Anderlecht vs Kairat Almaty

Anderlecht welcome Kazakhstan's Kairat Almaty to their usual Lotto Park home on Thursday for the first leg of their UEFA Europa League play-off, with a spot in the league phase on the line. The Brussels club are aiming to preserve a proud record of having never been eliminated at this stage of the competition in the Europa League era, while their visitors are stepping into uncharted territory against unfamiliar opposition.

Team News and Injury Latest

Anderlecht head coach Bruno has significant selection issues to contend with. Ilay Camara and Lucas Hey are both ruled out with foot injuries sustained in pre-season, while Killian Sardella remains a fitness doubt as he continues his recovery from muscle surgery. Mario Stroeykens is also a doubt, and Cedric Hatenboer is unavailable after undergoing an operation on a broken nose picked up in training. Ali Maamar and Mihajlo Cvetkovic will need to be careful, having been booked in the last European outing.

Kairat Almaty have a fully fit squad to choose from. Manager Urazbakhtin has no fresh injury concerns after his side emerged unscathed from their Champions League qualifying exit to Levski Sofia. Edmilson could return to the starting line-up having been dropped for the second leg against the Bulgarians, after scoring domestically against Ulytau last weekend.