Following a two-week break for the FA Cup, the Premier League is back with nine games over the weekend. There is also the League Cup final on Sunday, which features league leaders Manchester City up against Arsenal. Here are the predictions.
Leicester City 2 Stoke City 0
Saturday, 4.30pm
Why? Stoke are still struggling for goals, despite replacing Mark Hughes with Paul Lambert as manager. Leicester are inconsistent, but in Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez have two proven match-winners.
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Bournemouth 1 Newcastle United 2
Saturday, 7pm
Why? Rafa Benitez has proved excellent at masterminding Newcastle to big wins on their travels against relegation rivals. This could be more of the same as they carry on the momentum of their 1-0 win over Manchester United two weeks ago.
Brighton and Hove Albion 1 Swansea City 0
Saturday, 7pm
Why? Swansea are in good form and the arrival of Carlos Carvalhal has galvanised the club. Brighton are tough to beat on home territory and Chris Hughton's side can take a big step toward securing their survival here.
Burnley 2 Southampton 1
Saturday, 7pm
Why? Burnley had a great first half to the season but have not won since December 12 and have picked up five points out of a possible 30. They are still playing well on occasions, as was highlighted by a draw with Manchester City earlier this month. They can return to winning ways against a Southampton side who are still struggling for consistency.
Liverpool 3 West Ham United 1
Saturday, 7pm
Why? Liverpool are flying offensively at present, averaging two goals a game in 2018 and there is no reason to expect that to change on Saturday with Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah both in great form.
West Bromwich Albion 2 Huddersfield Town 2
Saturday, 7pm
Why? This probably is make-or-break for Alan Pardew's reign as West Brom. They really cannot afford to lose this game. Huddersfield are not in good form either, but have the forward threat of Steve Mounie to capitalise on West Brom's weak backline. A draw won't do either side any favours but it is the most likely outcome.
Watford 0 Everton 0
Saturday, 9.30pm
Why? This could well be a tight tactical affair. Watford will want to bounce back after their loss at West Ham and Javier Gracia has already made the side more well organised since taking over from Marco Silva. A point will suit Everton too, with the Merseyside club looking to exploit Theo Walcott's pace against Watford's slow backline.
Crystal Palace 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2
Sunday, 4pm
Why? Tottenham need to keep the momentum up in their bid to finish in the top four. Palace are a lot more limited without the injured Wilfried Zaha and Tottenham will look to Harry Kane to continue his good form that has seen him score in his past four games.
Manchester United 1 Chelsea 2
Sunday, 6.05pm
Why? United still have not clicked in terms of a formation with Alexis Sanchez in the side. This will be a close encounter, but if Eden Hazard and N'Golo Kante can replicate their form from the draw with Barcelona then they can leave Old Trafford with the three points.
League Cup final
Manchester City 4 Arsenal 1
Sunday, 8.30pm
Why? City may have lost to Wigan but they still should have the confidence to bounce back and win the first domestic trophy of 2018 at Wembley Stadium. Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling will have too much for Arsenal's backline.
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.”
Squads
Sri Lanka Tharanga (c), Mathews, Dickwella (wk), Gunathilaka, Mendis, Kapugedera, Siriwardana, Pushpakumara, Dananjaya, Sandakan, Perera, Hasaranga, Malinga, Chameera, Fernando.
India Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Pandey, Rahane, Jadhav, Dhoni (wk), Pandya, Axar, Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Thakur.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
EA Sports FC 26
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RESULTS
5pm: Rated Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: AF Mouthirah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AF Alajaj, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Hawafez, Connor Beasley, Abubakar Daud
6.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Tair, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Wakeel W’Rsan, Richard Mullen, Jaci Wickham
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m
Winner: Son Of Normandy, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Rawat Al Reef, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Noof KB, Richard Mullen, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Seven Skies, Bernardo Pinheiro, Qaiss Aboud
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Jabalini, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7pm: UAE Arabian Derby – Prestige (PA) Dh150,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Dergham Athbah, Richard Mullen, Mohamed Daggash
7.30pm: Emirates Championship – Group 1 (PA) Dh1,000,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
8pm: Abu Dhabi Championship – Group 3 (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Irish Freedom, Antonio Fresu, Satish Seemar
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
