Preview: Omonia vs Kairat - prediction, team news, lineups

Omonia begin their Champions League preliminaries campaign on Wednesday when they welcome Kairat Almaty to GSP Stadium for the first leg of their second qualifying round tie.

The Queens secured their place at this stage after winning the 2025-26 Cypriot First Division, while the Kazakh visitors progressed, having triumphed over Sutjeska in the opening qualifying round.

Match preview

Omonia have never reached the main stage of Europe’s elite club competition and will be hoping to avoid another exit at this very round, where their most recent Champions League campaign ended with elimination against Dinamo Zagreb in 2021-22.

However, the Queens have reached the league phase of European competition in each of the last two seasons, both in the UEFA Conference League, where they suffered knockout playoff defeats, including last term’s loss to Rijeka.

Henning Berg’s side won the 2025-26 Cypriot First Division by an impressive 18 points ahead of AEK Larnaca to end a five-year wait for the title, but Omonia head into Wednesday’s clash without a competitive fixture since ending last season with a 5-2 victory over Apollon.

The Nicosia outfit are not short of confidence, though, having won two of their four pre-season friendlies (D2), including a 2-1 victory over Panetolikos last time out, where new signing Andronikos Kakoullis scored twice after Kosta Aleksic had given the visitors a first-half lead.

Omonia have now gone 17 matches across competitive fixtures and friendlies without defeat, scoring multiple goals in 14 of those outings, although they have failed to find the net in their last two continental home games.

Kairat, meanwhile, are aiming to reach the Champions League main stage for a second successive season after making their first-ever appearance in the competition’s league phase last term, where they finished bottom of the 36-team table.

The Almaty club began this season’s qualifying campaign in impressive fashion by defeating Sutjeska 4-1 on aggregate, sealing progression with a 2-0 second-leg victory in Montenegro through second-half goals from Ismail Bekbolat and Jorginho.

The Yellow-Blacks followed that result with an Edmilson-inspired 3-1 victory away against Atyrau at the weekend, scoring all three goals before halftime to move second in the Kazakh Premier League table, one point behind leaders Ordabasy, who have played a game fewer.

Rafael Urazbakhtin’s side have now won seven consecutive matches across all competitions, scoring at least twice in every game, while their only four defeats or draws in their last 13 outings came when they failed to register multiple goals.

Kairat have also won each of their last four away matches, although they face opponents they have failed to overcome in their previous two meetings, with both encounters ending in goalless draws during the 2021-22 Conference League campaign.

Omonia pre-season friendly form:

Kairat Champions League form:

Kairat form (all competitions):

Team News

Omonia have no fresh injury concerns following their friendly victory over Panetolikos, although defender Fotis Kitsos remains sidelined while recovering from a serious knee injury suffered in January.

The Nicosia club have strengthened their squad with the arrivals of Jaden Montnor and Kakoullis from Aris Limassol, with the latter in contention to start after his brace last time out.

Fabiano is expected to continue in goal after starting each of the previous three pre-season matches, while Panagiotis Andreou could make way for Ioannis Kousoulos in midfield.

For Kairat, defender Aleksandr Martynovich and midfielder Jaakko Oksanen are expected to return after missing last weekend’s league victory at Atyrau through suspension.

With Oksanen likely to return in the middle of the park, Jorginho could move into the number 10 role behind Marc Gual, although Edmilson may retain his place up front after an impressive display at the weekend.

Omonia possible starting lineup:

Fabiano; Odubajo, Coulibaly, N Panagiotou, Balkovec; Kousoulos, Maric; Costa, Tankovic, Montnor; Kakoullis

Kairat possible starting lineup:

Anarbekov; Mrynskiy, Shirobokov, Lucas Africo, Machado Mata; Sadybekov, Oksanen; Bekbolat, Jorginho, Jukkola; Gual

We say: Omonia 2-2 Kairat

Omonia have shown positive signs during pre-season, and Kairat arrive in ruthless attacking form, making this a tricky fixture to call outright.

However, a high-scoring encounter could be on the cards, with both teams regularly finding the net in recent matches and possessing enough attacking quality to trouble their opponents.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.