Each week, The National Deputy Sports Editor Thomas Woods predicts the outcomes of the English Premier League. In Week 3, our man got three correct results from 10 predictions, with no correct scores. Can he do better in Week 4? Here are his results for the season.
Liverpool 2 West Ham 1
Why? West Ham pulled off an upset on the opening day against Arsenal but it's hard to imagine them doing it again against a Liverpool side who have improved defensively with each game. Christian Benteke will look to dominate a defence that conceded four last week.
Newcastle 1 Arsenal 1
Why? Newcastle's defensive performance in the 0-0 draw at Manchester United was pretty good and they need to build on that to make St James' Park a tougher place to take points. Aleksandar Mitrovic, their volatile new signing, looks like he will be a real handful for Premier League defences this season. Arsenal are one of several top sides with scoring issues this season – only one goal from an Arsenal player in three games – and that will hurt their chances of three points.
Aston Villa 1 Sunderland 0
Why? Two sides who evidently going to struggle this season, but Villa at home will have the edge. Scott Sinclair is their wild card – he has supreme pace and has netted two hat-tricks recently – one in pre-season and one in the League Cup on Tuesday. If he is on form Villa should win.
Bournemouth 1 Leicester City 0
Why? Callum Wilson's treble at West Ham last week sent Bournemouth to their first points of the season and they can build on that with a first home win. On paper, there should be plenty of goals but I'm expecting both managers to take a tighter approach.
Chelsea 2 Crystal Palace 0
Why? Chelsea looked brilliant in attack in Sunday's 3-2 win at West Brom, but still have defensive flaws to iron out. They will be without John Terry against Palace, but Kurt Zouma and Gary Cahill have the ability to stunt a pacey Palace forward line. It will be interesting to see how effective Pedro – awesome on the counter attack last week – is against a team likely to sit back for most of the game.
Manchester City 3 Watford 0
Why? There is a scenario where Watford get something out of this game – go into the break at 0-0, hope City get frustrated, grab a counter attack goal, defend for dear life. The home side did stumble in several similar fixtures last season – games they were expected to win – but they are on too much of a roll at the moment to be stopped. Three wins, eight goals and none conceded in three games.
Stoke City 2 West Bromwich Albion 0
Why? I backed Stoke for a win last week at Norwich and they failed to deliver, but the basis of a really attacking side is in place and they should be able to stunt a West Brom side who are missing the pace of Saido Berahino up front.
Tottenham Hotspur 2 Everton 2
Why? Two sides who are hard to analyse at the moment – Everton played pretty well against Manchester City last Sunday but lost 2-0 at home. Tottenham could easily be sat on seven points yet they have not played anywhere near their best. Harry Kane is under pressure to open his account and he should deliver in a game that might surprise a few with plenty of goals.
Southampton 2 Norwich 0
Why? Southampton's secret weapon this season might be Jay Rodriguez. The England striker missed all of last season with injury, but before that he was part of a thrilling forward line and this Southampton side needs a kick start. Norwich should not pose too many problems on the road, despite thrashing Sunderland in their first away game. That result says more about Sunderland than it does about Norwich's forward line.
Swansea City 1 Manchester United 1
Why? Few sides will come away from the Liberty Stadium this season with maximum points against a well organised Swansea side with plenty of firepower. The battle between Bafetimbi Gomis and Chris Smalling should be enthralling. United haven't shown enough in attack this season to suggest they will create enough chances for a win.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
PRISCILLA
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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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.”
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
MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Who: Marseille v Atletico Madrid
Where: Parc OL, Lyon, France
When: Wednesday, 10.45pm kick off (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 2 Bournemouth 1
United: Sharp (45 2'), Lundstram (84')
Bournemouth: C Wilson (13')
Man of the Match: Jack O’Connell (Sheffield United)
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
