Demba Ba has been tipped to make a major impact on Chelsea’s bid to claim the Premier League title for the first time since 2010.
Ba scored his first league goal of the season when he completed the Blues’ 3-1 victory over Southampton and pressed his claims to start when Jose Mourinho’s side face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday.
The Senegal striker’s contribution after appearing as a half-time substitute helped turn the game Chelsea’s way and defender Branislav Ivanovic believes Ba’s physical strength offers a different option than that provided by fellow forwards Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto’o.
Ivanovic said: “Demba shows every minute he’s on the pitch that he tries to fight and is a physical striker.
“Sometimes you have to change your style of football and try to hit long balls, he’s very useful for this team and very important.
“Everyone is happy about Demba scoring his first league goal, but it’s not just about that because he can keep the ball and he did that against Southampton.”
Chelsea’s strikers have struggled to click this season but Ivanovic believes the different styles of their three main forwards will help in the club’s bid for honours.
“This is a good thing for our team. We can change each game and also change quickly during the game,” he said.
“It is important for us have different type of players and the manager can choose different strikers for each game. Demba did very well against Southampton and his goal was a reward for the way he played.”
The victory over Southampton kept Mourinho’s side within four points of the leaders, Arsenal.
But with a full programme of midweek fixtures, anything less than victory against a Sunderland side managed by former Chelsea favourite Gus Poyet could widen that gap.
But Ivanovic is confident Chelsea can keep tabs on the leaders and maintain their challenge.
“At this stage in recent years we would always be trailing by a lot of points, but we are up there now and this has given us an opportunity.”
Poyet admits it will be one of his proudest moments in football leading out Sunderland against his former club.
The former Uruguay international made 145 appearances for the London club during a four-year stint at Stamford Bridge from 1997, earning European Cup Wnners’ Cup, European Super Cup and FA Cup winner’s medals in the process.
“These are the kind of games I really look forward to, and with it being Chelsea, it’s going to be very special for me, leading the side at home in front of our own fans,” Poyet said.
Poyet’s side remain second from bottom, five points adrift of safety, despite keeping their first away clean sheet of the season in the 0-0 stalemate at Aston Villa.
The 46-year-old’s first meeting with his former club since taking charge at the Stadium of Light in October is a dress-rehearsal for the fifth round League Cup tie on Wearside between the two sides later this month.
Sunderland have won their last three home games, and their head coach added: “The performance at Villa was our best away from home since I arrived, and we must maintain that momentum against Chelsea.”
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
The struggle is on for active managers
David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.
The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.
Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.
Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.
Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.
At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.
Did you know?
Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.
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The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
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THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
Company%20Profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
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The Specs
Price, base Dh379,000
Engine 2.9-litre, twin-turbo V6
Gearbox eight-speed automatic
Power 503bhp
Torque 443Nm
On sale now
England's lowest Test innings
- 45 v Australia in Sydney, January 28, 1887
- 46 v West Indies in Port of Spain, March 25, 1994
- 51 v West Indies in Kingston, February 4, 2009
- 52 v Australia at The Oval, August 14, 1948
- 53 v Australia at Lord's, July 16, 1888
- 58 v New Zealand in Auckland, March 22, 2018
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Indika
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The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Islamic%20Architecture%3A%20A%20World%20History
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The figures behind the event
1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew
2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show
3) 1,000 social distancing stickers
4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue
The specs: 2018 Audi RS5
Price, base: Dh359,200
Engine: 2.9L twin-turbo V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 450hp at 5,700rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 1,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.7L / 100km
Company%20Profile
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
