Demba Ba has been tipped to make a major impact on Chelsea’s bid to claim the Premier League title for the first time since 2010.
Ba scored his first league goal of the season when he completed the Blues’ 3-1 victory over Southampton and pressed his claims to start when Jose Mourinho’s side face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday.
The Senegal striker’s contribution after appearing as a half-time substitute helped turn the game Chelsea’s way and defender Branislav Ivanovic believes Ba’s physical strength offers a different option than that provided by fellow forwards Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto’o.
Ivanovic said: “Demba shows every minute he’s on the pitch that he tries to fight and is a physical striker.
“Sometimes you have to change your style of football and try to hit long balls, he’s very useful for this team and very important.
“Everyone is happy about Demba scoring his first league goal, but it’s not just about that because he can keep the ball and he did that against Southampton.”
Chelsea’s strikers have struggled to click this season but Ivanovic believes the different styles of their three main forwards will help in the club’s bid for honours.
“This is a good thing for our team. We can change each game and also change quickly during the game,” he said.
“It is important for us have different type of players and the manager can choose different strikers for each game. Demba did very well against Southampton and his goal was a reward for the way he played.”
The victory over Southampton kept Mourinho’s side within four points of the leaders, Arsenal.
But with a full programme of midweek fixtures, anything less than victory against a Sunderland side managed by former Chelsea favourite Gus Poyet could widen that gap.
But Ivanovic is confident Chelsea can keep tabs on the leaders and maintain their challenge.
“At this stage in recent years we would always be trailing by a lot of points, but we are up there now and this has given us an opportunity.”
Poyet admits it will be one of his proudest moments in football leading out Sunderland against his former club.
The former Uruguay international made 145 appearances for the London club during a four-year stint at Stamford Bridge from 1997, earning European Cup Wnners’ Cup, European Super Cup and FA Cup winner’s medals in the process.
“These are the kind of games I really look forward to, and with it being Chelsea, it’s going to be very special for me, leading the side at home in front of our own fans,” Poyet said.
Poyet’s side remain second from bottom, five points adrift of safety, despite keeping their first away clean sheet of the season in the 0-0 stalemate at Aston Villa.
The 46-year-old’s first meeting with his former club since taking charge at the Stadium of Light in October is a dress-rehearsal for the fifth round League Cup tie on Wearside between the two sides later this month.
Sunderland have won their last three home games, and their head coach added: “The performance at Villa was our best away from home since I arrived, and we must maintain that momentum against Chelsea.”
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
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England squad
Joe Root (captain), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Gary Ballance, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes (vice-captain), Moeen Ali, Liam Dawson, Toby Roland-Jones, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson.
Sour%20Grapes
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Essentials
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
