Kairat vs Qarabag prediction, preview, team news and more | UEFA Europa Conference League 2021-22

Kairat host Qarabag at Central Stadium in Almaty on Thursday on matchday four of the UEFA Europa Conference League, looking for their first win of the campaign.

With just a draw and two losses in three games so far, the Kazakh outfit are in third place in Group H with just one point in the bag.

They also lost the reverse fixture last month, going down 2-1 in Baku following a late collapse.

Jose Kante had put the visitors in front from the penalty spot in the 19th minute. But goals from Ramil Sheydayev and Abbas Huseynov, who scored a stoppage-time winner, saw the Horsemen steal all three points from the match.

Resultantly, the latter are now favorites to progress from the group, accumulating seven points from three games, level with leaders Basel, who're ahead by virtue of more goals.

Another victory on Thursday will officially seal their place in the last-16, something which Gurban Gurbanv's side will be eager to accomplish.

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Kairat vs Qarabag Head-To-Head

Their first-leg encounter was the first time Qarabag and Kairat played each other.

Kairat Form Guide (all competitions): D-W-W-L-W

Qarabag Form Guide (all competitions): W-W-D-W-W

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Kairat vs Qarabag Team News

Kairat

Gafurzhan Suyumbaev remains on the sidelines with a knee injury.

Injured: Gafurzhan Suyumbaev

Suspended: None

Unavailable: None

Qarabag

Head coach Gurban Gurbanov isn't as lucky with injuries as Badavi Huseynov (undisclosed) and Jaime Romero (ligament) are still out.

Their 4-2-3-1 formation has yielded dividends so far and they're going to stick with it.

Injured: Badavi Huseynov, Jaime Romero

Suspended: None

Unavailable: None

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Kairat vs Qarabag Predicted XI

Kairat (5-3-2): Danil Ustimenko; Dino Mikanović, Macky Bagnack, Rade Dugalić, Nuraly Alip, Yan Vorogovsky; Nebojša Kosović, Dzyanis Palyakow, Ricardo Alves; José Kanté, João Paulo.

Qarabag (4-2-3-1): Shahrudin Mahammadaliyev; Abbas Huseynov, Maksim Medvedev, Kevin Medina, Toral Bayramov; Gara Garayev, Patrick Andrade; Kady Borges, Filip Ozobić, Abdellah Zoubir; Ibrahima Wadji.

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Kairat vs Qarabag Prediction

Kairat are unbeaten at home all season, which might give them confidence ahead of kick-off.

But Qarabag still have a much better squad to choose from and are currently in a good run of form too.

They have enough talent to inflict on Kairat with their first home defeat of the season.

Prediction: Kairat 1-2 Qarabag