Thomas Woods brings you the major talking points and games to watch from this week’s European football action
What’s going wrong at Chelsea?
Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat at Arsenal last week could not have been more one-sided. It was a total humiliation at the hands of one of their biggest rivals. Not a single player warranted more than five out of 10 for their performance and it presents Antonio Conte with a major problem.
The season started well for Chelsea’s new Italian manager but perhaps results were masking their issues.
Chelsea won their first two matches but both came because of Diego Costa goals in the last few minutes. Two draws would have put a very different perspective on Conte’s early impact.
In fact, Chelsea have won only one game convincingly – a 3-0 home win over Burnley, their only clean sheet.
Defence is Conte’s biggest problem, which must irk him given how good his Juventus and Italy teams were at the back. He has a goalkeeper in Thibaut Courtois who is hinting he wants to leave, a right-back in Branislav Ivanovic who has visibly declined from being the best in the league two seasons ago, a centre-back who keeps making high-profile mistakes in Gary Cahill and another who is always on the verge of a high-profile mistake in David Luiz.
John Terry, who appears to have been holding things together, might not be fit for the weekend’s away trip to Hull City. It leaves Conte in a pickle.
The only consolation is that Hull is one of the least imposing away trips in the league. However, a third defeat in a row will see the pressure crank up on Conte.
Who is Real Madrid’s best centre forward?
When Madrid used their buy-back clause to re-sign Alvaro Morata from Juventus, it seemed as though French forward Karim Benzema might be forced to look elsewhere.
Would there be enough playing time for two top-class central strikers in Madrid’s 4-3-3 system?
So far it looks like manager Zinedine Zidane can’t make up his mind on who to play. Morata has started four games and has scored twice, Benzema has started four games and scored twice.
It’s a nice problem to have but in the long-run, Madrid will benefit from having a bit of consistency in such an important position.
Can anybody stop Sergio Aguero?
Manchester City’s Argentine striker has started the season on record pace and has 11 goals in six matches across all competitions, despite missing three penalties. Aguero’s history at City highlights his quality. He probably would have been top scorer in each of the last five Premier League seasons were it not for injury.
He has scored 107 goals in 154 league games. That’s a rate of 0.7 goals per game, or two in every three matches. Of the top 10 Premier League goalscorers of all-time, only Arsenal legend Thierry Henry scored at a higher rate, with 174 goals in 258 games at 0.67.
City’s form, Pep Guardiola’s managerial ability and Aguero’s quality could be the recipe for a 40-goal season for the forward. The only thing that can stop the striker is not opposition defenders, but injury.
Five games to watch
• Swansea City v Liverpool, Saturday, 3.45pm: Will Liverpool put the nail into Francesco Guidolin's coffin as Swansea manager with another impressive display? Jurgen Klopp's team have scored 11 goals in their last three games, with Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Adam Lallana and Philippe Coutinho all in sensational form. Swansea have not won since the opening day but will look to draw inspiration from Burnley's performance against Liverpool, where they managed to win 2-0 despite having less than a third of the possession.
• PSG v Bordeaux, Saturday, 7pm: It's looking like PSG are missing Zlatan Ibrahimovic more than he is missing them. Last season, the French champions went 36 games unbeaten in Ligue 1 but after seven games they have already lost twice, including a 2-0 defeat at Toulouse last week. The only significant departures from 2015/16 were Ibrahimovic and erratic centre-back Luiz, but something is not quite right this season. A visit from Bordeaux, led by enigmatic former PSG striker Jeremy Menez, poses a test.
• Valencia v Atletico Madrid, 2pm, Sunday: There was a time a few seasons ago when Valencia would have been favourites to win this game. Instead, they are looking for their eighth manager since the summer of 2012. Valencia have a talented squad, but they are only just putting some results together having lost their first four matches. Two straight wins means they take some form into the clash with Atletico, and they will need it. Diego Simeone's side have conceded just twice in six games.
• Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Sunday, 5.15pm: This is the first major domestic challenge for City, having started the season like a steam train and scoring at will. It's unfortunate that Spurs are missing four first-team players through injury, including Harry Kane, but this is not a game to miss. Spurs won 4-1 last season, but City have also recorded two 5-1 victories in the last two seasons. Tottenham have only conceded three times this season and may well have the defence to keep City at bay for the first time this season.
• Roma v Inter Milan, Sunday, 10.45pm: There's some fantastic attacking talent on display in Sunday's late Serie A game, which features two teams looking to find the consistency to put a title challenge together. Roma were third last season and Inter fourth, but both had spells where they looked like they might get closer to champions Juventus. If either can cut out some of their missed points from last season, then there's enough talent in both squads to become Italian champions. It's just a very big if.
Plan your weekend - best games on TV
(All games on BeIn Sports, kick offs in UAE time)
Friday
• Premier League: Everton v Crystal Palace, 11pm
Saturday
• Scottish Premiership: Dundee v Celtic, 3.15pm
• Premier League: Swansea v Liverpool, 3.30pm
• Bundesliga: Bayern Munich v Cologne, 5.30pm
• Premier League: Hull v Chelsea, 6pm
• Ligue 1: PSG v Bordeaux, 7pm
• Bundesliga: Bayer Leverkusen v Borussia Dortmund, 8.30pm
• Serie A: Udinese v Lazio, 10.45pm
Sunday
• Primera Liga: Valencia v Atletico Madrid, 2pm
• Serie A: Empoli v Juventus, 2.30pm
• Premier League: Manchester United v Stoke City, 3pm
• Serie A: Atlanta v Napoli, 5pm
• Premier League: Tottenham v Manchester City, 5.15pm
• Primera Liga: Real Madrid v Eibar, 6.15pm
• Premier League: Burnley v Arsenal, 7.30pm
• Serie A: Roma v Inter, 10.45pm
• Primera Liga: Celta Vigo v Barcelona, 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.
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