MANCHESTER, United Kingdom // Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini claims he has complete faith in French defender Eliaquim Mangala ahead of the Premier League clash with Crystal Palace at Eastlands on Saturday.
City captain Vincent Kompany has been ruled out until the start of 2015 with a recurrence of a hamstring problem, so Mangala will get a run of games at centre-back alongside Martin Demichelis.
And Pellegrini believes the France international, who joined the English champions from Porto during the close season for £24.3 million ($38 million), will prove his worth during a hectic festive period after struggling at times in his first season in the Premier League.
“Of course we have a lot of trust in Mangala. That’s why we bought him,” Pellegrini said.
“Maybe he has made some mistakes in the Premier League and maybe he has delayed a bit to be settled here.
“But we continue to trust in him because I am sure he is a very good player, he is a very young player and he will be a very important centre-back for our team.”
City are also set be without influential forward Sergio Aguero against Palace as he recovers from a knee injury.
But Pellegrini remains confident that the Argentina international will be fit in time for City’s Champions League tie with Barcelona in February.
“Sergio has a torn ligament and I think it will be long before the Champions League tie against Barcelona, probably in the first weeks of January, that he will play,” Pellegrini added.
City are without all three of their main strikers at the moment, with Edin Dzeko (calf) and Stevan Jovetic (hamstring) also both set to be absent through injury this weekend.
Pellegrini is contemplating whether or not to use midfielders David Silva, Samir Nasri or James Milner out of position in attack against Palace, while 18-year-old forward Jose Angel Pozo remains another option.
“We will see what works and which players will play in that position,” Pellegrini said.
“At the moment, we are trying to keep our minds open and recover as soon as we can with all the players, because we have few strikers.”
Palace boss Neil Warnock insists his side will travel to Manchester convinced they can dent second placed City’s hopes of catching leaders Chelsea.
The south London club have lost just one of their last five league games but remain in the thick of the relegation battle, positioned one point and two places above the bottom three.
“City are just hitting that form aren’t they? It’s always difficult to go to there with them being the champions as well and playing some wonderful football,” Warnock said.
“But we’ve been playing well. I know we haven’t scored the goals that our play has warranted really. I don’t think we have any fear.
“We realise we’ve really got to be on top of our game if we’re going to come away with anything.
“We know our goalkeeper has got to play well, we know our back four has got to play well and we’ve got to create chances.
“So it’s a matter of we’ve all got to be on top form and hope that one or two of their lads are a bit below.”
Warnock has ruled out a loan move for former England left-back Ashley Cole who has struggled to establish himself with Italian club AS Roma.
“We have already been told that there is no way he is coming back. He is enjoying himself over there. I don’t think there is any chance whatsoever,” Warnock added.
English Premier League fixtures (all UAE times)
Saturday
Manchester City v Crystal Palace, 4.45pm
Aston Villa v Manchester United, 7pm
Hull City v Swansea City, 7pm
Queens Park Rangers v West Bromwich Albion, 7pm
Southampton v Everton, 7pm
Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley, 7pm
West Ham United v Leicester City, 7pm
Sunday
Newcastle United v Sunderland, 5.30pm
Liverpool v Arsenal, 8pm
Monday
Stoke City v Chelsea, midnight
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Company%20Profile
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The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.
Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
%3Cp%3ECory%20Sandhagen%20v%20Umar%20Nurmagomedov%0D%3Cbr%3ENick%20Diaz%20v%20Vicente%20Luque%0D%3Cbr%3EMichael%20Chiesa%20v%20Tony%20Ferguson%0D%3Cbr%3EDeiveson%20Figueiredo%20v%20Marlon%20Vera%0D%3Cbr%3EMackenzie%20Dern%20v%20Loopy%20Godinez%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETickets%20for%20the%20August%203%20Fight%20Night%2C%20held%20in%20partnership%20with%20the%20Department%20of%20Culture%20and%20Tourism%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20went%20on%20sale%20earlier%20this%20month%2C%20through%20www.etihadarena.ae%20and%20www.ticketmaster.ae.%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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HAJJAN
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Abu%20Bakr%20Shawky%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3EStarring%3A%20Omar%20Alatawi%2C%20Tulin%20Essam%2C%20Ibrahim%20Al-Hasawi%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Haltia.ai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Arto%20Bendiken%20and%20Talal%20Thabet%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20About%20%241.7%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self%2C%20family%20and%20friends%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Challenge Cup result:
1. UAE 3 faults
2. Ireland 9 faults
3. Brazil 11 faults
4. Spain 15 faults
5. Great Britain 17 faults
6. New Zealand 20 faults
7. Italy 26 faults