Premier League 2022/23 opening weekend fixtures and how to watch matches in UAE

The new Premier League season brings with it hopes of another tantalising fight for glory after a tense finish to the previous campaign.

The 2021/22 season ended with a titanic battle between Manchester City and Liverpool, with Pep Guardiola's City clinching the title by one point.

That extended City's reign in English football as they lifted the title for the fourth time in five years. And City will look to become even more formidable this term after signing one of the world’s best players.

Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, 22, became the marque signing of the offseason after a prolific stint with Borussia Dortmund where he also broke a number of Champions League scoring records. A fast and a reliable finisher, Haaland is regarded as a generational talent and bolsters a department City were short in; City won the league last season essentially without a recognised striker.

Also added to the squad are South America’s highly rated forward Julian Alvarez and England midfielder Kalvin Phillips.

It is a sign of City's pool of talent that three key players were allowed to go to 'Big Six' rivals in England.

Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus and Ukrainian midfielder Oleksandr Zinchenko were handed to Guardiola's former assistant Mikel Arteta at Arsenal while Raheem Sterling moved to Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea.

There were other developments as well. Liverpool signed highly-rated Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez from Benfica for €75 million, while Tottenham acquired Brazil forward Richarlison from Everton for £50m.

Liverpool, who won the League Cup and FA Cup last term, will be relying heavily on Nunez following the departure of the Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich. The 23-year-old Uruguayan netted 34 goals in 41 games for Benfica last season and his performances in the Champions League, where he scored six goals in 10 appearances, including in both legs of their quarter-final defeat by Liverpool, caught they eye of all Europe's top clubs.

Tuchel's Chelsea finished third last season but their attempt to follow up their Champions League triumph in 2021 with a real push for the domestic title faded amidst the sanctions imposed on Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

A new ownership group, headed by American Todd Boehly, is now in place at Stamford Bridge.

Winds of change have been blowing across Old Trafford as well. There is a major question over whether Cristiano Ronaldo will remain with the club after he first abstained from the pre-season tours and then returned in the last game before the new campaign.

New manager Erik ten Hag has brought in centre-back Lisandro Martinez from his old club Ajax and left back Tyrell Malacia from Feyenoord while Denmark's Christian Eriksen has joined on a free transfer.

But the main target in this window, Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong, remains with Barcelona despite the best efforts of United's hierarchy to bring him to Old Trafford.

Those will be some of the many factors in play as the 2022-23 Premier League season begins this weekend

Fixtures

Friday, August 5

11pm (UAE time) Crystal Palace v Arsenal

Saturday, August 6

3.30pm Fulham v Liverpool

6pm Bournemouth v Aston Villa

6pm Leeds United v Wolves

6pm Newcastle v Nottingham Forest

6pm Tottenham v Southampton

8.30pm Everton v Chelsea

Sunday, August 7

5pm Leicester v Brentford

5pm Manchester United v Brighton

7.30pm West Ham v Manchester City

Where to watch matches in UAE?

Premier League matches will be shown live on beIN Sports.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Plastic tipping points

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Pots for the Asian Qualifiers

Pot 1: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China
Pot 2: Iraq, Uzbekistan, Syria, Oman, Lebanon, Kyrgyz Republic, Vietnam, Jordan
Pot 3: Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, Tajikistan, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Philippines
Pot 4: Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Yemen, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait, Malaysia
Pot 5: Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Guam, Macau/Sri Lanka

While you're here

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Editorial: What makes the UAE such a good place to test vaccines?

Editorial: The fight against Covid-19 should be guided by science

The specs: 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk

Price, base: Dh399,999
Engine: Supercharged 6.2-litre V8
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 707hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 875Nm @ 4,800rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 16.8L / 100km (estimate)

Company%20profile

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Innotech Profile

Date started: 2013

Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari

Based: Muscat, Oman

Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies

Size: 15 full-time employees

Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing

Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.

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