Wilfried Bony believes he can be Manchester City’s secret weapon in the Premier League title race as he prepares to make his debut against Newcastle on Saturday.
Bony joined Manuel Pellegrini’s side from Swansea in a £28 million ($43 million, 37 million euros) move during the January transfer window, but has yet to make his bow in a City shirt after spending the last few weeks helping Ivory Coast win the African Cup of Nations.
The 26-year-old is in contention to finally give City fans a first glimpse of their new signing when Newcastle visit Eastlands in a fixture crucial to their hopes of retaining the English title.
Second-placed City could be 10 points behind leaders Chelsea by the time they kick-off at 1730 GMT as Jose Mourinho’s team will have finished their match against struggling Burnley earlier in the day.
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But Bony, who netted 34 times in 70 appearances for Swansea, is confident he can give a timely lift to a City attack that has sometimes struggled when Sergio Aguero has been injured or off-form this season.
“It feels like a while since I signed the contract but finally I’m here, I’m really happy about that and now I’m just focusing on this Saturday’s game,” Bony said.
“It’s not easy because I’ve just arrived from Africa and I will have had five days of training before we play Newcastle.
“If I am needed, I have a good record against Newcastle. I’ve scored three goals in two games against them.
“They are a good side and are strong at the back but they are coming to our stadium and we need to win this game.”
Chelsea, bolstered by their hard-fought 1-1 draw at Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League last 16 first leg in midweek, will be expected to brush aside Burnley, who haven’t won at Stamford Bridge since 1971.
The Clarets, second bottom of the table after four league games without a win, took a shock lead through Scott Arfield when the sides met in the season’s opening round of fixtures.
But Chelsea hit back to win 3-1 and Burnley boss Sean Dyche said: “At the beginning of the season I thought anyone who finishes above them must be some side and I still think that because they’ve got strength everywhere, they’re showing that, and they just keep getting results whichever way they need to.
“We’re not like a non-league side going there. We’ve shown we’re capable to compete at this level. We have that underdog spirit but also that freedom to play.”
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has a chance to avenge the defeat that started his Old Trafford reign on a low note when his side travel to Swansea.
Van Gaal saw United crash to a shock 1-0 defeat against Swansea on the opening day of the season, courtesy of Gylfi Sigurdsson’s goal.
But third- placed United have gradually improved during the Dutchman’s first season in charge and winger Ashley Young credits their ascent, after last season’s travails under David Moyes, to the squad’s spirit.
“All the boys in the dressing room are fighting for each other and when you have that off the pitch you take it on to the pitch,” Young said.
“We showed that at Preston on Monday night from the first minute to the last and in the way we came back into the game and won it.”
The tense race to qualify for the Champions League should take a few more twists and turns this weekend, with fourth-placed Southampton hosting Liverpool, who are only four points behind in seventh.
Arsenal, one point behind Southampton in fifth place, travel to Crystal Palace and sixth-placed Tottenham, three points adrift of the Saints, take on London rivals West Ham at White Hart Lane.
Aston Villa’s new manager Tim Sherwood, whose side are languishing in the relegation zone, needs to make a fast start at home to Stoke.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
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Naga
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Australia World Cup squad
Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
MATCH INFO
CAF Champions League semi-finals first-leg fixtures
Tuesday:
Primeiro Agosto (ANG) v Esperance (TUN) (8pm UAE)
Al Ahly (EGY) v Entente Setif (ALG) (11PM)
Second legs:
October 23
match info
Southampton 2 (Ings 32' & pen 89') Tottenham Hotspur 5 (Son 45', 47', 64', & 73', Kane 82')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
New schools in Dubai
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
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Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
Changing visa rules
For decades the UAE has granted two and three year visas to foreign workers, tied to their current employer. Now that's changing.
Last year, the UAE cabinet also approved providing 10-year visas to foreigners with investments in the UAE of at least Dh10 million, if non-real estate assets account for at least 60 per cent of the total. Investors can bring their spouses and children into the country.
It also approved five-year residency to owners of UAE real estate worth at least 5 million dirhams.
The government also said that leading academics, medical doctors, scientists, engineers and star students would be eligible for similar long-term visas, without the need for financial investments in the country.
The first batch - 20 finalists for the Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Distinction.- were awarded in January and more are expected to follow.
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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Brief scores:
Southampton 2
Armstrong 13', Soares 20'
Manchester United 2
Lukaku 33', Herrera 39'
The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders
Stuart Kells, Counterpoint Press
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Civil%20War
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
FORSPOKEN
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Starfield
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
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