Borussia Dortmund’s crazy run, Alex Iwobi, Chelsea v Arsenal: The Big Weekend Preview

Previewing the best of this weekend’s action as well as the footballing world’s biggest talking points.

Will United bounce back?

Manchester United's form has come in two patches this season so far.

The first four games of the season – if you include the Community Shield win over Leicester City – they were pretty impressive and whispers of a title challenge ran round Old Trafford.

Then along came Pep Guardiola's Manchester City juggernaut with a demoralising victory in the derby and United's season has unravelled from there.

Are they in crisis? No. Does Jose Mourinho know his best team? No. Can they still win the title? Yes

Saturday's visit of champions Leicester becomes a vital match. Win that plus next week's home game against Stoke City and United will be rolling again ahead of games against Liverpool and Chelsea.

How many goals will Dortmund score?

Borussia Dortmund host Freiburg on Friday and it could be a goal feast.

In their last two games, Dortmund have netted 11 goals with nine different scorers. Manager Thomas Tuchel called Tuesday's 5-1 win at Wolfsburg "incredible" and he'll be delighted that his side are developing into one of the most exciting young teams in Europe, with players like Christian Pulisic and Ousmane Dembele impressing.

Their one issue? They are already three points behind Bayern Munich who are equally dominant of the rest of the Bundesliga.

More football

• Premier League predictions: Man United roar back, Liverpool light it up

• Barcelona v Atletico Madrid: Heavyweights battle and leave bruised

• Serie A: Gonzalo who? Arkadiusz Milik erasing Napoli's sour taste in Italy

Barcelona without Messi again

The Spanish champions are again facing a spell without Lionel Messi after he limped off holding his groin in the 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou on Wednesday.

The major concern is whether he will be fit for the Uefa Champions League tie at home to Manchester City on October 19 but in the meantime we'll get another interesting look at how Barcelona cope without their main man. They travel to Sporting Gijon at the weekend.

Players to watch

Alex Iwobi, Arsenal

The Nigerian midfielder has played twice in the Premier League for Arsenal this season and assisted three goals. After a breakthrough season in 2015/16, Iwobi, 20, has a big chance to cement a first-team spot in Arsene Wenger's team.

Arsenal are always looking for goals from midfield and they’ve lost Aaron Ramsey to injury. Saturday’s home game against Chelsea gives Iwobi the platform to show just what he can do.

Scott Sinclair, Celtic

Sinclair has always had bags of talent, particularly his ability to run with the ball at pace. His career in England was a bit of a let down, especially a long spell sitting on Manchester City's bench. But the forward has made a great start to life in Scotland and, by scoring in each of his five first games, he has matched the achievement of Jimmy McGrory. Celtic's home match against Kilmarnock on Saturday is a chance to make it six and a place in the record books.

Matches to watch

Arsenal v Chelsea, Saturday, 8.30pm

Take away the 2015/16 Community Shield and Arsenal’s last competitive victory over Chelsea was a 5-3 thrashing at Stamford Bridge in November 2011. That’s a run of 10 games and Arsenal haven’t even scored against Chelsea in seven matches.

Arsenal appear to be hitting their stride after three straight Premier League wins, scoring nine times. Chelsea, meanwhile, are coming off a home defeat by Liverpool and Wenger will feel like victory is there for the taking.

Besiktas v Galatasaray, Saturday, 9pm

One of the main Istanbul derbies will be a tasty affair. There’s a fair bit of quality on show – Lukas Podolski and Wesley Snjeider at Galatasaray while ex-Al Ahli man Ricardo Quaresma plays for champions Besiktas. Throw in a touch of Nigel de Jong and this could be a volatile affair.

Fiorentina v AC Milan, 10.45pm, Sunday

AC Milan have started the season pretty well and Colombian striker Carlos Bacca, who spent all summer being linked with a move away from the club, has netted five times.

They clash with Fiorentina, who are looking to improve on finishing fifth last season.

This is a battle for momentum at the top of the table and should be a cracker.

Your football weekend – pick of the TV games

(All games on BeIN Sports)

Friday

Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v Freiburg, 10.30pm

Ligue 1 - Toulouse v Paris Saint-Germain, 10.45pm

Saturday

Premier League - Manchester United v Leicester City, 3.30pm

Bundesliga - Hamburg v Bayern Munich, 5.30pm

Premier League - Liverpool v Hull City, 6pm

Premier League - Swansea City v Manchester City, 6pm

Primera Liga - Sporting Gijon v Barcelona, 6.15pm

Serie A - Palermo v Juventus, 8pm

Premier League - Arsenal v Chelsea, 8.30pm

Serie A - Napoli v Chievo, 10.45pm

Primera Liga - Las Palmas v Real Madrid, 10.45pm

Sunday

Primera Liga - Atletico Madrid v Deportivo, 6.15pm

Premier League - West Ham United v Southampton, 7pm

Serie A - Fiorentina v AC Milan, 10.45pm

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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.”

Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers