Our final Champions League league phase clash sees us take on Kairat Almaty at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, January 28, at 8pm (UK time).
History will be made in N5 as we face a side from Kazakhstan for the first time in our history, looking to finish off a flying group stage campaign with an eighth win in a row.
Ahead of the occasion, we've taken a look at the Kazakhstan Premier League champions and what we can expect when we lock horns in N5.
The history
Originally founded in 1954 as Lokomotiv Alma-Ata, the side then became Urozhay in 1955 before settling on Kairat, meaning 'power', in 1956, which has been their name ever since. The side is based in the city of Almaty, found in the southeast of the country, more than 4,000 miles from our Emirates Stadium home.
Kairat, nicknamed 'Halyq komandasy' or 'Team of the Nation', played in the now-defunct Top Soviet League until its disbandment, with a highest finish of second place coming in 1973, runner-up to FC Ararat Yerevan.
In 1988, Kairat won the USSR Federation Cup, beating Neftchi Baku 4–1, with Viktor Karachun scoring all four goals.
Following the nation's independence in 1991, Kairat have won the Kazakhstan Premier League on five occasions. They won the first edition of the league in 1992, before triumphing 12 years later. In the 16 years that followed, Kairat suffered relegation, near bankruptcy, and a return to the top tier before winning the title again in 2020.
Rafael Urazbakhtin's side clinched back-to-back league titles in 2024 and 2025, giving them a chance to qualify for the Champions League. Memories of an unsuccessful attempt in 2024 were banished a year on as Kairat defeated Slovenia's Olimpija Ljubljana, Finland's KuPS and Slovakia's Slovan Bratislava before dramatically knocking out Celtic on penalties to reach the Champions League league phase for the first time in their history.
Read more How to watch Arsenal v Kairat Almaty live on TV
the stadium
Kairat play their games at the Almaty Central Stadium, the country's largest sports complex. The stadium holds 23,804 supporters. The record attendance game was in 2007, when 25,000 witnessed Kazakhstan v Portugal in an international friendly. In June 2009, the stadium hosted England in a World Cup qualifier. The Three Lions triumphed 4-0 as ex-Gunner Theo Walcott started for Fabio Capello's side.
The ground hosted all of Kairat's Champions League qualifiers this season, including the 3-2 penalty shootout win over Celtic. Following that victory, Kairat's home stadium then hosted Champions League giants Real Madrid. Kylian Mbappe netted a hat-trick for Los Blancos in the 5-0 win. Kairat picked up their first and only point of the competition so far at the Central Stadium, a 0-0 draw with Cypriot champs Pafos. Kairat's final two home matches were both hosted at the Astana Stadium.
the manager
Rafael Urazbakhtin goes down in history as successfully guiding Kairat to the Champions League main stage, having also played for the club in two separate stints.
Urazbakhtin also played 12 times for Kazakhstan before retiring, scoring twice. The 47-year-old former forward joined Kairat as manager in 2024 and won back-to-back league titles. He is now looking to guide Kairat to a hat-trick of leagues when the season kicks off in March 2026.
Last season
The Kazak league plays on a yearly calendar, meaning the 2025 campaign started in March and ended in November 2025.
Kairat clinched the league title by two points from Astana, losing just three matches all season. Kairat also picked up the 2025 Super Cup, beating Aktobe 2-0 at the Astana Arena.
With the league concluding at the end of last year, Kairat's last three competitive matches have been in the Champions League.
Read more Mega quiz: Name every scorer in our UCL history
The squad
Kairat Almaty's squad is a blend of homegrown talent and a host of overseas players. In the Kazak league, the number of foreign players is restricted to 13 per KPL team squad of 25 players, with Kairat holding the maximum 13 international players in the 2025 campaign, including four Brazilians and two Portuguese.
However, it's a teenage home talent that has made all the headlines in the shape of 17-year-old Dastan Satpayev. The young forward bagged 14 KPL goals in 2025, ranking second in the entire league.
He scored twice to help Kazak side qualify for the UCL main draw and bagged his first Champions League goal in a narrow 3-2 defeat versus Copenhagen in Denmark. Brazilian forward Edmilson has also been a threat in the competition since arriving from Slovenian side Celje in 2025. The striker netted Kairat's first-ever UCL goal in a 4-1 loss at Sporting CP.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Temirlan Anarbekov has only conceded 10 goals from 15.1 xG on target in the UEFA Champions League this season. His goals prevented differential is the highest of any goalkeeper in this edition (5.1 – excluding own goals).
UCL campaign so far
As debutants, the pot 4 team were given a host of Europe's elite in their first campaign. Kairat opened up with a 4-1 defeat against Sporting CP in Lisbon before hosting 15-time winners of the competition, Real Madrid, which ended in a 5-0 defeat.
A 0-0 draw at home to Pafos gave Kairat their first-ever point in the tournament before a narrow 2-1 defeat at the San Siro against Inter Milan in November.
It was to be two more narrow defeats that confirmed Kairat's elimination, going down 3-2 at Copenhagen before losing 1-0 against Olympiacos in Astana.
Kairat's final Champions League home match ended in a 4-1 loss to Club Brugge, with Adilet Sadybekov netting a fine volley in the final minute.
history beckons
Our home match against Kairat will be the 22nd different nation we've faced in Champions League history. Meanwhile, it will be Kairat's first ever trip to England, with the only other Kazakhstan side to face English opponents was Astana against Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League in 2019.
French outfit Lens were the first we faced in the revamped competition in 1998, with the newest nation prior to Kazakhstan being Bulgaria, when we took on Ludogorets in the 2016/17 season.
Read more Quiz: Every team we've met in the Champions League
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