• Manchester United v Hull City, Wednesday, midnight
Alex Ferguson had a point, on one level at least.
“The team is playing really well and he has been very unlucky,” the former Manchester United manager said of incumbent Jose Mourinho in an interview with the BBC last week.
“He has had six 1-1 draws and in every game he has battered the opposition. If they hadn’t had all these draws, they would be challenging Chelsea [for the title].”
United’s misfortune is a topic Mourinho has himself touched upon on numerous occasions this term. One such example came in November, when Olivier Giroud’s late equaliser at Old Trafford cost his side two points in a crunch clash with Arsenal.
“I have nothing to say against my players, but I feel sorry for them because we feel like a defeat and Arsenal is feeling like a victory,” the Portuguese said. “We all know inside that in this moment we are the unlucky team in the Premier League.”
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■ Team of the Week: The Best XI from the FA Cup weekend
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Things have picked up for United since then. Last week’s 2-1 loss to Hull City in the second leg of their League Cup semi-final was the first time they have been defeated in 18 matches in all competitions, while they are currently unbeaten in 13 top-flight outings dating back to a 4-0 thrashing by Chelsea over three months ago.
If Mourinho’s men do fail in their bid for a Uefa Champions League spot this season – ahead of the midweek round of fixtures, in which Hull travel to Old Trafford late Wednesday, sixth-placed United are four points adrift of the top four – they will probably look back at the six stalemates cited by Ferguson as the primary reason why.
United can justifiably argue that they were by far the better team in each of their 1-1 draws with Stoke City (both home and away), Arsenal, West Ham United and Everton, while on another day they could easily have beaten Liverpool at home, too.
They were even more hard done by when Burnley escaped with a 0-0 draw from the two sides' meeting in late October: United had a total of 38 attempts – 31 more than Sean Dyche's charges – yet were left frustrated after failing to make the breakthrough. One prominent Expected Goals model, an analytical tool which measures the quality of chances a side creates based on factors such as the location of each shot, calculated that United created 2.9 expected goals that day and conceded only 0.3.
All of which leads to the wider question of what luck in football really is. United may have dominated large portions of the aforementioned encounters, fashioning plenty of clear-cut opportunities and allowing their opponents relatively few, but they are at least partly culpable for their failure to score enough of those chances to ensure they emerged victorious.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to dispute Ferguson and Mourinho’s suggestion that United’s points return in many of their matches at Old Trafford has not accurately reflected the quality of their performances.
Rather than looking back, though, it is vital that they focus on getting the better of Hull in front of their own supporters on Wednesday. This is the type of game that a team like United cannot afford to drop points in too often – Chelsea, for instance, have lost to Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Arsenal this season but sit at the summit because they have been extremely reliable against those sides below sixth spot in the standings.
United are still in the mix for the top four, but any further slip-ups – starting with the upcoming showdown against Marco Silva’s strugglers – could be fatal to their prospects of returning to the Champions League in 2017/18.
Creating chances will not be enough. United must convert them too.
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Anti-semitic attacks
The annual report by the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security , warned on Thursday that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had reached a record high.
It found there had been 2,255 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2021, a rise of 34 per cent from the previous year.
The report detailed the convictions of a number of people for anti-Semitic crimes, including one man who was jailed for setting up a neo-Nazi group which had encouraged “the eradication of Jewish people” and another who had posted anti-Semitic homemade videos on social media.
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
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Jordan cabinet changes
In
- Raed Mozafar Abu Al Saoud, Minister of Water and Irrigation
- Dr Bassam Samir Al Talhouni, Minister of Justice
- Majd Mohamed Shoueikeh, State Minister of Development of Foundation Performance
- Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research
- Falah Abdalla Al Ammoush, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Basma Moussa Ishakat, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Ghazi Monawar Al Zein, Minister of Health
- Ibrahim Sobhi Alshahahede, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Environment
- Dr Mohamed Suleiman Aburamman, Minister of Culture and Minister of Youth
Out
- Dr Adel Issa Al Tawissi, Minister of High Education and Scientific Research
- Hala Noaman “Basiso Lattouf”, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Mahmud Yassin Al Sheyab, Minister of Health
- Yahya Moussa Kasbi, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Nayef Hamidi Al Fayez, Minister of Environment
- Majd Mohamed Shoueika, Minister of Public Sector Development
- Khalid Moussa Al Huneifat, Minister of Agriculture
- Dr Awad Abu Jarad Al Mushakiba, Minister of Justice
- Mounir Moussa Ouwais, Minister of Water and Agriculture
- Dr Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education
- Mokarram Mustafa Al Kaysi, Minister of Youth
- Basma Mohamed Al Nousour, Minister of Culture
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score):
Manchester City (0) v Tottenham Hotspur (1), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
The specs
A4 35 TFSI
Engine: 2.0-litre, four-cylinder
Transmission: seven-speed S-tronic automatic
Power: 150bhp
Torque: 270Nm
Price: Dh150,000 (estimate)
On sale: First Q 2020
A4 S4 TDI
Engine: 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel
Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic
Power: 350bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh165,000 (estimate)
On sale: First Q 2020
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
Little Brown Book Group
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The chef's advice
Troy Payne, head chef at Abu Dhabi’s newest healthy eatery Sanderson’s in Al Seef Resort & Spa, says singles need to change their mindset about how they approach the supermarket.
“They feel like they can’t buy one cucumber,” he says. “But I can walk into a shop – I feed two people at home – and I’ll walk into a shop and I buy one cucumber, I’ll buy one onion.”
Mr Payne asks for the sticker to be placed directly on each item, rather than face the temptation of filling one of the two-kilogram capacity plastic bags on offer.
The chef also advises singletons not get too hung up on “organic”, particularly high-priced varieties that have been flown in from far-flung locales. Local produce is often grown sustainably, and far cheaper, he says.
WORLD CUP SEMI-FINALS
England v New Zealand (Saturday, 12pm)
Wales v South Africa (Sunday, 1pm)
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.
