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Sergio Aguero scores against Liverpool.

Matchweek 21 & FA Cup - A giant-killing

Matchweek 21 & FA Cup - A giant-killing

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  

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

Jack: Hi there. I’m Jack. We’ve got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.

Rich: We want you to use and practise these phrases by interacting with Premier League fans from around the world in our comments section.

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

Rich: You can find all our latest content on the Premier Skills English homepage or the Premier Skills-British Council Facebook page. 

Jack: Let’s start with our headlines!

Headlines

Rich: City get the win in top of the table clash.

Jack: Manchester City beat Liverpool in a tense match between the Premier League’s top two teams. The home team took the lead through Sergio Aguero’s sharp at the near post but Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino equalised in the second. The scores stayed level for just eight minutes as Leroy Sane grabbed the winner to move City within four points of the leaders. 

Rich: Tottenham’s title chances back on track.

Jack: Spurs won 3-0 away at Cardiff and are only six points behind Liverpool in third place. Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Son Heung Min all scored in the first half.

Rich: Day of the underdog in the FA Cup.

Jack: It was third round day in the FA Cup last weekend - the round where Premier League clubs try to avoid a giant-killing at the hands of the minnows from lower divisions. The biggest surprise or cupset came at Newport County of the fourth division. Newport knocked out Leicester City who are 74 places above them in the football league.

Rich: Yes, it’s very interesting to see some of the world’s biggest clubs go head to head with some of the smaller clubs in the league. Watford played against an amateur team from the sixth division. They only won 2-0.

Jack: Sometimes it’s a bit of a mismatch though. Manchester City won their match 7-0.

Vocabulary alert!

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

Jack: Our six words and phrases this week are all connected to cup competitions. The words and phrases are: to knock out, a shock, a cupset, a minnow, a giant-killing, and a mismatch.

Rich: Let’s start with the phrasal verb to knock out. To knock out means to beat a team so they can’t continue in a competition. Newport County knocked Leicester out of the FA Cup.

Jack: Shock can be used as a noun or a verb. It means to surprise someone - often in a not nice way. Newport shocked Leicester or it was a shock that Newport beat Leicester.

Rich: The next word is a bit silly. It’s an example of a portmanteau which is when you put two words together to make another word. You won’t find it in a dictionary but it’s a word that is becoming more and more popular.

Jack: The word is cupset. It means a surprise or shock result in a cup competition. The two words that have been put together are ‘cup’ and ‘upset’.

Rich: The next word is giant-killing. This has a similar meaning to cupset. A giant-killing is when a small team or a minnow beats a big team or a giant. 

Jack: Newport County beating Leicester was an example of a giant-killing. 

Rich: Newport were the minnows and Leicester were the giants and a victim of a giant-killing.

Jack: The final word is a mismatch. We say a match is a mismatch when one team is obviously better than the other. Manchester City won their FA Cup match 7-0, it was a bit of a mismatch.

Rich: Have a think about these phrases and see if you can use any of them in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Football Awards

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

Jack: The awards are Player of the Week, Team of the Week and Goal of the Week. We’re going back to Matchweek 21 in the Premier League for these matches.

Rich: In the comments section, you need to tell us if you agree with our choices. Let’s start with Player of the Week.

Jack: Marcus Rashford was good for Manchester United as they beat Newcastle 2-0, Marko Arnautovic got two important goals for West Ham and Christian Eriksen brilliant for Spurs.

Rich: But our Player of the Week is Manchester City's Fernandinho. He was brilliant for City in a must-win match for his team and helped the CIty dominate the match against Liverpool.

Jack: What about our Team of the Week? A  difficult choice this week. Palace got a good win against Wolves, Spurs won 3-0 and Manchester United are still winning. But our Team of the Week is Manchester City for winning that top of the table clash.

Rich: Finally, Goal of the Week. Leroy Sane’s was good for CIty, Christian Eriksen’s for Spurs but our Goal of the Week is Marcus Rashford’s goal for Manchester United against Newcastle. A great move and sealed another win for Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer’s team.

Matchweek Prediction 

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

Rich: Matchweek 22 sees Tottenham Hotspur play Manchester United. This is the first big test for Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer who has won his first five matches as Manchester United boss. However, this is the first time his team is up against one of the top four. Spurs are in pretty good form although they lost their last home match against Wolves. This will be a much more attacking game than it would have been under Mourinho and I think United might keep up their recent fine form. I’m going for a United win. Final score: Tottenham 1-2 Manchester United.

Jack: I’m not so sure. I think Spurs will win 3-1.

Rich: We will see. Make your predictions on the page below. You get one point if you predict the right result and three points if you predict the right score.

Jack: 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. 

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football.

Results

Matchweek 21:

Cardiff 0-3 Tottenham

Arsenal 4-1 Fulham

Everton 0-1 Leicester City

Newcastle Utd 0-2 Manchester Utd

Wolves 0-2 Crystal Palace 

Huddersfield Town 1-2 Burnley

West Ham 2-2 Brighton

Chelsea 0-0 Southampton

Bournemouth 3-3 Watford

Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool

Leicester City were the victims of a GIANT-KILLING in the FA Cup. They lost to fourth division MINNOWS, Newport County.

Vocabulary Alert

Football English

We looked at six words and phrases connected to cup competitions in this episode. Take a look at the phrases in bold. Do you undertand what they mean?

The third round of the FA Cup is where Premier League clubs try to avoid a giant-killing at the hands of minnows from lower divisions.

The biggest surprise or cupset came at Newport County of the fourth division.

Newport knocked out Leicester City who are 74 places above them in the football league.

Sometimes it’s a bit of a mismatch though. Manchester City won their match 7-0.

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.

Another CUPSET came at Fulham who lost to fourth division Oldham Athletic.

Matchweek Awards

Do you agree with our choices?

Player of the Week: Fernandinho (Manchester City)

Fernandinho ran the midfield in Manchester City's win against Liverpool.

Team of the Week: Manchester City

The Premier League title race is back on after City's win against Liverpool.

Goal of the Week: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)

Marcus Rashford scored a quality goal for Manchester United against Newcastle.

The Big Matches

Tottenham v Manchester Utd

The big match in Matchweek 22 is Tottenham v Manchester Utd. Rich has predicted a win for Manchester United (1-2) but Jack thinks Spurs will win comfortably (3-1). Do these predictions surprise you?

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?

Form

Premier League Prediction: Tottenham v Manchester Utd

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

No problems for City in the Cup. It was a bit of a MISMATCH. City beat Rotherham 7-0!

Four Questions

What do you think?

Jack and Rich have spoken about Matchweek 21 in the Premier League and the FA Cup. 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 Fernandinho of Manchester City as Player of the Week. Do you agree? 
  2. Jack and Rich selected Manchester City as their Team of the Week. Do you agree?
  3. Rich picked Marcus Rashford's goal for Manchester United as Goal of the Week? Did you see it? Do you agree?
  4. Use this week's vocabulary: What's the biggest cupset you can remember? Do you think it's good that minnows from lower divisions get the chance to play the giants of the Premier League? Why/why not?

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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Comments

hsn's picture
hsn
15/02/2022
TR
5560
points

Phrase
When qualifications of the staff, mismatched with the experience and professional knowledge which is needed for job, productivity fall sharply.


hsn's picture
hsn
15/02/2022 17:11
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5560

Phrase
When qualifications of the staff, mismatched with the experience and professional knowledge which is needed for job, productivity fall sharply.

Ruta__91
11/01/2019
IT
56
points

Nice one


Ruta__91
11/01/2019 17:13
Italy
Chelsea
56

Nice one

osalas
10/01/2019
MX
1
points

Man City has to be the team of the week, that clash at the top of the table was crucial to continue with their aspirations to win the league.


osalas
10/01/2019 23:14
Mexico
West Ham United
1

Man City has to be the team of the week, that clash at the top of the table was crucial to continue with their aspirations to win the league.

Rafael Robson's picture
Rafael Robson
10/01/2019
BR
615
points

I agree with your choices this week.
I think cups competitions are nice because they offer the possibility to have minnows beating bigger teams. I don't remember many cupsets but Wigan beating City 1 x 0 and winning the FA CUP.


Rafael Robson's picture
Rafael Robson
10/01/2019 17:45
Brazil
Tottenham Hotspur
615

I agree with your choices this week.
I think cups competitions are nice because they offer the possibility to have minnows beating bigger teams. I don't remember many cupsets but Wigan beating City 1 x 0 and winning the FA CUP.

Khaldoun83's picture
Khaldoun83
09/01/2019
DZ
325
points

Again, I totally agree with your choices, especialy those related to the week's big games.

I don't have what to say about FA cup because I missed these games.

 


Khaldoun83's picture
Khaldoun83
09/01/2019 13:29
Algeria
Liverpool
325

Again, I totally agree with your choices, especialy those related to the week's big games.

I don't have what to say about FA cup because I missed these games.

 

elghoul's picture
elghoul
08/01/2019
DZ
3988
points

I totally agree with both two choices related to Man City in their match against Liverpool. Fernandinho who was suspended during the two last PL matches City lost made a brilliant match in the top two fighting game.

Good reward for Rashford who scored a beautiful goal.

The historical cupset I still remember even if I've never seen it occured in 1958 when the minnows team of El biar in the suburb of Algiers knocked out the French Coupe the great Reims. Some can also remember that the unknown US national team succeeded in World Cup with their killing-match against England, I think it was also in 1958 . 


elghoul's picture
elghoul
08/01/2019 15:42
Algeria
Manchester City
3988

I totally agree with both two choices related to Man City in their match against Liverpool. Fernandinho who was suspended during the two last PL matches City lost made a brilliant match in the top two fighting game.

Good reward for Rashford who scored a beautiful goal.

The historical cupset I still remember even if I've never seen it occured in 1958 when the minnows team of El biar in the suburb of Algiers knocked out the French Coupe the great Reims. Some can also remember that the unknown US national team succeeded in World Cup with their killing-match against England, I think it was also in 1958 . 

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Goals

Improve your football English.

Practise your listening skills.

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