Stage set: Emirates Stadium
Arsenal host Kairat in their final Champions League group stage match this evening at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners are currently top of the table, having won all seven of their fixtures on the continent this term. They sit at the summit on 21 points, three clear of Bayern Munich in second place, having defeated Vincent Kompany’s side earlier in the competition.
Mikel Arteta’s side have already qualified for the knockout stages automatically, avoiding the dreaded extra play-off round that those placing ninth through to 24th will have to take part in to reach the last 16. If they secure all three points here, they could go the entire league phase without dropping a single point, becoming the first team to do so since the new format was introduced.
Arsenal will be looking for an immediate response after they stumbled in the Premier League title race over the weekend, falling to a late 3-2 defeat by Manchester United at home. Manchester City cut the gap at the top to four points with their victory over Wolves. Arteta will sure to show no mercy against his Kazakh opponents here, dead rubber or not. Keep up to date with all the action with our live blog below.
Standard Sport prediction
Arsenal should make light work of Kairat, who have one point to their name after seven league phase games to sit rock bottom of the table.
This is an opportunity for those who are struggling for minutes to make a case to Mikel Arteta amid an uneven run of form for the Gunners, namely £65million midfielder Eberechi Eze.
It is a match up between the so-called the best in Europe versus the worst in the Champions League, and the scoreline should reflect that.
Arsenal to win, 4-0.
Arsenal team news
Mikel Arteta will again ring the changes in Europe for what is essentially a dead-rubber game.
The likes of Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli, Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyokeres, Cristhian Mosquera and Myles Lewis-Skelly should all come into the starting lineup after limited or zero minutes against Manchester United.
That should see Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus drop out. Riccardo Calafiori and Kai Havertz hope to be in contention, but William Saliba and Jurrien Timber are now out while Max Dowman is sidelined.
Declan Rice and Mikel Merino are unavailable through suspension, while Christian Norgaard is a booking away from missing the round of 16 first leg.
How to watch
TV channel: In the UK, the game will be televised live on TNT Sports 7, with coverage starting at 7.30pm GMT.
Live stream: TNT Sports subscribers can also catch the contest live online via the Discovery+ app and website.
Hello and welcome!
... to Standard Sport’s LIVE coverage of Arsenal’s final Champions League group game against Kairat.
Mikel Arteta’s side sit pretty at the top of the table after seven wins from seven in Europe this term.
They could round off a perfect eight matches with one final victory here.
Stay tuned for all the updates, with kick off at 8pm GMT.