Taking it one game at a time is one of football's favourite but well-worn cliches, deployed regularly to deflect talk of the long term, of what a team might achieve and what their wider ambitions are.
Sometimes, however, managers do not take it one game a time. Sometimes they look into the future, prioritising one game and sacrificing another. It is a risky policy, one which can backfire badly. It is one that means judgment has to be withheld: whatever the verdict on a weakened team's performance, the approach may be justified if a stronger side wins the match deemed more important.
And that is Everton's hope, that losing to Liverpool with a lesser outfit is overlooked if Sunderland are overcome today, propelling them into the FA Cup semi-finals. For some, it is, and always will be, heresy to downgrade the Merseyside derby. Yet if anything David Moyes was guilty of understatement when branding this "a big week".
Indeed, an 11-day spell containing clashes with Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Sunderland and Arsenal, three of them at Goodison Park, makes it huge. Beat Sunderland, however, and Everton are only 180 minutes away from a first trophy in 17 years.
Resting players in FA Cup weeks is nothing new, but Moyes is going against the grain. Many of his peers spare their premier players an outing in the knockout competition to save them for the Premier League. Indeed, in Moyes' only previous semi-final, in 2009, he encountered a Manchester United side featuring Danny Welbeck, then 18, and Federico Macheda, 17, rather than Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. Everton won on penalties, but United lifted the Premier League and reached the Champions League final that season. Sir Alex Ferguson seemed to have few regrets.
And he has more high-quality players to perm from than Moyes, who made six changes at Anfield. Admittedly one of those alterations certainly strengthened the side as Steven Pienaar, ineligible against Tottenham last week and Cup-tied today, returned. But there can be a fine line between squad rotation and naming a weakened team. It is a matter of interpretation and a cause of controversy.
Wolverhampton Wanderers were given a suspended fine of £25,000 (Dh145,210) for making 10 changes when they visited Old Trafford in December 2009. The notion that it was essentially a reserve team was reinforced when they made a further nine for the following game, a 2-0 win against Burnley. Yet while what seemed a second-string side were comfortably beaten, they took six points from the three games that week. To some it was a betrayal of the competition, to others a pragmatic appraisal of the fixture list.
Last season, meanwhile, Blackpool were fined £25,000 for adopting the same approach at Aston Villa. Yet there was a difference: the Seasiders' understudies almost earned a result in an eventful game, James Collins scoring an 89th-minute winner for Villa. Manager Ian Holloway did not carry out his melodramatic threat to resign if the club were punished but nor did they, unlike Wolves, win the next game.
Blackpool went down by one point, so it is a moot point if Holloway made the right move. Three seasons earlier, another relegation-threatened club were unapologetic. Gary Megson left seven first-team players at home when Bolton Wanderers lost at Sporting Lisbon in the Uefa Cup. Wanderers have not been in Europe since, and may not be again, so it was an anticlimactic way to exit. Nor did they reap an immediate reward, taking a solitary point from their next five league games. They stayed up anyhow.
The following year, Aston Villa took the same decision, to the anger of fans who had travelled to Moscow to see them face CSKA. Their bid for a top-four finish took priority; instead it collapsed, Villa failing to win any of their next nine league games. With the benefit of hindsight, it was the beginning of end of the supporters' love affair with manager Martin O'Neill.
There is unlikely to be a repeat at Everton, but after an underwhelming derby display, beating Sunderland becomes more significant.
"After Tuesday's result it puts a little bit more pressure on the Cup," said defender Phil Jagielka.
And after Tuesday's game, we will know if Moyes was right to rotate at Anfield.
sports@thenational.ae
Company%20profile
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Last 10 NBA champions
2017: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-1
2016: Cleveland bt Golden State 4-3
2015: Golden State bt Cleveland 4-2
2014: San Antonio bt Miami 4-1
2013: Miami bt San Antonio 4-3
2012: Miami bt Oklahoma City 4-1
2011: Dallas bt Miami 4-2
2010: Los Angeles Lakers bt Boston 4-3
2009: Los Angeles Lakers bt Orlando 4-1
2008: Boston bt Los Angeles Lakers 4-2
EMIRATES'S%20REVISED%20A350%20DEPLOYMENT%20SCHEDULE
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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.
Abu Dhabi card
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 2,400m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 2,200m
6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
The National selections:
5pm: Valcartier
5.30pm: AF Taraha
6pm: Dhafra
6.30pm: Maqam
7pm: AF Mekhbat
7.30pm: Ezz Al Rawasi
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME DISPUTE
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: BorrowMe (BorrowMe.com)
Date started: August 2021
Founder: Nour Sabri
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce / Marketplace
Size: Two employees
Funding stage: Seed investment
Initial investment: $200,000
Investors: Amr Manaa (director, PwC Middle East)
All you need to know about Formula E in Saudi Arabia
What The Saudia Ad Diriyah E-Prix
When Saturday
Where Diriyah in Saudi Arabia
What time Qualifying takes place from 11.50am UAE time through until the Super Pole session, which is due to end at 12.55pm. The race, which will last for 45 minutes, starts at 4.05pm.
Who is competing There are 22 drivers, from 11 teams, on the grid, with each vehicle run solely on electronic power.
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
BIOSAFETY LABS SECURITY LEVELS
Biosafety Level 1
The lowest safety level. These labs work with viruses that are minimal risk to humans.
Hand washing is required on entry and exit and potentially infectious material decontaminated with bleach before thrown away.
Must have a lock. Access limited. Lab does not need to be isolated from other buildings.
Used as teaching spaces.
Study microorganisms such as Staphylococcus which causes food poisoning.
Biosafety Level 2
These labs deal with pathogens that can be harmful to people and the environment such as Hepatitis, HIV and salmonella.
Working in Level 2 requires special training in handling pathogenic agents.
Extra safety and security precautions are taken in addition to those at Level 1
Biosafety Level 3
These labs contain material that can be lethal if inhaled. This includes SARS coronavirus, MERS, and yellow fever.
Significant extra precautions are taken with staff given specific immunisations when dealing with certain diseases.
Infectious material is examined in a biological safety cabinet.
Personnel must wear protective gowns that must be discarded or decontaminated after use.
Strict safety and handling procedures are in place. There must be double entrances to the building and they must contain self-closing doors to reduce risk of pathogen aerosols escaping.
Windows must be sealed. Air from must be filtered before it can be recirculated.
Biosafety Level 4
The highest level for biosafety precautions. Scientist work with highly dangerous diseases that have no vaccine or cure.
All material must be decontaminated.
Personnel must wear a positive pressure suit for protection. On leaving the lab this must pass through decontamination shower before they have a personal shower.
Entry is severely restricted to trained and authorised personnel. All entries are recorded.
Entrance must be via airlocks.
DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport