Arsenal host Kairat Almaty at Emirates Stadium in London on 28 January 2026 in a UEFA Champions League league-stage game under referee U. Schnyder. The standings underline the gulf: Arsenal sit 1st with 21 points from seven wins out of seven, while Kairat are 36th with just a single point and a -14 goal difference. With no recent head‑to‑head data available, the broader European form strongly favors the hosts.
Arsenal’s momentum is outstanding. Their league form reads “WWWWW”, and the wider season run in this competition is “WWWWWWW”. They have scored 20 goals and conceded only 2 in seven Champions League matches. At home they average 3.0 goals scored and just 0.3 conceded, winning all three games with a 9–1 aggregate and keeping 2 clean sheets in 3. Defensively they are almost flawless, with 5 clean sheets overall and no game without scoring.
There are, however, notable absences. Arsenal will be without D. Rice and M. Merino (both suspended), plus W. Saliba and J. Timber listed as inactive, and M. Dowman injured. R. Calafiori is questionable with a muscle issue. This affects depth in midfield and defence, but their top Champions League scorer Gabriel Martinelli (5 goals, 1 assist) is not injured and should remain the primary attacking threat.
Kairat Almaty arrive with poor Champions League form: “LLLLD” in the standings, 0 wins, 1 draw, 6 defeats, scoring 5 and conceding 19. Away from home they have lost all three matches, scoring 4 but conceding 9, an average of 1.3 goals scored and 3.0 conceded per away game in this competition. Their broader season numbers in the Champions League show 0.9 goals for and 1.9 against away, with only 1 away clean sheet and 2 away games without scoring. Several Kairat players are also missing, but none are identified as top scorers in this dataset.
Verdict & Odds‑Style View
The statistics suggest a dominant Arsenal home win with a high chance of a clean sheet. Arsenal’s 3.0 home goals‑for average against Kairat’s 3.0 away goals‑against points to a multi‑goal margin. A correct‑score angle like Arsenal 3–0 Kairat Almaty looks the most data‑driven prediction, with any “Arsenal to win by 2+ goals” outcome strongly supported by form and defensive records.
