The Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has apologised to the club's supporters for their woeful recent run of form.
The club were knocked out of the FA Cup at home to Championship side Reading on Wednesday, are already out of the Champions League and lie only seventh in the Premier League.
Benitez said: "We are not playing well and everyone here feels sorry for our fans. But things can change in football and we have confidence that we can improve, starting with Stoke City today.
"This is a bad moment, we are not doing well during the season and we know have to improve and we have the belief we can do it. How can we improve? Winning on the pitch. How can we be sure we win on the pitch? By training well. If I am worried about my position or the future of the club at this moment I will lose my focus.
"I cannot be worried about the other things. My future is Stoke now."
Benitez will be without his key trio Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Yossi
Benayoun for the trip to Stoke, whose manager Tony Pulis has given his backing to the Spaniard.
"I think Rafa has been a little unfortunate this year in the respect that his best players have either been injured or not really on top form," he said.
Stoke v Liverpool, 4.45pm, Showsports 1 & 2
Portsmouth are facing further doubts over their viability following the Premier League's decision to divert their share of television revenue to other clubs.
With the troubled clubt owing £10million (Dh59.5m) in unpaid transfer fees, the league exercised their right to split Pompey's latest £7m slice of TV cash between five clubs awaiting payments - Chelsea, Tottenham, Udinese, Rennes and Lens.
The decision is the latest blow for the Fratton Park club, who have been served with a winding-up petition by English tax authorities and are also thought to owe former owner Alexandre Gaydamak £28m. They remain subject to a transfer embargo, have failed to pay players' wages on time on three occasions this season and are rooted to the bottom of the league.
There are fears the club could go into administration and so suffer a nine-point deduction. Portsmouth host high-flying Birmingham today and Ahmed al Faraj, brother of owner Ali al Faraj, pleaded with fans to be patient as the new regime. Al Faraj took over the club in October after the short-lived reign of Sulaiman al Fahim.
Ahmed al Faraj, who is helping run the club, told Portsmouth's The News: "It is not right to be criticised for two months, that is not fair. Be patient with us, give us your support. We don't have anything to hide."
Pompey v Birmingham, 7pm, Shows Series Extra
The Hull veteran Nick Barmby says Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe must be included in Fabio Capello's England squad for the World Cup in South Africa.
Barmby enjoyed six years at White Hart Lane and made over 100 appearances under Terry Venables and Ossie Ardiles. Now helping his Hull's fight for survival, he is sure to be given a warm welcome by the home fans when Spurs entertain the Tigers today.
Phil Brown's relegation-haunted side were battered 5-1 at the KC Stadium at the start of the season, with Defoe grabbing a hat-trick and Barmby said: "Jermain is probably one of the top three finishers in the Premier League," said Barmby. "The way he hits the ball is fantastic and his technique is superb.
"I am sure he is a cert for the World Cup if he does not get injured."
Tottenham v Hull City, KO 7pm, Extreme Sport
Steve Bruce has warned his players not to get carried away by their record against the Premier League's big four as they head for leaders Chelsea.
Sunderland have beaten Liverpool and Arsenal at the Stadium of Light this season and were within seconds of a famous victory at Manchester United when Anton Ferdinand's last-gasp own goal rescued a 2-2 draw for Sir Alex Ferguson's men.
However, Chelsea beat Bruce's men 3-1 away in August. He said: "On our day, we know we have got some very talented footballers who can produce a level. The big question mark over us is we haven't done it consistently enough. Against the big teams when there is no expectation, we have done extremely well. But when you go to Chelsea then you will have to be at your best."
Chelsea v Sunderland, KO 7pm, Showsports 1 & 2
The new Wigan defender Gary Caldwell is looking to "stamp his authority" on the team after manager Roberto Martinez admitted he signed the centre-back partly because of his leadership qualities.
The former Celtic captain agreed a four-and-a-half-year deal with Wigan this week. "I have played a lot of games now and having Champions League experience with Celtic has helped me," said the Caldwell, 27, likely to go straight into the squad for today's match at Wolves.
"I am ready for this challenge, to come to a team and stamp my authority in the way I play the game on Wigan. It is a different style of club; Celtic are a huge organisation known throughout the world but unfortunately they play in Scotland and Wigan play in the Premier League, which is where the challenge is."
Wolves v Wigan, KO 7pm, Show Comedy Extra
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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.
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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Duterte Harry: Fire and Fury in the Philippines
Jonathan Miller, Scribe Publications
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Ferrari
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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
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full