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Virgil van Dijk scores for Liverpool against Watford.

Matchweek 28 - Tucked away

Matchweek 28 - Tucked away

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. We’ve got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.

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

Rich: 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.

Jack: You can find all our latest content on the Premier Skills English homepage or the Premier Skills-British Council Facebook page. 
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Rich: Let’s start with our headlines!

Headlines

Jack: High five for Liverpool at Anfield.

Rich: Liverpool stayed at the top after putting five goals past Watford and improving their goal difference at the same time. Sadio Mane and Dijk van Dyke both scored twice with Divock Origi getting the other.

Jack: City keep in touch with nervy win.

Rich: City are still just one point behind Liverpool after a 1-0 home win against West Ham. City had to rely on a dubious penalty award for all three points. The penalty award might have been soft but Sergio Aguero tucked it away with confidence.

Jack: The race is on for the Champions League places.

Rich: Chelsea beat Spurs 2-0 and there were good wins for Manchester United and Arsenal. It looks like there are four teams battling for two Champions League places. This race will go down to the wire.

Jack: Looks like Tottenham are out of the title race after that defeat to Chelsea.

Rich: It’s looking that way but you never know. They’re also in a battle for the Champions League places now. Manchester United and Arsenal are getting things together.

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: goal difference, to tuck away, to put past, dubious, soft and to go down to the wire.

Jack: Our first phrase is goal difference. In football, you often hear people say things like they are ahead on goal difference or they are top on goal difference.

Rich: Goal difference is the measurement of goals scored and goals conceded. If a team has scored twenty and conceded ten they have a goal difference of plus ten.

Jack: If teams are level on points, positions in the league are decided on goal difference.

Rich: The next phrase is to put past. It has different meanings but we’re going to concentrate on one football meaning. 

Jack: We say things like Liverpool put five past Watford or Arsenal put five past Bournemouth to mean they put five goals pats the other team - they scored five against that team.

Rich: We usually use this phrase when one team scores a lot of goals against another.

Jack: The next phrase is to tuck away. It’s not a common phrase and generally means to put something in a safe place and I suppose in football English it means the same. The back of the net is the safest place to put the ball.

Rich: But in football English, it really means to score or finish a chance with confidence. Sergio Aguero tucked the penalty away with confidence.

Jack: The next word is dubious. In general English dubious means, something that may not be true or you are doubtful about something.

Rich: In football, it means the same thing and is usually used to describe a penalty award from the referee. It means you doubt that a penalty should have been given.

Jack: The next word ‘soft’ is similar. Of course, it has a more general meaning but in football English it means weak. We usually describe a penalty as soft if we think a defender only touched an attacker a little bit and the attacker fell tot he ground easily.

Rich: A common reply to referees from players is ‘I hardly touched him, ref’.

Jack: The last phrase is to go down to the wire. It is used to describe something that won’t be decided until the last moment.

Rich: I think the Premier League title race will go down to the wire.

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 strong performances in Matchweek 28.

Jack: Sadio Mane had a great game for Liverpool and Romelu Lukaku was good for Manchester United and Mesut Ozil was back in the team and playing well for Arsenal.

Rich: But our Player of the Week is Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk. The Liverpool defender has been immense at the back for Liverpool and now he’s scoring as well. Brilliant!

Jack: Jack: What about our Team of the Week? 

Rich: We could go for Liverpool who put five past Watford but we’re going to go for another team who scored five - Arsenal. A brilliant performance from the Gunners and they are warming up for the North London Derby nicely.

Jack: And, finally Goal of the Week. Alexandre Lacazette scored a sublime free-kick for Arsenal but I’m going for Sadio Man’s backheel against Watford.

Rich: Yeah! I love a back heel. Outrageous!

Matchweek Prediction 

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

Jack: It’s the North London Derby this weekend Rich!

Rich: That’s right. On Saturday, Tottenham in third place take on Arsenal in fourth. More than Premier League points are at stake in this North London clash. Fans of both teams will want to win this one but I don’t think either will go home happy because I’m predicting a draw. Tottenham loss against Burnley means they are probably out of the title race and Arsenal have been playing a bit better lately so I think it’ll finish one apiece. Final score: Tottenham 1-1 Arsenal.

Jack: You're right, we have been playing better and that’s why I’m going to go for a 2-1 win to Arsenal.

Rich: We’ll see. 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: 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. 

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football.

Results

Matchweek 28:

Cardiff 0-3 Everton

Leicester City 2-1 Brighton

Newcastle 2-0 Burnley

Huddersfield Town 1-0 Wolves

Arsenal 5-1 Bournemouth

Southampton 2-0 Fulham

Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham

Crystal Palace 1-3 Manchester Utd

Manchester City 1-0 West Ham Utd

Liverpool 5-0 Watford

Romelu Lukaku scored twice for Manchester Utd in their 3-1 win away at Crystal Palace.

Vocabulary Alert

Football English

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

If teams are level on points, positions in the league are decided on goal difference.

Liverpool put five past Watford and Arsenal put five past Bournemouth.

City had to rely on a dubious penalty award for all three points.

The penalty award might have been soft but Sergio Aguero tucked it away with confidence.

I think the Premier League title race will go down to the wire.

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.

Sergio Aguero tucked away his penalty against West Ham with confidence.

Matchweek Awards

Do you agree with our choices?

Player of the Week: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Virgil van Dijk scored twice for Liverpool against Watford and has been immense at the back for Liverpool this season.

Team of the Week: Arsenal

Arsenal put five past Bournemouth and Alexandre Lacazette scored a sublime free-kick.

Goal of the Week: Sadio Mane (Liverpool)

Sadio Mane scored with an outrageous backheel against Watford.

The Big Match

Spurs v Arsenal

The big match in Matchweek 29 is the North London Derby. Rich thinks it will finish in a draw, but Jack thinks Arsenal 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?

Form

Premier League Prediction: Spurs v Arsenal

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

Pedro got one of the goals as Chelsea bounced back from their League Cup Final defeat to beat Tottenham 2-0.

Four Questions

What do you think?

Jack and Rich have spoken about Matchweek 27 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 Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool as Player of the Week. Do you agree? 
  2. Jack and Rich selected Arsenal as their Team of the Week. Do you agree?
  3. Rich picked Sadio Mane's backheel for Liverpool as Goal of the Week? Did you see it? Do you agree?
  4. Use this week's vocabulary: Do you think the Premier League title race will go down to the wire? What about the race for the Champions League? Have you ever heard of a title being won on goal difference?

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
23/02/2022
TR
5560
points

Phrases
• A penalty can be described as "soft" when defender had been trying to grab the ball by tackling, of course a bit touch might be taken place in this position to the opponent. The referee has to look attentively to the position not give dubious penalty award.
• Immense amount of public budget spendings naturally will have brought high inflation rate.


hsn's picture
hsn
23/02/2022 16:14
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5560

Phrases
• A penalty can be described as "soft" when defender had been trying to grab the ball by tackling, of course a bit touch might be taken place in this position to the opponent. The referee has to look attentively to the position not give dubious penalty award.
• Immense amount of public budget spendings naturally will have brought high inflation rate.

elghoul's picture
elghoul
05/03/2019
DZ
3988
points

It is not often that a defender would win the best player award. Now it is the case, and Virgil needed only to score two goals!

Arsenal are again on a good run after suffering during last games. Not easy to put five past any Premier League team.

Was not happy to see this Mane backheel I would love to.

The Premier League title will go down to the wire between Liverpool and City. Both have been managing their squad since the championship second half. The race for the Champions League is also launched between the well known big teams. Each of them should calculate how much points must be earned till the season end and perhaps even goals differences.


elghoul's picture
elghoul
05/03/2019 13:26
Algeria
Manchester City
3988

It is not often that a defender would win the best player award. Now it is the case, and Virgil needed only to score two goals!

Arsenal are again on a good run after suffering during last games. Not easy to put five past any Premier League team.

Was not happy to see this Mane backheel I would love to.

The Premier League title will go down to the wire between Liverpool and City. Both have been managing their squad since the championship second half. The race for the Champions League is also launched between the well known big teams. Each of them should calculate how much points must be earned till the season end and perhaps even goals differences.

Fred Zhong
05/03/2019
CN
80
points

I'v tried several times but can't find this week‘s audio download on the page,could you help me?


Fred Zhong
05/03/2019 01:47
China
Manchester United
80

I'v tried several times but can't find this week‘s audio download on the page,could you help me?

Rich's picture
Rich
05/03/2019
ES
594
points

Hi Fred,

The audio download is now available on the page. Sorry for the delay.

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team


Rich's picture
Rich
05/03/2019 08:21
Spain
Liverpool
594

Hi Fred,

The audio download is now available on the page. Sorry for the delay.

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
01/03/2019
UA
6578
points

Not only was Virgil van Dijk   Player of the Week but his first goal was Goal of the Week in my opinion. Another option is Origi's goal.


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
01/03/2019 14:20
Ukraine
Liverpool
6578

Not only was Virgil van Dijk   Player of the Week but his first goal was Goal of the Week in my opinion. Another option is Origi's goal.

Liubomyr's picture
Liubomyr
01/03/2019
UA
4417
points

This season Virgil van Dijk proved that he is worth money that Liverpool paid to Southampton for his transfer. He is an excellent defender and deserves to be named as one of the club's leaders on the pitch.


Liubomyr's picture
Liubomyr
01/03/2019 13:44
Ukraine
Watford
4417

This season Virgil van Dijk proved that he is worth money that Liverpool paid to Southampton for his transfer. He is an excellent defender and deserves to be named as one of the club's leaders on the pitch.

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1Alex_from_Ukraine6578
2mobeckham6539
3hsn5560
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia74689
2Ukraine33900
3Spain29544
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23661
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20460
8Turkey20111
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United147027
2Liverpool111542
3Chelsea90291
4Arsenal86309
5Manchester City59070
6Tottenham Hotspur19506
7Newcastle United10626
8West Ham United7701
9AFC Bournemouth4915
10Crystal Palace4627

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

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