Manchester City midfielder Vincent Kompany and his teammates hope they can still chase Liverpool, who took a giant stride towards their first English championship of the Premier League era with a thrilling 3-2 win over title rivals Manchester City on Sunday. AFP PHOTO/ANDREW YATES
Manchester City midfielder Vincent Kompany and his teammates hope they can still chase Liverpool, who took a giant stride towards their first English championship of the Premier League era with a thrilling 3-2 win over title rivals Manchester City on Sunday. AFP PHOTO/ANDREW YATES
Manchester City midfielder Vincent Kompany and his teammates hope they can still chase Liverpool, who took a giant stride towards their first English championship of the Premier League era with a thrilling 3-2 win over title rivals Manchester City on Sunday. AFP PHOTO/ANDREW YATES
Manchester City midfielder Vincent Kompany and his teammates hope they can still chase Liverpool, who took a giant stride towards their first English championship of the Premier League era with a thri

Man City stay ready to pounce if Liverpool slip up


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Manchester City know they must keep themselves in a position to pounce if Premier League title favourites Liverpool slip up when they play the first of their two games in hand against bottom club Sunderland on Wednesday night.

Liverpool's 3-2 victory at Anfield on Sunday allowed the Reds to stay clear at the top of the table and extend their advantage over third-placed City to seven points.

That will be an unbridgeable gap if Liverpool win their remaining four games to lift their first top-flight championship since 1990.

But Brendan Rodgers’s side still have to face title rivals Chelsea, giving a glimmer of hope to City who would finish top if Liverpool fail to win just one of their games and City take a maximum 18 points.

Four of City’s remaining fixtures are at home, starting against a Sunderland side which has failed to win in their last nine games and who were beaten by City in the final of the League Cup at the start of March.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini has vowed to fight to the end and defender Martin Demichelis believes City still have time to overhaul Liverpool after pushing the leaders all the way in Sunday’s epic encounter on Merseyside.

“We showed real fight until the end. No-one left the stadium feeling like they were champions. We have plenty of matches left,” said Demichelis.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t get a more positive result but we can still bring something positive before the end of the league.

“We have seen in football that they can make mistakes. Hopefully we can win the rest of our matches and expect some mistakes from Liverpool.”

City captain Vincent Kompany, whose error led to Liverpool’s winning goal from Philippe Coutinho, re-iterated the “never give up” message and is expected to be fit to face Sunderland after an injury scare prior to the Anfield game.

Midfielder Yaya Toure looks unlikely to play after limping off at Liverpool with a groin injury but City should still have enough to beat a Sunderland team which is in freefall and heading towards the Championship at an alarming pace.

It is a remarkable decline for a club that reached the final of the League Cup and even manager Gus Poyet sounds defeatist as he considers what awaits them against City.

Poyet has adopted a fatalistic attitude after seeing the outcome of games dictated so often by red cards and own goals.

“What is going to happen to us that is new on Wednesday? We can have a bet,” he said.

Poyet’s own future at the club has come under scrutiny for the first time following Sunderland’s 1-0 defeat by Everton at the Stadium of Light last Saturday.

The Uruguayan is reluctant to embark on the massive rebuilding job that is clearly needed at Sunderland, where the contracts of eight players end this summer.

At least half the team expected to start against City will not be at the club next season and that can only be a positive for their opponents in the remainder of the season.

One player likely still to be there is striker Connor Wickham, who said: “We won’t give up.

“We have 23 players in the dressing room who want to stay up, who want to be here and do well for the team.”

You would not expect Wickham to say anything else, of course. But form suggests the trip to City will simply be another stride towards relegation.

sports@thenational.ae

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The Year Earth Changed

Directed by:Tom Beard

Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough

Stars: 4

Groom and Two Brides

Director: Elie Semaan

Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla

Rating: 3/5

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Company profile

Date started: 2015

Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki

Based: Dubai

Sector: Online grocery delivery

Staff: 200

Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2019 Subaru Forester

Price, base: Dh105,900 (Premium); Dh115,900 (Sport)

Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder

Transmission: Continuously variable transmission

Power: 182hp @ 5,800rpm

Torque: 239Nm @ 4,400rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 8.1L / 100km (estimated)

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm

Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm

Transmission: 6-speed auto

Price: from Dh155,000

On sale: now

Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
  • Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000 
  • Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000 
  • HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000 
  • Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000 
  • Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000 
  • Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000 
  • Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000 
  • Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
  • Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
  • Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
  • George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
  • Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
  • Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
  • Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills. 
Hunting park to luxury living
  • Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
  • The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
  • Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds

 

You may remember …

Robbie Keane (Atletico de Kolkata) The Irish striker is, along with his former Spurs teammate Dimitar Berbatov, the headline figure in this season’s ISL, having joined defending champions ATK. His grand entrance after arrival from Major League Soccer in the US will be delayed by three games, though, due to a knee injury.

Dimitar Berbatov (Kerala Blasters) Word has it that Rene Meulensteen, the Kerala manager, plans to deploy his Bulgarian star in central midfield. The idea of Berbatov as an all-action, box-to-box midfielder, might jar with Spurs and Manchester United supporters, who more likely recall an always-languid, often-lazy striker.

Wes Brown (Kerala Blasters) Revived his playing career last season to help out at Blackburn Rovers, where he was also a coach. Since then, the 23-cap England centre back, who is now 38, has been reunited with the former Manchester United assistant coach Meulensteen, after signing for Kerala.

Andre Bikey (Jamshedpur) The Cameroonian defender is onto the 17th club of a career has taken him to Spain, Portugal, Russia, the UK, Greece, and now India. He is still only 32, so there is plenty of time to add to that tally, too. Scored goals against Liverpool and Chelsea during his time with Reading in England.

Emiliano Alfaro (Pune City) The Uruguayan striker has played for Liverpool – the Montevideo one, rather than the better-known side in England – and Lazio in Italy. He was prolific for a season at Al Wasl in the Arabian Gulf League in 2012/13. He returned for one season with Fujairah, whom he left to join Pune.

Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites

The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.

It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.

“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.

The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

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