Table-topping Manchester City kick off the latest round of Premier League fixtures when Pep Guardiola's reigning champions head north to take on Newcastle United on Saturday.
City needed a last-gasp leveller from John Stones to rescue a point against title rivals Arsenal last week and now face the Magpies in the early game that kicks off at 3.30pm (UAE time).
That is followed by five 6pm games when Arsenal entertain Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium, Brentford play host to West Ham United, Chelsea tackle Brighton at Stamford Bridge, Everton are up against Crystal Palace on Merseyside and Nottingham Forest face Fulham at home. Wolves versus Liverpool at Molineux brings an end to the day's proceedings.
Sunday sees Ipswich Town take on Aston Villa at Portman Road and Manchester United face Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford, while Bournemouth against Southampton on Monday ends the weekend schedule. We pick out the main talking points as we head into Matchday 6.
How will Manchester City cope without Rodri?
The joy of Stones' late goal at the Etihad Stadium last weekend was tempered by the serious injury picked up by Manchester City midfielder Rodri.
Manager Guardiola confirmed on Wednesday that the Spaniard had suffered knee ligament damage. “We don't have the definitive [diagnosis] but he will be out for a long time – a while,” said Guardiola. “But there are some opinions that maybe it will be less than we expected.”
However long he is out for, all eyes will be on how the team will cope without a player who has not lost in his last 48 Premier League appearances for City and is one of the favourites to win the Ballon d'Or next month. It seems likely that Mateo Kovacic will partner Ilkay Gundogan in midfield in Rodri's absence.
City might also be without playmaker Kevin de Bruyne with Guardiola admitting the Belgian – who missed the Arsenal game and the midweek League Cup win over second-tier Watford with a groin problem – remains a doubt for the trip to Tyneside.
It was De Bruyne who came off the bench to score one and set up an injury-time winner for Oscar Bobb at St James' Park last season to help City come back from a goal down to win 3-2.
Can Lopetegui lift woeful West Ham?
It has been a grim week for West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui as his team's poor start to his London Stadium reign continued.
A 3-0 home derby battering off Chelsea last weekend was followed up by a 5-1 midweek thrashing by Liverpool in the League Cup which saw Edson Alvarez sent off and Lopetegui leave Anfield on crutches after injuring his calf during the game.
“We did positive things in my opinion and were close to winning the match,” insisted the Spaniard on Thursday. “We did very good things for 75 minutes, but it was a very different end after the red card."
Lopetegui's tactics and team selections are already being called into question, as is the club's summer recruitment process that saw West Ham spend more than £120 million on new players in what was the sixth highest net spend in Europe.
The Hammers are 14th in the table having managed just one win in five games and Lopetegui knows the pressure is building. “In the matches we have lost we have deserved more, but I repeat, we have lost them and we don’t find excuses, and we have to improve,” he said.
Will 'losing mentality' cost O'Neil his job at Wolves?
One of Lopetegui's former clubs, meanwhile, have struggled even more than the Hammers so far this season. Wolves are bottom of the table having secured just a single point as as well as having been knocked out of the League Cup by Brighton.
Captain Mario Lemina admitted the team needed “to change this losing mentality” after their home loss to Newcastle only for Wolves to follow that up with successive defeats against the Seagulls and then Aston Villa last weekend.
The Villa defeat was the second league game in a row that Gary O'Neil's side had failed to hold on to a first-half lead and Wolves have now managed just one win from their past 15 Premier League matches, losing 11.
O'Neil insisted after the Villa game that “there needs to be some realism with the difficulty of the fixtures” Wolves have had so far with the Midlands club having also faced Arsenal and Chelsea so far this season. “We have played an awful lot of teams that are going to finish very high up the league.”
But there is little respite ahead for O'Neil as Wolves take on Liverpool and then Manchester City in their next two home games and also face tricky away trips to Brentford and Brighton.
Can Sterling help Arsenal in their title push?
Raheem Sterling is up and running at Arsenal after scoring his first goal for the Gunners since his surprise summer loan move from Chelsea.
The 29-year-old England forward will be hoping to put his disappointing two-year spell at Stamford Bridge behind him after moving across London to the Emirates Stadium to join up with Mikel Arteta, his former coach at Manchester City.
Sterling's goal touch deserted him as he failed to reach double figures in either of his Premier League campaigns with Chelsea during a spell that saw him play under five different managers.
After the constant turmoil of Chelsea, Sterling has joined one of the most stable outfits in the top flight and he scored one and provided an assist for another in Wednesday's 5-1 League Cup drubbing of third-tier Bolton. Arteta will now be hoping a player who won the Premier League title four times at City, can inspire Arsenal and help deny their former club a fifth crown in a row.
“The moment the game opened up a little bit, you know, what he can do, how he can deliver,” said the Spaniard after the Bolton match. “He was involved in a few goals, so, very positive night for him.”
Will Ten Hag find consistency at Man United?
It feels like one step forward, two steps back for Erik ten Hag's Manchester United this season. After their dismal home defeat against Liverpool, United produced their best show of the campaign so far to defeat Southampton 3-0 on England's south coast before sticking seven past Barnsley in the League Cup.
But any momentum from those victories has been slowed considerably by successive draws against Crystal Palace and then FC Twente in the Europa League.
The latter match against Ten Hag's boyhood club back in the Netherlands means United have now won just one of their last nine European matches after they finished bottom of their Champions League group last season.
“I saw in many games how high our work rate is, but today I have some criticism,” admitted Ten Hag at Old Trafford on Wednesday. “It is not only the team, I have to look in the mirror as well. I am part of it. We have to be more clinical in such situations.”
With United sitting outside the top half of the Premier League ahead of their game against Spurs and facing a tricky trip to Porto next up in Europe, the pressure is building once again on Ten Hag.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Torbal Rayeh Wa Jayeh
Starring: Ali El Ghoureir, Khalil El Roumeithy, Mostafa Abo Seria
Stars: 3
Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
THREE
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Nayla%20Al%20Khaja%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Jefferson%20Hall%2C%20Faten%20Ahmed%2C%20Noura%20Alabed%2C%20Saud%20Alzarooni%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World by Michael Ignatieff
Harvard University Press
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Manchester United's summer dealings
In
Victor Lindelof (Benfica) £30.7 million
Romelu Lukaku (Everton) £75 million
Nemanja Matic (Chelsea) £40 million
Out
Zlatan Ibrahimovic Released
Wayne Rooney (Everton) Free transfer
Adnan Januzaj (Real Sociedad) £9.8 million
Voy!%20Voy!%20Voy!
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Omar%20Hilal%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Muhammad%20Farrag%2C%20Bayoumi%20Fouad%2C%20Nelly%20Karim%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
More on Quran memorisation:
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
The Cairo Statement
1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations
2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred
3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC
4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.
5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.
6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security
More on Quran memorisation:
Sri Lanka Test squad:
Dimuth Karunaratne (stand-in captain), Niroshan Dickwella (vice captain), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Janith Perera, Milinda Siriwardana, Dhananjaya de Silva, Oshada Fernando, Angelo Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando, Chamika Karunaratne, Mohamed Shiraz, Lakshan Sandakan and Lasith Embuldeniya.
Concrete and Gold
Foo Fighters
RCA records
The%20Mandalorian%20season%203%20episode%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERick%20Famuyiwa%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPedro%20Pascal%20and%20Katee%20Sackhoff%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
SQUADS
South Africa:
JP Duminy (capt), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wkt), AB de Villiers, Robbie Frylinck, Beuran Hendricks, David Miller, Mangaliso Mosehle (wkt), Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Tabraiz Shamsi
Bangladesh
Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Imrul Kayes, Liton Das (wkt), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wkt), Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed
Fixtures
Oct 26: Bloemfontein
Oct 29: Potchefstroom
The five pillars of Islam
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The years Ramadan fell in May
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
2024%20Dubai%20Marathon%20Results
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EWomen%E2%80%99s%20race%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E1.%20Tigist%20Ketema%20(ETH)%202hrs%2016min%207sec%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Ruti%20Aga%20(ETH)%202%3A18%3A09%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20Dera%20Dida%20(ETH)%202%3A19%3A29%0D%3Cbr%3EMen's%20race%3A%0D%3Cbr%3E1.%20Addisu%20Gobena%20(ETH)%202%3A05%3A01%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Lemi%20Dumicha%20(ETH)%202%3A05%3A20%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20DejeneMegersa%20(ETH)%202%3A05%3A42%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Vault%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBilal%20Abou-Diab%20and%20Sami%20Abdul%20Hadi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELicensed%20by%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%20Global%20Market%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EInvestment%20and%20wealth%20advisory%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%241%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOutliers%20VC%20and%20angel%20investors%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E14%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Miguel Cotto world titles:
WBO Light Welterweight champion - 2004-06
WBA Welterweight champion – 2006-08
WBO Welterweight champion – Feb 2009-Nov 2009
WBA Light Middleweight champion – 2010-12
WBC Middleweight champion – 2014-15
WBO Light Middleweight champion – Aug 2017-Dec 2017
Elvis
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Baz%20Luhrmann%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Austin%20Butler%2C%20Tom%20Hanks%2C%20Olivia%20DeJonge%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The five new places of worship
Church of South Indian Parish
St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch
St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch
St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais
Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais
The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV
Types of policy
Term life insurance: this is the cheapest and most-popular form of life cover. You pay a regular monthly premium for a pre-agreed period, typically anything between five and 25 years, or possibly longer. If you die within that time, the policy will pay a cash lump sum, which is typically tax-free even outside the UAE. If you die after the policy ends, you do not get anything in return. There is no cash-in value at any time. Once you stop paying premiums, cover stops.
Whole-of-life insurance: as its name suggests, this type of life cover is designed to run for the rest of your life. You pay regular monthly premiums and in return, get a guaranteed cash lump sum whenever you die. As a result, premiums are typically much higher than one term life insurance, although they do not usually increase with age. In some cases, you have to keep up premiums for as long as you live, although there may be a cut-off period, say, at age 80 but it can go as high as 95. There are penalties if you don’t last the course and you may get a lot less than you paid in.
Critical illness cover: this pays a cash lump sum if you suffer from a serious illness such as cancer, heart disease or stroke. Some policies cover as many as 50 different illnesses, although cancer triggers by far the most claims. The payout is designed to cover major financial responsibilities such as a mortgage or children’s education fees if you fall ill and are unable to work. It is cost effective to combine it with life insurance, with the policy paying out once if you either die or suffer a serious illness.
Income protection: this pays a replacement income if you fall ill and are unable to continue working. On the best policies, this will continue either until you recover, or reach retirement age. Unlike critical illness cover, policies will typically pay out for stress and musculoskeletal problems such as back trouble.
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
The Transfiguration
Director: Michael O’Shea
Starring: Eric Ruffin, Chloe Levine
Three stars
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
QUARTER-FINAL
Wales 20-19 France
Wales: T: Wainwright, Moriarty. Cons: Biggar (2) Pens: Biggar 2
France: T: Vahaamahina, Ollivon, Vakatawa Cons: Ntamack (2)
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16 second leg
Paris Saint-Germain (1) v Borussia Dortmund (2)
Kick-off: Midnight, Thursday, March 12
Stadium: Parc des Princes
Live: On beIN Sports HD
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
