Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he has no timetable to make the club league champions again but is confident if they maintain their current progress they will be on track.
Wednesday's visit of Chelsea, the deposed Premier League title holders, pits two sides who would have expected to be challenging for the top this year but are instead in eighth and ninth respectively.
The German promised when he arrived in mid-October that he would win titles at Anfield but has set himself no time-limits on that and his only requirement is the team keeps on improving.
“I’m not too interested in when Chelsea can next win the title and I have no idea when we can but I promise we will try everything to build on the base of this season,” said Klopp, who is preparing for his 50th match in charge.
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“We can get sixth position, it isn’t the biggest success in the history of Liverpool, but everyone interested in Liverpool can see the good signs and we will build on it.
“We have to improve and I am sure we will. A lot of things need to be perfect for a really good season.
“I’m really looking forward to next season, to pre-season, but this season we are still looking for what we can get.”
Klopp has one eye already on next season and plans are well under way for that but he brushed aside suggestions he would be having a clear-out in the summer to prepare for it.
And he dismissed the latest speculation linking Christian Benteke with a £25 million (Dh132.6m) move to West Ham United.
“I read transfer rumours in October. We work the whole day and, of course, we work on the squad for next year,” he added.
“Of course we think about transfers, we think about everything, but a lot of rumours are really far away from the actual thing.
"It is really funny when you are involved. Sometimes I've never heard of the player who has been linked with Liverpool."
Klopp stressed performances in the match against Chelsea would have no bearing on his thinking about who should stay or remain but he is likely to bring back the majority of players who featured last week in the Europa League semi-final win over Villarreal and were rested at the weekend.
It is then a balancing act for their final league match at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday before the Europa League final against Sevilla next Wednesday.
“We had a few changes in the last game and most of the players who play tomorrow will be in good physical shape after a normal week Thursday to Wednesday,” he said.
“I’ve learned to rotate; I’m not the world champion at this but I’m not too bad, and we will be ready 100 per cent for the final.
“We cannot wait for the final because then you will not be in the best shape.
“Sevilla changed 11 positions in their last game. They are already preparing for the final but we cannot do this because we are not in a fixed position” in the league table.
“I would prefer if Thursday next week, we have won two games against Chelsea and West Brom and we are heading back to Liverpool with the cup. That would be all we want but it doesn’t work like this.
“If we lose the two next games I will go to Basle still confident we can win this game.
“There is no fixed rule which says if you win your last two games you will win your final.”
Klopp has been boosted by captain Jordan Henderson’s return to outdoor training after a knee ligament injury last month.
It will be a race for him to be fit for the Europa League final but the German is adamant the player will be fine for Euro 2016 with England next month.
“It is really good news on ‘Hendo’. We had to rest him with his injury for a long time and he could not do a lot,” he said.
“We tried everything to avoid surgery and the surgeon has said it is not necessary. Yesterday he trained, not with the team, and it looks good. It was only passing and running but it’s looking good step-by-step.
“It’s only nine days until the final so not sure about that but 100 per cent he will be fit for the Euros. That’s good, but for our games we are not sure.”
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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
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Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
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Chef Nobu's advice for eating sushi
“One mistake people always make is adding extra wasabi. There is no need for this, because it should already be there between the rice and the fish.
“When eating nigiri, you must dip the fish – not the rice – in soy sauce, otherwise the rice will collapse. Also, don’t use too much soy sauce or it will make you thirsty. For sushi rolls, dip a little of the rice-covered roll lightly in soy sauce and eat in one bite.
“Chopsticks are acceptable, but really, I recommend using your fingers for sushi. Do use chopsticks for sashimi, though.
“The ginger should be eaten separately as a palette cleanser and used to clear the mouth when switching between different pieces of fish.”
THE%C2%A0SPECS
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test India won by innings and 53 runs at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
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Low turnout
Two months before the first round on April 10, the appetite of voters for the election is low.
Mathieu Gallard, account manager with Ipsos, which conducted the most recent poll, said current forecasts suggested only two-thirds were "very likely" to vote in the first round, compared with a 78 per cent turnout in the 2017 presidential elections.
"It depends on how interesting the campaign is on their main concerns," he told The National. "Just now, it's hard to say who, between Macron and the candidates of the right, would be most affected by a low turnout."
