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Wolves score against Manchester United.

Matchweek 31 & FA Cup: Back to the Drawing Board

Matchweek 31 & FA Cup: Back to the Drawing Board

Welcome to This Week from Premier Skills English, a weekly review of football action for learners of English from across the globe. In This Week, Jack and Rich talk about the latest action from the Premier League. They keep you up to date with our prediction competition and have lots of football English for you to learn.

Transcript

If the listening is a bit difficult, try listening and reading at the same time.
Read the transcript and listen at the same time.

Introduction  

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack and welcome to our weekly round-up section called ‘This Week’ on Premier Skills English.

Rich: Hi there. I’m Rich. In ‘This week’ we talk about all the latest action from the Premier League and we also look at some football English that you can use when speaking about football in English.

Jack: That’s right. We want to help you improve your English while we speak about one of your favourite topics - football!

Rich: We have a new episode every week and each time we have some new words and phrases for you to learn. So subscribe now and you’ll never miss an episode!

Jack: In every episode of This Week we want you to learn new phrases and practise them by interacting with Premier League fans from around the world in our comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Rich: We also have a second show. This is called the Premier Skills English Podcast. This is another weekly show that focusses more on your English skills.

Jack: We talk about different more general topics and help you with vocabulary, grammar and speaking.

Rich: But we always get a bit of football into the podcast, too.

Jack: Yes, we do. You can find all of our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you’re looking for our Football English show called This week those are the episodes that begin with Matchweek 31 or Matchweek 30 and so on.

Rich: If you are looking for our more general podcast show. Those are the episodes that begin with Communication Skills or Learning Vocabulary or Understanding Grammar and so on.

Rich: If you listen to us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, you can leave your comments or answers to the tasks and questions we give you in the review section. We do read all the reviews and would love to hear from you.

Jack: Remember that you can always find all our latest content on the Premier Skills English homepage or the Premier Skills-British Council Facebook page. 

Rich: Let’s start with our headlines!

Headlines

Jack: Liverpool back on top of Premier League.

Rich: Liverpool took advantage of Manchester City’s involvement in the FA Cup with a 2-1 win at Fulham that took them back to the top of the Premier League. They had to do it the hard way though. After an early goal from Sadio Mane, Fulham surprisingly equalised and it took a late James Milner penalty to seal all three points.

Jack: Wolves topple Manchester United in cup shock.

Rich: Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota sent Wolves into their first FA Cup semi-final for over 20 years with a fine 2-1 win against Manchester United. The hosts dominated from start to finish and fully deserved their victory. It’s back to the drawing board for United who have missed out on the chance of Cup glory.

Jack: Weekend of comebacks for Premier League teams.

Rich: Manchester City and Brighton came back to win their cup quarter-finals and prevent a giant-killing against teams from lower divisions. City came back from 2-0 down to beat Swansea City 3-2. Brighton left it late to score twice in the last two minutes and finally beat Millwall on penalties. There was another comeback in the Premier League where West Ham came from 3-1 down to beat Huddersfield 4-3.

Jack: Great drama in some of those matches.

Rich: Yes, I love a late goal or two!

Vocabulary alert!

Jack: In our vocabulary alert, we look at some football English that we used in the headlines.

Rich: Our six words and phrases this week are: to seal, hosts, back to the drawing board, glory, a giant-killing, and to leave it late.

Jack; Let’s start with the verb to seal. In the headlines we said ‘it took a late James Milner penalty to seal all three points’.

Rich: To seal something means to close something like an envelope or to cover something up like a crack in a surface. Seal can mean to make something safe and secure. It can also mean to make something sure or definite.

Jack: Liverpool sealed all three points with that penalty. They made the game safe; they made sure of all three points with that penalty.

Rich: The next word is host or hosts. A host is usually the person who invites people to a party at their house.

Jack: We can also use it to describe an organisation or country that hosts an international event. Japan is going to host the Olympic Games.

Rich: In football, the hosts are the home team. 

Jack: The next word is glory. In football or a sporting context, glory is the fame or honour that people give to you for winning something.

Rich: Manchester United won’t have any cup glory this season now they have been knocked out. 

Jack: The next phrase is to leave it late. The meaning is obvious - it means to do something at the last minute and it’s used a lot in football when goals are scored near the end of the match.

Rich: Manchester City left it late against Swansea but they won the game.

Jack: The next phrase is giant-killing. This is a phrase we use in football too describe a small team beating a big team. Manchester City avoided a giant-killing against Swansea.

Rich: Our final phrase is an idiom and it’s back to the drawing board. This phrase means to start again after a plan has failed.

Jack: Manchester United have to go back to the drawing board after their defeat to Wolves.

Jack: Were any of the phrases new for you? See if you can use any of them at the bottom of the page in the comments section.

Football Awards

Jack: Right, every week, we give out three Matchweek awards. 

Rich: The awards are Player of the Week, Team of the Week and Goal of the Week.

Jack: In the comments section, you need to tell us if you agree with our choices.

Rich: Let’s start with Player of the Week. There were some brilliant performances last weekend.

Jack: James Milner must have nerves of steel to take and score that late penalty for Liverpool, Wes Morgan got a late winner for Leicester and Javier Hernandez, Sergio Aguero and Solly March all came off the bench to rescue their teams.

Rich: But our Player of the Week is Wolverhampton’s Raul Jimenez. The Mexican striker was brilliant for Wolves as they looked like the team that should be in the Champions League rather than Manchester United.

Jack: The next award is for Team of the Week. We could go for Manchester City, Leicester, or Brighton for their late wins but we’re going to go for West Ham United.

Rich: The Hammers were 3-1 down with just 15 minutes left and won 4-3! What a performance!

Jack: Right, the final award is for Goal of the Week. Karlan Grant scored a cracking free-kick for Huddersfield Town and Andre Gray scored a great goal for Watford to send them into the semi-finals of the cup.

Rich: But our Goal of the Week goes to Newcastle United’s Matt Ritchie. It was a spectacular volley and rescued a point deep into injury time for the Geordies.

Matchweek Prediction 

Jack: Every week, Rich predicts the result of one Premier League match and we want you to make your prediction, too.

Rich: Make your predictions on the Premier Skills English website. You get one point if you predict the right result and three points if you predict the right score.

Jack: There are no Premier League matches this weekend due to the international break so the next prediction is for Matchweek 32 on the first weekend of April.

Rich: And it’s another big one that will affect the title race and the battle for the top four. Liverpool are the hosts and Tottenham are the visitors. It will be a tight game but Tottenham have not been in great form recently despite remaining third and going through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. However, a team with Harry Kane, SOn Heung MIn and Christian Eriksen will always be a danger. Liverpool have returned to winning ways after dropping some points recently but looked back to their best against Bayern in Germany. I think home advantage will tell in this one and I’m going for a home win. Final score: Liverpool 2-1 Tottenham.

Jack: I think I’m going to agree with you but I think it’ll be more comfortable. Three-nil Liverpool for me.

Rich: Right, that’s all we have time for. I hope you have enjoyed this football round-up. Join the discussion at the bottom of the page on the Premier Skills English website. 

Jack: If you listen to us on Apple Podcasts, don’t forget to leave us a review. We’d love to hear from you.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football.

Results

Matchweek 31:

Burnley 1-2 Leicester City

West Ham 4-3 Huddersfield

Bournemouth 2-2 Newcastle

Fulham 1-2 Liverpool

Everton 2-0 Chelsea

FA Cup Quarter-Finals

Watford 2-1 Crystal Palace

Swansea City 2-3 Manchester City

Wolves 2-1 Manchester United

Milwall 2-2 Brighton (won on penalties)

James Milner gets the winner from the penalty spot for Liverpool.

Vocabulary Alert

Football English

We looked at six words and phrases from the headlines that you can learn to improve your English. Take a look at the phrases in bold. Do you understand what they mean?

It took a late James Milner penalty to seal all three points.

The hosts dominated from start to finish.

It’s back to the drawing board for United who have missed out on the chance of Cup glory.

Manchester City and Brighton came back to win their cup quarter-finals and prevent a giant-killing.

Brighton left it late to score twice in the last two minutes and finally beat Millwall on penalties. 

Can you use the words in bold in a different sentence? Write a sentence at the bottom of the page. If you're not sure, listen to the audio for more explanations and examples.

Brighton are in the FA Cup semi-finals after beating Millwall on penalties.

Matchweek Awards

Do you agree with our choices?

Player of the Week: Raul Jimenez (Wolves)

Raul Jimenez gets the opening goal as Wolves knock Manchester United out of the FA Cup.

Team of the Week: West Ham United

Javier Hernandez scored twice as West Ham came from 3-1 down to beat Huddersfield 4-3.

Goal of the Week: Matt Ritchie (Newcastle United)

Matt Ritchie scored a sensational injury-time volley to grab an equaliser for Newcastle against Bournemouth.

The Big Match

Liverpool v Tottenham

The big match in Matchweek 32 is Liverpool at home to Spurs in a match that could affect the title race and the race for the Champions League. Rich and Jack both think Liverpool will win. Do you agree?

What are your predictions? Have a listen to what Rich and Jack say and then enter our prediction competition below. You get one point for the correct result and three points for predicting the exact score.

Where are you in our prediction league?

Who will be our Premier League Prediction Champion?

Formulário

Premier League Prediction: Liverpool v Spurs

Use this form to make your prediction. You can only make one prediction so take care! When you have made your predictions, the form will vanish.

You need to be logged in to make your prediction!

Check out the league table for our prediction competition. What position are you in?

See results table

Watford are in the FA Cup semi-finals after beating Crystal Palace 2-1. Andre Gray got the winner for Watford.

Four Questions

What do you think?

Jack and Rich have spoken about Matchweek 30 in the Premier League. Now it's your turn! Have a look at the questions and write your answers in the comments section below.

  1. Rich and Jack chose Raul Jimenez of Wolverhampton Wanderers as Player of the Week. Do you agree? 
  2. Jack and Rich selected West Ham United as their Team of the Week. Do you agree?
  3. Rich picked Matt Ritchie's volley for Newcastle as Goal of the Week? Did you see it? Do you agree?
  4. Use this week's vocabulary: Do Manchester United have to go back to the drawing board or was it just a bad day against Wolves? Who will get cup glory this season?

Don't forget to make your prediction for this week's Big Match!

Let's get the conversation started and create a community!

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Comentários

lucas2007
22/03/2019
VN
2
points

The match between Liverpool and Fulham was a brilliant match. After Liverpool won this match, they were in second place and Fulham were in nineteenth place. Sandio Mane scored the first goal for Liverpool but after that, Ryan Babel equalised. Finally, James Milner sealed the match by defeating Sergio Rico with a penalty. Even though Fulham had a battling game, they still lost to Liverpool, a team in the top three.


lucas2007
22/03/2019 12:22
Vietnam
Tottenham Hotspur
2

The match between Liverpool and Fulham was a brilliant match. After Liverpool won this match, they were in second place and Fulham were in nineteenth place. Sandio Mane scored the first goal for Liverpool but after that, Ryan Babel equalised. Finally, James Milner sealed the match by defeating Sergio Rico with a penalty. Even though Fulham had a battling game, they still lost to Liverpool, a team in the top three.

Rafael Robson's picture
Rafael Robson
22/03/2019
BR
615
points

I agree with your choices of Jimenez as Player of the Week and Ritchie's volley as Goal of the week, but I would not have chosen West Ham as Team of the Week. I think Wolverhampton was superior all the game whereas West Ham was quite irregular. I also liked the way Everton saw off Chelsea.

I think it was just a bad day for United. If they are defeated by Barcelona on Champions League, I will say they have to go back to the drawing board.

I would like to see Wolverhampton getting the cup glory this season.


Rafael Robson's picture
Rafael Robson
22/03/2019 02:32
Brazil
Tottenham Hotspur
615

I agree with your choices of Jimenez as Player of the Week and Ritchie's volley as Goal of the week, but I would not have chosen West Ham as Team of the Week. I think Wolverhampton was superior all the game whereas West Ham was quite irregular. I also liked the way Everton saw off Chelsea.

I think it was just a bad day for United. If they are defeated by Barcelona on Champions League, I will say they have to go back to the drawing board.

I would like to see Wolverhampton getting the cup glory this season.

ldzingirai's picture
ldzingirai
21/03/2019
ZW
1749
points

Vocabulary Alert

Fulham hosts Manchester City after international break.

Everton made a giant-killing against one of the usual top four suspects and former Primier League champions, Chelsea FC.

Burnely is back to the drawing board after it suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Leicester City


ldzingirai's picture
ldzingirai
21/03/2019 03:30
Zimbabwe
Chelsea
1749

Vocabulary Alert

Fulham hosts Manchester City after international break.

Everton made a giant-killing against one of the usual top four suspects and former Primier League champions, Chelsea FC.

Burnely is back to the drawing board after it suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Leicester City

Khaldoun83's picture
Khaldoun83
20/03/2019
DZ
325
points

I didn't watch any game this week. So, I'm not going to judje your choices.

I think that Manchester United's coach need to goes back to the drawing board after his team first defeat in Premier League this season under his leadership.


Khaldoun83's picture
Khaldoun83
20/03/2019 13:57
Algeria
Liverpool
325

I didn't watch any game this week. So, I'm not going to judje your choices.

I think that Manchester United's coach need to goes back to the drawing board after his team first defeat in Premier League this season under his leadership.

elghoul's picture
elghoul
20/03/2019
DZ
3988
points

To knock out Man United only great players like Raul Jimenez can do it.

West Ham United mixe great matchs and dull ones from week to week.

I didn't see Matt Ritchie's volley so I can't agree nor disagree with that choice.

Man United actually have been playing on three tables. It is not so terrible to lose on one of them.


elghoul's picture
elghoul
20/03/2019 13:10
Algeria
Manchester City
3988

To knock out Man United only great players like Raul Jimenez can do it.

West Ham United mixe great matchs and dull ones from week to week.

I didn't see Matt Ritchie's volley so I can't agree nor disagree with that choice.

Man United actually have been playing on three tables. It is not so terrible to lose on one of them.

Leaderboard

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1Alex_from_Ukraine6578
2mobeckham6539
3hsn5560
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
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2Ukraine33892
3Spain29525
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23661
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7Vietnam20460
8Turkey20111
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Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United147000
2Liverpool111527
3Chelsea90265
4Arsenal86299
5Manchester City58968
6Tottenham Hotspur19506
7Newcastle United10626
8West Ham United7701
9AFC Bournemouth4915
10Crystal Palace4568

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3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

Improve your football English.

Practise your listening skills.

Make your prediction for next week's big Premier League match.