Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will be bidding to secure his first trophy for the club and Manchester City counterpart Manuel Pellegrini potentially his last in Sunday's League Cup final.
Klopp, 48, is less than five months into his mission to restore Liverpool to former glories, whereas Pellegrini, 62, has only three months left in the City saddle before handing the reins to Pep Guardiola.
City are the favourites, but former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has claimed that the nous Klopp demonstrated by leading Borussia Dortmund to five trophies will give the underdogs the edge at Wembley.
Responding to Gerrard's prediction, made in the Daily Telegraph, Klopp said: "I am not sure I am the difference, but I know the way. There is absolutely no reason at this moment to have a doubt.
“I have to show it as clear as possible so there is no misunderstanding between my mouth and the ears of the players.
“We do this job in professional football. We only want to win things: titles, cups, whatever.
Read more: Nigeria's Kelechi Iheanacho now Manchester City's indispensable Plan B, writes Richard Jolly
Also see: Manchester City and Liverpool training for League Cup final – in pictures
“A lot of managers work their whole lives and can be really successful, but have never the chance to win something. Now, everything is possible.”
Having fallen nine points below fourth-place City in the Premier League, Liverpool's hopes of Champions League qualification are fading and they were recently eliminated from the FA Cup by West Ham United.
They will face Manchester United in a tantalising last-16 Europa League tie, but it is Sunday's game that offers Klopp the best chance to make a mark in his maiden campaign.
With eight trophies, Liverpool are the League Cup’s most successful club, but they have not procured any silverware since they last won the tournament in 2012.
Klopp’s tenure to date has been a tale of feast and famine, with dreary displays interspersed by stunning results such as slick away wins at City and Chelsea, a breathless 5-4 victory at Norwich City and six-goal thrashings of both Southampton and Aston Villa.
Liverpool won 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium in November when they last faced City, but Klopp and Pellegrini have attempted to play down the significance of that result.
Perhaps significantly, both teams have since recovered key personnel – notably captain Vincent Kompany and playmaker David Silva for City and skipper Jordan Henderson and striker Daniel Sturridge for Liverpool.
Liverpool’s starting XI has been largely unchanged since the 6-0 Valentine’s Day demolition of Villa, with Klopp making just one change across that game and the two-legged Europa League win over German side Augsburg.
His key decision regards his centre-back pairing, with fit-again duo Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren back in contention along with Mamadou Sakho, Kolo Toure and converted midfielder Lucas Leiva.
Pellegrini is hopeful that Kompany, Liverpool old boy Raheem Sterling and right-back Bacary Sagna will be fit despite training away from the main group on Friday.
Eliaquim Mangala, Jesus Navas and Wilfried Bony are all available for selection again, while cup goalkeeper Willy Caballero is expected to take over from Joe Hart.
City’s fans have experienced a week of extremes, having seen a second-string team trounced 5-1 by Chelsea in the FA Cup last weekend before the big guns, including Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure, returned in an impressive 3-1 win at Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League last 16.
With City nine points below league leaders Leicester City, albeit with a game in hand, French left-back Gael Clichy knows that Sunday’s game represents a golden opportunity to give Pellegrini a fitting send-off.
“We have been together for three years now and we have to live in the present – and the present is with Manuel Pellegrini,” Clichy said.
“I think for this game he will be exactly the same. He will want us to play the way we want to play. With the quality we have, if we start the game well, there is no reason why we should not have a great game.”
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Pakistan T20 series squad
Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Ahmed Shahzad, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Hafeez, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammed Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Amir Yamin, Mohammed Amir (subject to fitness clearance), Rumman Raees, Usman Shinwari, Umar Amin
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
Kandahar%20
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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.”
FIGHT CARD
1. Featherweight 66kg
Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
2. Lightweight 70kg
Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)
3. Welterweight 77kg
Marcos Costa (BRA) v Abdelhakim Wahid (MAR)
4. Lightweight 70kg
Omar Ramadan (EGY) v Abdimitalipov Atabek (KGZ)
5. Featherweight 66kg
Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Kagimu Kigga (UGA)
6. Catchweight 85kg
Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) v Iuri Fraga (BRA)
7. Featherweight 66kg
Yousef Al Husani (UAE) v Mohamed Allam (EGY)
8. Catchweight 73kg
Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Abdipatta Abdizhali (KGZ)
9. Featherweight 66kg
Jaures Dea (CMR) v Andre Pinheiro (BRA)
10. Catchweight 90kg
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
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
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
