Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists Premier League rivals Manchester City are far from unbeatable and should not be regarded as odds-on favourites for the title heading into 2014.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has been quick to play up City’s expectations, claiming “they know how good they are” in what could be perceived as mind games ahead of what is expected to be one of the most fiercely contested run-ins over the next five months.
Despite bookmakers all having Manuel Pellegrini’s men at the head of their title betting, Wenger believes the battle for supremacy over the final 19 matches will be much closer.
"Do you believe him (Mourinho) that City are favourites? Not more than Chelsea, for me, or Man United," said Wenger, whose side were thumped 6-3 at the Etihad Stadium on December 14.
“They have the squad, yes, they have a squad of names who can pretend to win it, but at the end of the day, it is down to what we do on the pitch.
“Are they, at the moment, completely unbeatable? Not for me.
“They have lost a number of games as well away from home. Man City have played one more game at home, than away. We have played one more game away, than at home, so it is open.”
Despite all of their detractors, Arsenal head into 2014 top of the table, albeit with a slender one-point lead.
Wenger joked: “We have a bit less pressure because everyone expects us to fail.”
The Arsenal manager, however, is deadly serious when it comes to his own expectation levels for the team next year.
“Consistency is not coincidence,” Wenger said.
“We had a little blip, I don’t deny that. After (losing 2-0 away in the Uefa Champions League in) Naples, we lost six against Man City, that is where everybody questioned us.
“After that it was important at least not to lose against Chelsea, so we were recovered from that.
“These players have a classy attitude, they are hungry, they want it and are ready to go for it.”
Arsenal have always come strong over the second half of the campaign, just as they did last season to eventually overhaul Tottenham to secure a top-four finish.
It has, though, been six years since they last mounted a sustained assault on the championship.
Wenger feels that has now changed.
“What we suffered from, for me what is the most important, is we looked as a team with less ambition than the others,” he said.
“We were in a position where we sold our good players, and that we accepted to be behind the teams who invested a lot of money. That has changed, and that has strengthened as well the belief.”
Wenger expects full-back Bacary Sagna to take up the offer of a contract extension early in the new year, with the France international otherwise a free agent in the summer and as such so could now agree a move abroad.
“We are not far,” said Wenger. “I will push very hard to get it done, yes.
“We cannot stop him from doing that (signing a pre-contract agreement to leave).
“But for me, that is not a problem because when you are a professional football player, you do until the last day, of where you are, your best. If you don’t do that, you are not professional for me.
“I don’t question Sagna’s commitment until the last day of his contract.”
Wenger is himself in negotiations with the club over a new deal.
However, the 64-year-old continues to deflect any questions over just when that will be signed.
“I want to do well for the club and feel that I can help the club to move forward. My commitment is no question for this club,” he said,
Arsenal will be without injured forward Olivier Giroud against Cardiff on New Year’s Day.
Lukas Podolski, who scored on his return from a four-month injury lay-off at West Ham on Boxing Day, or Nicklas Bendtner are likely to lead the attack in the Frenchman’s absence.
Wenger said: “It is not linked with the individual quality of one or the other, it is more linked with the balance I can find around the team - do I need a wide player who is a winger if (Theo) Walcott doesn’t play and things like that.”
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Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Asia Cup 2018 final
Who: India v Bangladesh
When: Friday, 3.30pm, Dubai International Stadium
Watch: Live on OSN Cricket HD
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More on Quran memorisation:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETelr%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202014%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E65%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20and%20payments%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enearly%20%2430%20million%20so%20far%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EClara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPatrick%20Rogers%2C%20Lee%20McMahon%2C%20Arthur%20Guest%2C%20Ahmed%20Arif%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELegalTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20size%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%244%20million%20of%20seed%20financing%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EWamda%20Capital%2C%20Shorooq%20Partners%2C%20Techstars%2C%20500%20Global%2C%20OTF%2C%20Venture%20Souq%2C%20Knuru%20Capital%2C%20Plug%20and%20Play%20and%20The%20LegalTech%20Fund%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
PAST 10 BRITISH GRAND PRIX WINNERS
2016 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2015 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2014 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
2013 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-GP)
2012 - Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing)
2011 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
2010 - Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing)
2009 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing)
2008 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2007 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
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
Aayan%E2%80%99s%20records
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EYoungest%20UAE%20men%E2%80%99s%20cricketer%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EWhen%20he%20debuted%20against%20Bangladesh%20aged%2016%20years%20and%20314%20days%2C%20he%20became%20the%20youngest%20ever%20to%20play%20for%20the%20men%E2%80%99s%20senior%20team.%20He%20broke%20the%20record%20set%20by%20his%20World%20Cup%20squad-mate%2C%20Alishan%20Sharafu%2C%20of%2017%20years%20and%2044%20days.%3Cbr%3E%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EYoungest%20wicket-taker%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EAfter%20taking%20the%20wicket%20of%20Bangladesh%E2%80%99s%20Litton%20Das%20on%20debut%20in%20Dubai%2C%20Aayan%20became%20the%20youngest%20male%20cricketer%20to%20take%20a%20wicket%20against%20a%20Full%20Member%20nation%20in%20a%20T20%20international.%3Cbr%3E%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EYoungest%20in%20T20%20World%20Cup%20history%3F%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EAayan%20does%20not%20turn%2017%20until%20November%2015%20%E2%80%93%20which%20is%20two%20days%20after%20the%20T20%20World%20Cup%20final%20at%20the%20MCG.%20If%20he%20does%20play%20in%20the%20competition%2C%20he%20will%20be%20its%20youngest%20ever%20player.%20Pakistan%E2%80%99s%20Mohammed%20Amir%2C%20who%20was%2017%20years%20and%2055%20days%20when%20he%20played%20in%202009%2C%20currently%20holds%20the%20record.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
