FA Cup Semi-Finals
FA Cup Semi-Finals
Welcome to this week's Premier League Prediction! Every Monday we have a new prediction for you to make. This week Rich and Jack talk about the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley Stadium. Chelsea take on Tottenham in a clash of the top two in the Premier League and there is another huge match when Arsenal play Manchester City in the second semi-final. We also look at the phrase 'to go on a run'. This is also a page for you to discuss all the upcoming Premier League matches. This weekend sees some big matches in the Premier League and we want you to discuss all the matches in the comments section below.
Transcript
If the listening was a bit difficult, you can listen again and read the transcript at the same time.Read and listen.Jack: Hi everyone. This week, we’re going to get Rich to predict the result of two of this weekend’s matches! And we’ll have a bit of football English for you, too!
Rich: That’s right! This weekend it’s the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley Stadium. One of the biggest weekends in the football calendar!
Jack: And we couldn’t wish for two bigger matches. The first match, on Saturday, sees the top two Premier League teams go head to head - Chelsea and Tottenham.
Rich: And on Sunday, Arsenal play Manchester City in the second semi-final. Another huge game!
Jack: Let’s start with that first match Rich. What’s your prediction?
Rich: I’m really looking forward to this one. It’s not the Premier League but the result of this match could affect what happens in the Premier League in a big way. Spurs are having an amazing run. They’ve won seven Premier League games in a row. Tottenham have never done this in the Premier League before and it’s the first time they’ve done it in 50 years!
Jack: So, you think Spurs will win?
Rich: Yes, I do. Chelsea will be worried about Spurs. Tottenham are used to playing European games at Wembley and it will be their new home stadium next season. I’m going for a 2-1 win to Spurs.
Jack: I think it will be close, very close and I love penalty shoot-outs. I think it will be 1-1 and Chelsea win on penalties. What about that second semi-final?
Rich: I think this one is easier to predict. Arsenal have been having a horrible run recently. They’ve lost five of their last eight Premier League games. City, on the other hand, are back in form and have lost only once in their last eleven Premier League matches. I think Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling and David Silva will have too much for Arsenal. I think it will finish 3-1 to City.
Jack: No, I have to disagree. This is Arsenal’s last chance to win something and I think we will see The Gunners at their best. Arsenal will win 2-1.
Rich: Whatever happens they are certainly two massive matches to look forward to this weekend.
Jack: Before we go, let’s have a bit of football English. We said Spurs have been having an amazing run and Arsenal have been on a horrible run. What’s this word ‘run’ mean?
Rich: We use ‘a run’ to describe consecutive or successive games. We can say Tottenham have been having an amazing run because they have won 7 matches in a row.
Jack: Or we can be more general and say a team is having a good run or a bad run depending on how the team are playing.
Rich: It’s a word you see a lot in football.
Jack: You can discuss this phrase the FA Cup semi-finals and the rest of this week’s football fixtures in the comments section.
Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football.
Jack: Hi everyone. This week, we’re going to get Rich to predict the result of two of this weekend’s matches! And we’ll have a bit of football English for you, too!
Rich: That’s right! This weekend it’s the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley Stadium. One of the biggest weekends in the football calendar!
Jack: And we couldn’t wish for two bigger matches. The first match, on Saturday, sees the top two Premier League teams go head to head - Chelsea and Tottenham.
Rich: And on Sunday, Arsenal play Manchester City in the second semi-final. Another huge game!
Jack: Let’s start with that first match Rich. What’s your prediction?
Rich: I’m really looking forward to this one. It’s not the Premier League but the result of this match could affect what happens in the Premier League in a big way. Spurs are having an amazing run. They’ve won seven Premier League games in a row. Tottenham have never done this in the Premier League before and it’s the first time they’ve done it in 50 years!
Jack: So, you think Spurs will win?
Rich: Yes, I do. Chelsea will be worried about Spurs. Tottenham are used to playing European games at Wembley and it will be their new home stadium next season. I’m going for a 2-1 win to Spurs.
Jack: I think it will be close, very close and I love penalty shoot-outs. I think it will be 1-1 and Chelsea win on penalties. What about that second semi-final?
Rich: I think this one is easier to predict. Arsenal have been having a horrible run recently. They’ve lost five of their last eight Premier League games. City, on the other hand, are back in form and have lost only once in their last eleven Premier League matches. I think Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling and David Silva will have too much for Arsenal. I think it will finish 3-1 to City.
Jack: No, I have to disagree. This is Arsenal’s last chance to win something and I think we will see The Gunners at their best. Arsenal will win 2-1.
Rich: Whatever happens they are certainly two massive matches to look forward to this weekend.
Jack: Before we go, let’s have a bit of football English. We said Spurs have been having an amazing run and Arsenal have been on a horrible run. What’s this word ‘run’ mean?
Rich: We use ‘a run’ to describe consecutive or successive games. We can say Tottenham have been having an amazing run because they have won 7 matches in a row.
Jack: Or we can be more general and say a team is having a good run or a bad run depending on how the team are playing.
Rich: It’s a word you see a lot in football.
Jack: You can discuss this phrase the FA Cup semi-finals and the rest of this week’s football fixtures in the comments section.
Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football.
Fixtures
Saturday 22 April 2017
| Bournemouth | 15:00 | Middlesbrough | Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth |
| Hull City | 15:00 | Watford | KC Stadium, Hull |
| Swansea City | 15:00 | Stoke City | The Liberty, Swansea |
| West Ham | 15:00 | Everton | London Stadium, London |
FA Cup Semi Final
| Chelsea | 17:15 | Spurs | Wembley Stadium, London |
| Burnley | 14:15 | Manchester Utd | Turf Moor, Burnley |
| Liverpool | 16:30 | Crystal Palace | Anfield, Liverpool |
FA Cup Semi Final
| Manchester City | 15:00 | Arsenal | Wembley Stadium, London |
The Big Match
Rich has two predictions this week. Chelsea against Tottenham and Manchester City against Arsenal. Who will get through to the FA Cup Final? Have a listen to what Rich and Jack think and then make your prediction.
Form
FA Cup Semi Finals
Prediction League
Last week's featured match was Bournemouth v Chelsea. Jack and our listeners predicted a win for Chelsea but Rich thought Bornemouth would earn a draw. Chelsea won 3-1 so that's one point for Jack and our listeners. A special congratulations to Mon from Egypt who predicted the exact score, too, but the most common prediction was 2-0. You can see in the table below that Rich is still ahead in our prediction league. He's predicted that Manchester City and Tottenham will win in the FA Cup! What do you think? Remember, it's one point for the correct result and two additional points for the correct score. Can you predict the right score?
| Bournemouth v Chelsea | Total Points | Tottenham v Chelsea | Man City v Arsenal | |
| Rich | 0 | 24 | 2-1 | 3-1 |
| Podcast Listeners | 1 | 20 | ? | ? |
| Jack | 1 | 15 | 1-1p | 1-2 |
Make your prediction now!
Comment
What do you think?
This is the place to discuss all this week's football. Who will get through to the FA Cup Final? Which matches are you going to watch this weekend?
Can you remember some of the best and worst 'runs' in Premier League history? What about outside of the Premier League?
Leave a comment
Log in to leave a comment
Comments
12/07/2017
points
Roma won 10 consecutive matches at the beginning of the 2013 season, but after that they drew in 10 consecutive matches and they lost the lead and the title for Juventus.
12/07/2017 19:58
Liverpool
3705
Roma won 10 consecutive matches at the beginning of the 2013 season, but after that they drew in 10 consecutive matches and they lost the lead and the title for Juventus.
12/07/2017
points
I watched both matches and they were both amazing.
12/07/2017 19:56
Liverpool
3705
I watched both matches and they were both amazing.
23/04/2017
points
I'm feeling so gutted after the second semi-final! Both sides had lots of chances to score, good performance and the ref made several controversial decisions for both of teams.
I was like a bear with a sore head when the he disallowed our goal during the first half. Sterling could nothing to do due to the backs' efforts. Moreover, it was a Pep's mistake to substitute Aguero and to let Delph playing.
Congrats to all the Gunners' supporters and hope City will concentrate upon the remaining Premier League matches and be able to stay in the top 4.
23/04/2017 18:13
Manchester City
989
I'm feeling so gutted after the second semi-final! Both sides had lots of chances to score, good performance and the ref made several controversial decisions for both of teams.
I was like a bear with a sore head when the he disallowed our goal during the first half. Sterling could nothing to do due to the backs' efforts. Moreover, it was a Pep's mistake to substitute Aguero and to let Delph playing.
Congrats to all the Gunners' supporters and hope City will concentrate upon the remaining Premier League matches and be able to stay in the top 4.
20/04/2017
points
Hope that Spurs and City will deal with their rivals. It's not a secret wwat team I'm going to support in the semi-finals and later, if City beat the Gunners. I've recently read the rumours about the possible replacement of Sanchez. It may be Quincy Promes from Spartak Moscow who replaces the Chilean. Hands off, Mr. Wenger!
Elghoul has already mentioned the example from the Premier League. Let me tell you about the Russian one during the 2013/14 season.
There is a huge gap during the season which lasts from the beginning of December till the beginning of March due to the weather conditions. It was +10 when I had left London at the end of November 2016. 4 hours later, when the plane arrived at Moscow, it was -15! Not the best temperature for playing football. At the beginning of the "spring" part of the season CSKA was the 5th in the table. The club finished at the top after 10 wins in a row at the end of the season.
Zenit St.Petersburg has lost their chances to be the champions at the end of the next to last game (10 minutes before the end they were down 2-4 against Dinamo) and their fans, overcoming the stewards' resistance, came on the pitch and started to fight with each other and even with some players. All the lawbreakers were punished.
20/04/2017 21:41
Manchester City
989
Hope that Spurs and City will deal with their rivals. It's not a secret wwat team I'm going to support in the semi-finals and later, if City beat the Gunners. I've recently read the rumours about the possible replacement of Sanchez. It may be Quincy Promes from Spartak Moscow who replaces the Chilean. Hands off, Mr. Wenger!
Elghoul has already mentioned the example from the Premier League. Let me tell you about the Russian one during the 2013/14 season.
There is a huge gap during the season which lasts from the beginning of December till the beginning of March due to the weather conditions. It was +10 when I had left London at the end of November 2016. 4 hours later, when the plane arrived at Moscow, it was -15! Not the best temperature for playing football. At the beginning of the "spring" part of the season CSKA was the 5th in the table. The club finished at the top after 10 wins in a row at the end of the season.
Zenit St.Petersburg has lost their chances to be the champions at the end of the next to last game (10 minutes before the end they were down 2-4 against Dinamo) and their fans, overcoming the stewards' resistance, came on the pitch and started to fight with each other and even with some players. All the lawbreakers were punished.
19/04/2017
points
I have seen two last Arsenal matches which were thrilling and fantastic. They have lost to Cristal and beaten Middlesborough. Wenger and the team have suffered a lot in their horrible run. But their fighting spirit allows me to look forward seeing their semi against City.
The best run I remember is last year Leicester Shampionship.
19/04/2017 17:00
Manchester City
3988
I have seen two last Arsenal matches which were thrilling and fantastic. They have lost to Cristal and beaten Middlesborough. Wenger and the team have suffered a lot in their horrible run. But their fighting spirit allows me to look forward seeing their semi against City.
The best run I remember is last year Leicester Shampionship.
18/04/2017
points
Chelsea 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Arsenal 1-3 Manchester City
18/04/2017 07:32
Manchester United
4779
Chelsea 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Arsenal 1-3 Manchester City
18/04/2017
points
Correct me.
I agree with Rich about the consequences of the Chelsea vs Spur for the Premier League, the winner can be more confident for the title run.
Arsenal is a bad moment and City can enjoy this.
A question: how many matches Semi-final and FA Cup's Final have? One or two wich?
18/04/2017 03:31
Arsenal
663
Correct me.
I agree with Rich about the consequences of the Chelsea vs Spur for the Premier League, the winner can be more confident for the title run.
Arsenal is a bad moment and City can enjoy this.
A question: how many matches Semi-final and FA Cup's Final have? One or two wich?
18/04/2017
points
Hi RafaelRC
Here are some corrections:
I agree with Rich about the consequences of the Chelsea vs Spur for the Premier League, the winner can be more confident for the title run.
Arsenal is a bad moment and City can enjoy this.
1. This is interesting. You could say... the consequences of the Chelsea
vsSpurs match or the consequences of Chelsea vs Spurs. When we talk about matches, we often just say the teams: Did you watch Burnley vs Liverpool? Or Did you watch the Burnley Liverpool match?2. I think 'will be more confident' is better.
3. This is OK - it feels a bit awkward to me, but I checked and the exact phrase is used in a UK newspaper. I think it would be better to say confident about, but this is just my preference.
4. It's the run-in.
5. Yes - they are. The language focus in the prediction should help you here. We say Arsenal are having a bad run.
6. This is also ok, but it would be better to say that City can take advantage or even: City can capitalise on this. To capitalise on = to take the chance to gain an advantage
The FA Cup is a knockout competition and there semi-final and finals only have one match which is decided on penalties if there isn't a winner after full and extra time.
18/04/2017 09:26
Arsenal
560
Hi RafaelRC
Here are some corrections:
I agree with Rich about the consequences of the Chelsea vs Spur for the Premier League, the winner can be more confident for the title run.
Arsenal is a bad moment and City can enjoy this.
1. This is interesting. You could say... the consequences of the Chelsea
vsSpurs match or the consequences of Chelsea vs Spurs. When we talk about matches, we often just say the teams: Did you watch Burnley vs Liverpool? Or Did you watch the Burnley Liverpool match?2. I think 'will be more confident' is better.
3. This is OK - it feels a bit awkward to me, but I checked and the exact phrase is used in a UK newspaper. I think it would be better to say confident about, but this is just my preference.
4. It's the run-in.
5. Yes - they are. The language focus in the prediction should help you here. We say Arsenal are having a bad run.
6. This is also ok, but it would be better to say that City can take advantage or even: City can capitalise on this. To capitalise on = to take the chance to gain an advantage
The FA Cup is a knockout competition and there semi-final and finals only have one match which is decided on penalties if there isn't a winner after full and extra time.
18/04/2017
points
Thanks for the explanation. This is the best website for English learners!
18/04/2017 11:10
Arsenal
663
Thanks for the explanation. This is the best website for English learners!
18/04/2017
points
You are welcome RafaelRC - really glad you like it.
18/04/2017 14:12
Arsenal
560
You are welcome RafaelRC - really glad you like it.