Ten matches remain in a hotly-contested Premier League title race, and there's been some change at the top following the latest round of fixtures.
In the late game on Saturday, Arsenal surged to the top of the table after a dramatic 2-1 win over Brentford as Kai Havertz scored an 86th-minute winner at the Emirates. With Liverpool and Manchester City playing out a thrilling 1-1 draw at Anfield on Sunday evening, it kept the Gunners top, level on points with the Reds. Defending champions City are a point back in third.
The round began with an early Saturday game at Old Trafford, where a pair of penalties led Manchester United past a struggling Everton 2-0. Also on Saturday, Wolves beat Fulham 2-1, and there were draws between Crystal Palace and Luton Town (1-1), and Bournemouth and Sheffield United (2-2).
Sunday began with a battle between two top-four rivals and it was Tottenham who struck a significant blow by thrashing 10-man Aston Villa 4-0 at Villa Park. Elsewhere, Brighton beat Nottingham Forest 1-0, and West Ham fought back from two goals down to secure a 2-2 home draw with Burnley.
Chelsea then concluded the round with a 3-2 win over Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge on Monday night.
Below is our Premier League team of the week.
GK: Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham)
Responsible for one of only three clean sheets this weekend, Vicario again provided a reliable pair of gloves in Tottenham's rout of Aston Villa. Before Spurs ran away with it, the Italian produced a fine close-range save on Nicolo Zaniolo that could have proved crucial. Signed for £15m from Empoli last summer, Vicario has undoubtedly been one of the signings of the season.
RB: Ben White (Arsenal)
Once a centre-back deployed as a makeshift right-back, White has fully adjusted to the role and was decisive in Arsenal's 2-1 win over Brentford, which sent the Gunners top of the table. Played in a lovely cross for Declan Rice to head home the opening goal and got his second assist with another pinpoint cross for Havertz to score the winner.
White's combination with player-of-the-season contender Bukayo Saka has been instrumental to Arsenal's sustained title challenge.
CB: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Tasked with one of the toughest assignments in football – containing Manchester City's fearsome attack – Van Dijk led a patched-together Liverpool defence with a commanding performance. Erling Haaland was kept quiet throughout as Liverpool secured a 1-1 draw to keep the champions one point behind.
Van Dijk has been exceptional for Liverpool this season and will need to maintain his level if the Reds are to end the season with more silverware.
CB: Cristian Romero (Tottenham)
For a player with a track record of losing his form in high-pressure environments, Romero was composure personified inside a volatile Villa Park as Spurs ran out 4-0 winners.
The Argentine's partnership with Micky van de Ven has the potential to be one of the Premier League's most solid central defences. The Dutchman, who has already missed two months of his debut season with a hamstring injury, was also superb against Villa – until he went off injured again.
LB: Rayan Ait-Nouri (Wolves)
The Algeria international is having the season of his career under Gary O'Neill and played a key role in Wolves' 2-1 win over Fulham. He posed a constant threat down the left flank and opened the scoring with a well-taken close-range finish.
Still only 22 years old, Ait-Nouri is already a key player in a Wolves side operating above expectations in ninth place, and will surely only get better.
CM: John Stones (Manchester City)
Now regarded as important to Pep Guardiola's preferred way of playing as Kevin de Bruyne and Haaland, Stones excelled alongside Rodri in City's central midfield in a high-quality 1-1 draw with Liverpool.
The England international has struggled with injury this season and his absence has been felt. With Stones and De Bruyne now back up and running, City remain frontrunners for major trophies this season.
CM: Declan Rice (Arsenal)
If £100m could ever be considered a bargain, then Rice is the best example. The England midfielder has been superb all season and was again a leader in Arsenal's 2-1 win over Brentford. Rice opened the scoring with a header in the 19th minute and had other chances to add to his tally.
If Arsenal are to end their 20-year wait for the title, Rice should be a leading contender for player-of-the-season honours.
CM: James Maddison (Tottenham)
Maddison's return from a long-term ankle injury has provided Tottenham a massive boost to their hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League via a top-four league finish. The England midfielder opened the scoring in Spurs' 4-0 win at Aston Villa and played a central role throughout the emphatic victory.
Maddison now has 11 goal involvements in 17 league matches, with four goals and seven assists, and he will need to keep producing if Tottenham are to secure a top-four place.
RW: Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
Amid another underwhelming season for Chelsea, Palmer has been the one constant bright spark. He was the best player on the pitch on Monday night as the Blues defeated Newcastle 3-2; Palmer set up the first goal for Nicolas Jackson and scored the second, taking his goal involvements to 19 in 23 league games (11 goals, eight assists).
Despite recent setbacks like the League Cup final defeat and draw at Brentford, Chelsea are generally playing better in recent weeks, and while the Blues are still 11th in the table, they have a game in hand on the teams above them and are now only four points behind West Ham in seventh. If Chelsea are to climb the table, Palmer will be vital.
LW: Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United)
After successive defeats to Fulham and City, Manchester United entered Saturday's early game against struggling Everton in desperate need of a win. It was hardly a convincing performance against a side without a win in 10 games, but a pair of penalties - one each from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford - sealed a 2-0 victory.
Garnacho was the orchestrator of both penalties when he drew a clumsy foul from James Tarkowski and forced Ben Godfrey to dive in after a slaloming run into the Everton area. The Argentine has been United's only relatively consistent attacking threat this season and has become undroppable.
ST: Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
A top performance from a top player as the Tottenham captain led his side from the front with a devastating display to beat Villa 4-0. Son was involved in three of the four goals, assisting Brenan Johnson and Timo Werner either side of scoring his team's third goal.
With 14 goals and eight assists in the league, the South Korean forward is unquestionably back to his best and has been instrumental in Tottenham's continued push for the top four.
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
HOW TO WATCH
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SPAIN SQUAD
Goalkeepers Simon (Athletic Bilbao), De Gea (Manchester United), Sanchez (Brighton)
Defenders Gaya (Valencia), Alba (Barcelona), P Torres (Villarreal), Laporte (Manchester City), Garcia (Manchester City), D Llorente (Leeds), Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
Midfielders Busquets (Barcelona), Rodri (Manchester City), Pedri (Barcelona), Thiago (Liverpool), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Ruiz (Napoli), M Llorente (Atletico Madrid)
Forwards: Olmo (RB Leipzig), Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Morata (Juventus), Moreno (Villarreal), F Torres (Manchester City), Traore (Wolves), Sarabia (PSG)
MATCH INFO
First Test at Barbados
West Indies won by 381 runs
Second Test at Antigua
West Indies won by 10 wickets
Third Test at St Lucia
February 9-13
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
At a glance
- 20,000 new jobs for Emiratis over three years
- Dh300 million set aside to train 18,000 jobseekers in new skills
- Managerial jobs in government restricted to Emiratis
- Emiratis to get priority for 160 types of job in private sector
- Portion of VAT revenues will fund more graduate programmes
- 8,000 Emirati graduates to do 6-12 month replacements in public or private sector on a Dh10,000 monthly wage - 40 per cent of which will be paid by government
ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Mane 51', Salah 53'
Chelsea 0
Man of the Match: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
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.
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
Company%20Profile
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IF YOU GO
The flights: FlyDubai offers direct flights to Catania Airport from Dubai International Terminal 2 daily with return fares starting from Dh1,895.
The details: Access to the 2,900-metre elevation point at Mount Etna by cable car and 4x4 transport vehicle cost around €57.50 (Dh248) per adult. Entry into Teatro Greco costs €10 (Dh43). For more go to www.visitsicily.info
Where to stay: Hilton Giardini Naxos offers beachfront access and accessible to Taormina and Mount Etna. Rooms start from around €130 (Dh561) per night, including taxes.
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