Each week, The National Sport staffers predict the outcomes for the English Premier League. This week, Web Editor Jonathan Raymond guest selects a Tottenham Hotspur victory and relegation fight points for Newcastle United and Sunderland. Here are our results for the season.
Norwich City 1-2 Manchester United
Why? Norwich will be fighting for their lives, but will motivation be enough for a team with the third-fewest goals (35) and fourth-most goals allowed (61) against a Manchester United team still fighting for their top-four hopes? No, there is pretty much nothing to suggest so.
Sunderland 1-0 Chelsea
Why? Man, Chelsea are good. They have really, really good players. Eden Hazard is an excellent footballer. Remember all that? It was so forgotten, so miserably buried underneath the indifference of their lost season, that when the Chelsea who were title winners a year ago showed up to deny Spurs it felt like a fresh revelation. My, what a motivated Chelsea can accomplish. That was fun to watch, wasn't it? Yeah, hope you enjoyed it, because it was probably a one-off.
Sunderland fight with everything they’ve got, Jermain Defoe plays the hero, and the three points go toward the cause of a relegation fight.
West Ham United 3-1 Swansea City
Why? West Ham still have a top-four life to fight for, Swansea can rest complacently knowing they are safe from the fires of relegation. West Ham are at home and Swansea are an especially bad away side. West Ham's players are generally better than Swansea's. Really, this one shouldn't be too complicated.
Bournemouth 1-1 West Bromwich Albion
Why? We have the Premier League's 14th and 15th placed clubs, exactly equal on points, both safe from relegation, both in bad form – this really could go any which way but a draw seems like the most reasonable projection. Goalless is also a strong possibility.
Crystal Palace 1-0 Stoke City
Why? Another pairing in which, besides places on the league table, there is little to separate the teams. Despite Stoke's reasonable 10th, they actually have a worse goal difference (minus-14 to minus-10) than 16th-placed Palace and are on near-relegation form. There's not a lot to sell on Crystal Palace, either, but they are at least at home.
Aston Villa 0-2 Newcastle United
Why? Aston Villa are atrocious. They are atrocious and going down and unless Newcastle completely fall on their faces (not impossible) will lose this game because they are a very bad football team. Newcastle are talented enough, have every reason to play for three points, and actually have a bit of form on their side. Anything is possible, but Villa seem like longer shots to win a game right now than Leicester were to win the league before the season.
Leicester City 3-0 Everton
Why? The champions have a party to throw, and maybe they'll let their guard down with the job well done, but it's just as likely they will want to put on a show for the King Power Stadium faithful, and they'll even have Jamie Vardy back. Plus, they're just better than Everton.
Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 Southampton
Why? We've made this argument before, but for all of Leicester's heroics, Tottenham have probably still been the best team this year. Nerves got to them on more than one occasion, but they have nothing to worry about now, and their talent advantage should be enough against a good Southampton side. If we're least confident about any prediction this weekend, though, it's going against Ronald Koeman's in-form side.
Manchester City 1-2 Arsenal
Why? For all the melancholy emanating out of the Arsenal camp these days, it's still not like they've been losing games. City looked mostly helpless against Real Madrid, which, fair enough, but the hammering they took against Southampton revealed an aging defence in need of a complete overhaul and limping on its last legs.
Liverpool 2-0 Watford
Why? Quique Sanchez Flores is probably a lame-duck manager for a team safely ensconced in mid-table and Liverpool still have something to play for. It's been a rough patch for Jurgen Klopp's men, but the German manager ought to be able to whip them into shape to at least see out this result.
Warlight,
Michael Ondaatje, Knopf
SUCCESSION%20SEASON%204%20EPISODE%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreated%20by%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJesse%20Armstrong%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Brian%20Cox%2C%20Jeremy%20Strong%2C%20Kieran%20Culkin%2C%20Sarah%20Snook%2C%20Nicholas%20Braun%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Twin-turbocharged%204-litre%20V8%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E542bhp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E770Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEight-speed%20automatic%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh1%2C450%2C000%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Spider-Man%202
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Insomniac%20Games%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%20Sony%20Interactive%20Entertainment%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPlayStation%205%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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.
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%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fasset%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohammad%20Raafi%20Hossain%2C%20Daniel%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%242.45%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2086%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-series%20B%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Investcorp%2C%20Liberty%20City%20Ventures%2C%20Fatima%20Gobi%20Ventures%2C%20Primal%20Capital%2C%20Wealthwell%20Ventures%2C%20FHS%20Capital%2C%20VN2%20Capital%2C%20local%20family%20offices%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
