Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp watches on during his side's defeat in the FA Cup fourth round to West Bromwich Albion. Phil Noble / Reuters
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp watches on during his side's defeat in the FA Cup fourth round to West Bromwich Albion. Phil Noble / Reuters
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp watches on during his side's defeat in the FA Cup fourth round to West Bromwich Albion. Phil Noble / Reuters
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp watches on during his side's defeat in the FA Cup fourth round to West Bromwich Albion. Phil Noble / Reuters

Liverpool, capable of beguiling brilliance and frustrating off-days, continue to confound under Klopp


Richard Jolly
  • English
  • Arabic

It is a friendship where David Wagner has been both best man and junior partner. When Huddersfield Town host Liverpool on Tuesday night, the gaze will be diverted to the touchline, to the sight of close friends in competition with each other.

The Huddersfield manager has often been overshadowed by his Liverpool counterpart, but he can claim one distinction to elude Jurgen Klopp: he has won at Wembley.

Huddersfield were promoted at England’s national stadium in May. In contrast, Klopp has lost there in a Uefa Champions League final, with Borussia Dortmund, a League Cup final, for Liverpool in 2016, and a Premier League game, in October.

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That wait will go on: Saturday’s FA Cup defeat to West Bromwich Albion means that, barring an improbable Champions League triumph, Klopp will end his third season at Anfield still without silverware.

Perhaps the serial FA Cup winner Arsene Wenger did not have the German and Mauricio Pochettino in mind when he complained that the media “celebrate some teams who have not been in a final for 25 years and yet kill us,” but it seemed a pointed comment.

If it reflects what he sees as lesser expectations at clubs that lack a recent trophy-winning pedigree, it also shows the realignment of goals amid the primacy of Champions League qualification. Liverpool against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday is the battle for fourth place in microcosm.

Progressive managers have brought progress. Sustaining it is a challenge. Another is addressing shortcomings. A new year has brought the unwanted sense of history repeating itself at Anfield.

Last season, an energising victory over Manchester City preceded a slide. This year, Liverpool became the only English club to defeat Pep Guardiola’s side and, in different competitions, promptly lost to the Premier League’s bottom two teams. They have only failed to score twice in 22 games in all competitions: against Swansea City and, in December, West Bromwich Albion.

Wagner knows Klopp’s character better than anyone. His friend’s team remain prone to the kind of off-days which have curtailed Cup runs and prevented them from displaying the consistency of Premier League champions.

Their last two matches have showcased different failings: in attack against Swansea when Liverpool had 72 per cent of possession and 21 shots, but just four on target, and in defence as West Brom scored three times and had two more goals chalked off at Anfield.

Swansea’s shutout highlighted how opponents who defend deep and in numbers have an occasional tendency to nullify a side who can overwhelm more ambitious sides with their pace on the break.

On such days, the departed Philippe Coutinho’s superb long-range shooting and capacity to conjure something out of nothing may have been invaluable. In such fixtures, they require the pragmatism of a scruffy goal.

In his absence, it showed the Daniel Sturridge dilemma: can one who often strips Liverpool of fluency when he starts be accommodated as a bit-part player, super-sub and penalty-box poacher?

And West Brom illustrated Klopp's defensive difficulties. Schadenfreude means the £75 million (Dh389m) signing Virgil van Dijk was blamed. In reality, there were structural and personnel issues before his arrival.

The Dutchman could only ever solve a maximum of one. Set-piece problems have been a recurring theme. Both full-backs, Alberto Moreno and Trent Alexander-Arnold, struggled against West Brom, indicating why Andrew Robertson and Joe Gomez should be preferred.

Klopp’s loyalty resulted in a recall for Simon Mignolet. Perhaps Liverpool’s FA Cup exit will mean it was a final Anfield appearance for one who has been granted too many chances.

But a faith in his charges is one of Klopp’s quixotic qualities. He eschews orthodox wisdom in an era of knee-jerk reactions, takes the long-termist view and never signs for the sake of it.

He has a team of beguiling brilliance who can frustrate. Liverpool’s best is very good, their worst strangely bad. Perhaps Wagner will understand it better than most outsiders, but 27 months into his Anfield reign, there is still an enigmatic streak to Klopp’s entertainers.

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%202-litre%20direct%20injection%20turbo%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%207-speed%20automatic%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20261hp%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20400Nm%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20From%20Dh134%2C999%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
If you go

The flights

Fly direct to London from the UAE with Etihad, Emirates, British Airways or Virgin Atlantic from about Dh2,500 return including taxes. 

The hotel

Rooms at the convenient and art-conscious Andaz London Liverpool Street cost from £167 (Dh800) per night including taxes.

The tour

The Shoreditch Street Art Tour costs from £15 (Dh73) per person for approximately three hours. 

What are the main cyber security threats?

Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

SECRET%20INVASION
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DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Elia%20Suleiman%2C%20Manal%20Khader%2C%20Amer%20Daher%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Elia%20Suleiman%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

MATCH INFO

Champions League quarter-final, first leg

Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)

Match on BeIN Sports

THE LOWDOWN

Photograph

Rating: 4/5

Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies

Director: Ritesh Batra

Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz

Dunki
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INDIA'S%20TOP%20INFLUENCERS
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What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
 
  • Grade 9 = above an A*
  • Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
  • Grade 7 = grade A
  • Grade 6 = just above a grade B
  • Grade 5 = between grades B and C
  • Grade 4 = grade C
  • Grade 3 = between grades D and E
  • Grade 2 = between grades E and F
  • Grade 1 = between grades F and G
What went into the film

25 visual effects (VFX) studios

2,150 VFX shots in a film with 2,500 shots

1,000 VFX artists

3,000 technicians

10 Concept artists, 25 3D designers

New sound technology, named 4D SRL

 

Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20WallyGPT%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2014%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESaeid%20and%20Sami%20Hejazi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20raised%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%247.1%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2020%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%20round%3C%2Fp%3E%0A