy. The worst. They sit bottom of the Champions League division with just a single point to their name. They’ve lost six games and drawn once. They’ve also scored just five goals in total, conceding 19. No team has conceded more. The team they drew to was Pafos FC who sit six places above them. It’s fair to say it’s been a disaster for them in this campaign.

In terms of domestic form, the Kazakhstan Premier League finished on the 26th October 2025. So, they haven’t played any domestic games since then. They’ve played one friendly outside of Champions League fixtures, they drew 0-0 against Varazdin, who play in the top flight of Croatian football. Circling back to events in the league, Kairat were able to win the Kazakhstan Premier League title. They won by two points, beating FC Astana. In the 26 games played, Kairat won 18, drew five and lost three times. There’s not really much else to add.

Injuries

Due to having a season that’s already finished, Kairat don’t have many injuries at all. All that’s included in the list is; Azamat Tuyakbayaev, Olzhas Baybek and Dastan Satpaev.

For Arsenal they have a relatively clean slate in terms of injuries. Max Dowman is still missing. Mikel Arteta has suggested that William Saliba and Jurrien Timber have ‘niggles’ but it’s more for them to focus on getting 100% fit for Leeds on Saturday. Declan Rice and Mikel Merino are both suspended, so will get the whole week off. Kai Havertz and Riccardo Calafiori were both spotted in training today, leading to the conclusion that they might be involved for the Kairat fixture.

Player To Watch: Jorginho

Not that Jorginho, this one is Portuguese and is the 2nd highest scorer for Kairat in the season just gone. If he was fit, the obvious player to watch would be Dastan Satpaev. The 17 year old is set to join Chelsea in the summer of 2026. However, he’s very likely unavailable for this tie, so the spotlight falls on Jorginho. The 28 year old has spent a majority of his time in the lower leagues around Europe, but has found his feet at Kairat. He recorded 10 goals and 7 assists in the Kazakhstan top tier. He predominantly plays behind the striker, but has been known to move out wide left and up top. However, he hasn’t scored a goal in the Champions League division phase, but did notch a couple of goals and assists in the qualification process.

Kairat Starting Lineup

It’s genuinely hard to know how Kairat will play. They seem to set up with a back four, two holding midfielders, an attacking midfielder and a front three. Similar to Arsenal. I think for the Kazakhstani side, it’ll be damage limitation. They’ll knock the ball around when they can and may be able to carve out some chances, especially against what will be a heavily rotated Arsenal side. They’re an unknown quantity and sometimes that can be dangerous, but they’ll be without their top scorer, Satpaev.

Arsenal Predicted Lineup

I’m still seeing a lot of people suggesting that we chuck out loads of academy players, but I’m sure the rules don’t allow for it. We submitted a 25-man squad list and UEFA are strict about who we can use. However, given injuries and suspensions, we may be able to make a swap. But, I can see Arteta just using his squad depth to fill the starting XI. Gabriel Martinelli didn’t feature in the United game. Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze and Martin Odegaard all played reduced minutes. I think from the academy we could see Marli Salmon and Andre Harriman-Annous. Unfortunately Max Dowman is injured for this one. The outside shout is Ife Ibrahim, who signed his first professional contract today. He’s also apparently trained with the first team today. He’s a midfielder by trait which could be useful given our lack of depth in that role.

Predicted Result: Arsenal 4-0 Kairat

I don’t think we go mental in this one. I think it will be professional, but a few players wanting to prove themselves. Given the disappointment from Sunday, there could be a sense of taking out our frustration on a team that will expect a hammering. I think if the game ends up 3-0, Arteta will likely bring the team back to first gear and change what he needs to. This fixture is more about kickstarting form, not picking up new injuries and reintegrating some previously injured colleagues. Let’s get it!