LONDON // It was not so much no fear as no choice. Carlo Ancelotti ambled into the Cobham press room yesterday afternoon and let the world know what his starting XI would be for at Aston Villa this evening.
He rattled off a catalogue of injuries - old and new - then went through a team that more or less amounted to the senior players he was left to work with. "Frank Lampard is not available, Drogba is not available, Sturridge, Kalou, Alex," said Ancelotti, pausing for thought. "Others? Benayoun is not available. The line-up will be Cech; Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Essien, Mikel; Kakuta, Malouda, Anelka."
His substitutes bench will be comprised of kids, save for the only ever intermittently used Yuri Zhirkov and Jose Boswinga, a player recovering from a complicated double knee surgery and ready to play "maybe 30 minutes" if match circumstances permit. Though conveniently available just four days after crying off England duty with a back problem, John Terry "is not 100 per cent fit", yet needed to cover for the sidelined Alex and the callow Jeffrey Bruma.
Lampard continues to suffer the complications of what was meant to be a minimally disruptive operation to tidy up old groin surgery and is a fortnight away from returning. Didier Drogba has been hit so heavily by illness, Ancelotti is unsure if the striker will make Tuesday's Champions League group game at Spartak Moscow. Yossi Benayoun faces surgery on a ruptured Achilles next week and will not play for six months.
Chelsea went into their title defence with the shallowest squad of the Premier League's major powers and seven games into the campaign it is already looking stretched. Familiar questions about the quality of the club's medical department have resurfaced over Benayoun's injury, which the player says went undetected at Chelsea only to be discovered by the Israeli national team last week.
"I had three MRI scans and three ultrasounds under the Chelsea doctors and they all said it was just a small tear," said Benayoun. "So I went over to Israel ready to play and they told me it was a big tear. Chelsea were sure it was something small. They do not understand how they missed it."
Having been publicly embarrassed over errors in the treatment of Michael Ballack and Michael Essien in previous seasons, Chelsea sought to defend club doctor Bryan English yesterday. "I don't know what happened after he [Benayoun] left England," said Ancelotti. "I haven't asked him because I haven't seen him. I trust my doctor at this club, and we are sure. I can say this: he didn't have a tear on his tendon when he left England."
Villa away was the match that brought Ancelotti's first defeat as Chelsea coach last season, yet such is the Italian's determination to draw a stoic public face on every problem that he declared himself "happy" with the opportunity to test his squad. A four-point early-season lead has helped his mood.
"The motivation is to maintain this good gap," he said. "This is our aim, our motivation. When we arrive at a difficult moment, we still want to be at the top, as we were last year. We had difficult moments then but, when we did, we were still top because we'd built up that gap. It gives us leeway."
sports@thenational.ae
The match-up
Key Battle
Marc Albrighton v Ashley Cole
The emergence of Albrighton has meant Villa have coped without the injured Gabriel Agbonlahor; Ashley Young has been moved centrally with Albrighton patrolling the right in place of Young. Albrighton faces probably the best left-back in the world today.
Tactics
Gerard Houllier has characterised his reign in charge of Villa by making Emile Heskey the focal point of the attack. If the ex-England centre-forward is at his best and is provided with ample service, he could prove a handful for a Chelsea defence missing Alex.
Previous meetings
Villa recorded a stirring 2-1 win in the corresponding fixture last season but were steamrolled, 7-1, by the champions in the return fixture at Stamford Bridge in March. Chelsea added insult to injury by knocking Villa out of the FA Cup at the semi-final stage a month later.
Line-ups
Villa (4-4-2) Friedel; L Young, Collins, Dunne, Warnock; Albrighton, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Downing; Young, Heskey.
Chelsea (Probable 4-3-3) Cech; Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry Cole; Essien, Ramires, Mikel, Kakuta; Anelka, Malouda
Facts
• Chelsea have won just once in their last 11 Premier League visits to Villa Park.
• Villa conceded 11 goals in three games against Cheslea, including seven in one game.
• Chelsea's four-point lead at the top is the biggest at this stage since 2005.
Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic
John Zubrzycki, Hurst Publishers
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
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25%20Days%20to%20Aden
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Company%20profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Racecard
6.30pm: Mazrat Al Ruwayah Group Two (PA) US$55,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm: Meydan Trophy (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,900m
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (D) 1,200m
8.15pm: Balanchine Group Two (TB) $250,000 (T) 1,800m
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,000m
9.25pm: Firebreak Stakes Group Three (TB) $200,000 (D) 1,600m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 2,410m
The National selections: 6.30pm: RM Lam Tara, 7.05pm: Al Mukhtar Star, 7.40pm: Bochart, 8.15pm: Magic Lily, 8.50pm: Roulston Scar, 9.25pm: Quip, 10pm: Jalmoud
First-round leaderbaord
-5 C Conners (Can)
-3 B Koepka (US), K Bradley (US), V Hovland (Nor), A Wise (US), S Horsfield (Eng), C Davis (Aus);
-2 C Morikawa (US), M Laird (Sco), C Tringale (US)
Selected others: -1 P Casey (Eng), R Fowler (US), T Hatton (Eng)
Level B DeChambeau (US), J Rose (Eng)
1 L Westwood (Eng), J Spieth (US)
3 R McIlroy (NI)
4 D Johnson (US)
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
FIGHT%20CARD
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