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Matchweek 1 - Kick off

Matchweek 1 - Kick off

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 opening weekend of the Premier League season. They also announce a new prediction competition which you can join. In addition to this, Rich and Jack 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 Monday round-up section called ‘This Week’ on Premier Skills English.  

Jack: Hi there. I’m Jack. That’s right. We’re back with This Week to discuss all the latest football action.

Rich: The Premier League kicked off with a bang last weekend and we’re going to discuss all the action and been happening over the summer and what we think is going to happen during the season. 

Jack: And of course, we want you to practise your English and interact with Premier League fans from around the world in our comments section.

Rich: You can do this on the Premier Skills English website or the Premier Skills-British Council Facebook page.

Jack: Let’s start with this week’s headlines!

Headlines

Rich: Big five get off to a winning start!

Jack: The top five from last season all won their opening games of the season. Manchester Utd kicked off the new season on Friday with a 2-1 win against Leicester City 2-1. On Saturday, Chelsea beat Huddersfield 3-0 and Tottenham won 2-1 away at Newcastle. Then, on Sunday,  Liverpool got a 4-0 win against West Ham and last season’s Champions Manchester City got off to a flying start with a 2-0 win away at Arsenal.

Rich: New boys struggle on Premier League debuts.

Jack: The three promoted teams all failed to win on their return to the Premier League. Cardiff lost 2-0 at Bournemouth and Fulham lost 2-0 at home to Crystal Palace. Wolves had more joy but could only manage a 2-2 draw against Everton who played the entire second half with just 10 men.

Rich: World Cup Winners back on target.

Jack: Many of the Premier League players that were in action in Russia were rested for the opening weekend of the season, but two that were definitely in action were Manchester Utd’s Paul Pogba and Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante. The two World Cup winners were both on target for their clubs.

Vocabulary alert!

Rich: In our definition alert we look at some football English that we used in this week’s headlines.

Jack: The words and phrases we’re looking at this week are: a flying start, to struggle, to rest someone and to be on target.

Rich: Manchester City got off to a flying start with a 2-0 win away at Arsenal. To get off to flying start is an idiom which means to begin or start something very well.

Jack: City, Liverpool and Chelsea have all got off to a flying start this season.

Rich: New boys struggle on Premier League debut. To struggle means to find something very difficult to do. 

Jack: The new Premier League teams might struggle this season. 

Rich: Many Premier League players were rested on the opening day of the season. To be rested means a manager decides not to play a player because he is tired.

Jack: But Paul Pogba wasn’t rested. He played and scored.

Rich: The two World Cup winners were both on target. To be on target means to score a goal or to hit a shot directly on goal which is saved.

Jack: N’Golo Kante was on target for Chelsea. Manchester City had eight shots on target against Arsenal.

Football Awards

Rich: Right, every Monday, we give out three matchweek awards. 

Jack: This season the awards are Player of the Week, Team of the Week and Goal of the Week.

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

Jack: These awards always create a lot of discussion and it’s good to see a bit of discussion as people often disagree with each other about these. 

Rich: Let’s start with our Player of the Week. There were some great individual performances in the Premier League last week.

Jack: Yes, there were. Paul Pogba and David De Gea were good for Manchester United, Raheem Sterling good for City and Jorginho had a fine debut for Chelsea.

Rich: But our Player of the Week comes from the Wolves v Everton match. Richarlison scored twice on his debut for Everton but our Player of the Week is Ruben Neves of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Jack: Neves scored a great free-kick and the Portuguese midfielder is definitely a player to keep an eye on this season.

Rich: Our next award is for Team of the Week. There were good wins for the top five from last seasn as well as Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Watford. And our Team of the Week is Chelsea.

Jack: Chelsea won 3-0 away at Huddersfield and a debut win for the Blues new manager, Maurizio Sarri. Could we see them challenging for the title this season?

Rich: Our final award is our new award for this season - Goal of the Week.

Jack: There were some great goals this opening weekend. Sterling and Bernardo scored great goals against Arsenal, we’ve already mentioned Ruben Neves’ free-kick against Everton and Luke Shaw the winner for Manchester Utd - his first ever goal ever!

Rich: But our goal of the week award goes to Watford’s Roberto Pereyra. He scored both goals in a 2-0 win against Brighton both of them brilliant. Our award is for his first goal - a great volley.

Jack: It was good but I actually preferred his second; a brilliant curling effort.

Football Shout-out

Rich: Right, here’s a new section for you. Football shout-out. 

Jack: Each week we’re going to look at a phrase that a fan or a commentator might use when watching a match.

Rich: This week’s phrase is ‘What a’

Jack: What a?

Rich: Yes, like in what a goal, what a screamer, what a shot, what a brilliant volley or what an effort.

Jack: You’re right. This is a really common phrase fans and commentators use. We use ‘what a’ plus a noun to describe a brilliant goal or shot.

Rich: And we can add adjectives if we thought it was really good. What do you think Watford fans would have said when they saw those goals by Pereyra?

Jack: We want our listeners to decide. Write your descriptions of the goal in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Matchweek Prediction 

Rich: Every week, I am going to predict one Premier League match and we want you to make your prediction, too.

Jack: You can make your prediction on the page below this podcast. We will keep a record of all the predictions you make throughout the season.

Rich: You will be able to see a League table of the predictions all our listeners made. Can you beat me? Can you beat Jack? Will you be our Premier League Prediction Champion?

Jack: You score one point for a correct result or three points for the exact score. What’s your first prediction this season, Rich?

Rich: Matchweek 2 sees Chelsea play Arsenal in a big London derby match. Chelsea got off to a flying start with a 3-0 win against Huddersfield while Arsenal struggled against Manchester City. There will be a good atmosphere at Stamford Bridge and I fancy Chelea to come out on top in this one. Chelsea rested Eden Hazard last week but I think he will start his one which will be bad news for Arsenal. I think Chelsea will win comfortably. Finals score: Chelsea 3-1 Arsenal.

Jack: I’m going for a surprise draw. I think it will finish one all.

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. 

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.

Results

Matchweek 1:

Manchester Utd 2-1 Leicester City

Newcastle Utd 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Bournemouth 2-0 Cardiff City

Fulham 0-2 Crystal Palace

Huddersfield Town 0-3 Chelsea

Watford 2-0 Brighton

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-2 Everton

Liverpool 4-0 West Ham Utd

Southampton 0-0 Burnley

Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City

Raheem Sterling and Bernardo got Manchester City's season off to a flying start.

Vocabulary Alert

Football English

Take a look at the words in bold. Do you undertand what they mean?

Manchester City got off to a flying start with a 2-0 win away at Arsenal.

New boys struggle on Premier League debuts.

Many of the Premier League players that were in action in Russia were rested for the opening weekend of the season.

Two World Cup winners were on target for their clubs.

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.

Last season's top scorer, Mohamed Salah, got off the mark in Liverpool's 4-0 win against West Ham.

Matchweek Awards

Do you agree with our choices?

Player of the Week: Ruben Neves (Wolves)

Ruben Neves has scored 8 goals for Wolves and all of them have come from outside the penalty area.

Team of the Week: Chelsea

N'Golo Kante and Jorginho were two of Chelsea's goalscorers in their 3-0 away win against Huddersfield.

Goal of the Week: Roberto Pereyra (Watford)

Pereyra scored two great goals against Bournemouth. His first was a brilliant volley and is our Goal of the Week.

The Big Match

Chelsea v Arsenal

Rich's prediction for matchweek two is the London Derby between Chelsea and Arsenal. Rich has predicted a 3-1 win for Chelsea while Jack has gone for a 1-1 draw.

What is your prediction? 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.

Who will be our Premier League Prediction Champion?

Form

Premier League Prediction: Chelsea v Arsenal

Use this form to make your predictions. 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!

Four Questions

What do you think?

Jack and Rich have spoken about the start of the Premier League season. 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 Ruben Neves of Wolverhampton Wanderers as Player of the Week. Do you agree? 
  2. Jack and Rich chose Chelsea as their Team of the Week. Do you agree?
  3. Rich chose Roberto Pereyra's goal for Watford as Goal of the Week? Did you see it? Do you agree?
  4. Can you describe the Goal of the Week with the language Jack and Rich used in the podcast? 

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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Komentar

hsn's picture
hsn
03/02/2021
TR
5558
points

PHRASES;

• • The stock-exchange market kicks off with a bang when the share prices going to up however it doesn't start with a gong in case of falling index.

• • After graduating with a successful degree she got off a flying start in her working-life as a top manager.

• I always struggle with traffic in which some drivers who don't care about rules.

• This player is very tired as result of being fond of night entertainment so he needs to be rested-:)

• It wasn't end to end” football match and haven't been shots on target. I'm bored.

P.S.
• Instead of “on target” we say “shot which finds the goal”


hsn's picture
hsn
03/02/2021 17:37
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5558

PHRASES;

• • The stock-exchange market kicks off with a bang when the share prices going to up however it doesn't start with a gong in case of falling index.

• • After graduating with a successful degree she got off a flying start in her working-life as a top manager.

• I always struggle with traffic in which some drivers who don't care about rules.

• This player is very tired as result of being fond of night entertainment so he needs to be rested-:)

• It wasn't end to end” football match and haven't been shots on target. I'm bored.

P.S.
• Instead of “on target” we say “shot which finds the goal”

milos
20/08/2018
RS
2663
points

As always start of the Premier league is big event.This week was a some good matches to watch.I am glad for Manchester United won this week.I must agree with your choice about team of the week. Chelsea got off to a flying start.I haven‘t watched all games,just some higlights and Roberto Pereyra‘s goal was brilliant.


milos
20/08/2018 07:18
Serbia
Manchester United
2663

As always start of the Premier league is big event.This week was a some good matches to watch.I am glad for Manchester United won this week.I must agree with your choice about team of the week. Chelsea got off to a flying start.I haven‘t watched all games,just some higlights and Roberto Pereyra‘s goal was brilliant.

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
17/08/2018
PS
3705
points

I do agree that Pereyra volley was the best goal of the week,a graet cross led to a great a volley.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
17/08/2018 20:21
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

I do agree that Pereyra volley was the best goal of the week,a graet cross led to a great a volley.

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
17/08/2018
PS
3705
points

With all due respect,I think that Liverpool is team of the week as they dominated the match against west ham.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
17/08/2018 20:20
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

With all due respect,I think that Liverpool is team of the week as they dominated the match against west ham.

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
17/08/2018
PS
3705
points

I think that Sideo Mane is the player of the week,he scored twice and made a lot of assists to his teammates.Although Ruben Neves had a great match after helping his team to score a goal.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
17/08/2018 20:18
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

I think that Sideo Mane is the player of the week,he scored twice and made a lot of assists to his teammates.Although Ruben Neves had a great match after helping his team to score a goal.

Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
17/08/2018
SD
2903
points

Liverpool hammered the Hummers. What a great start to new campaign!

Richarlison has hit the ground running at Everton. Definitely a player to keep an eye on.

As for the awards, I have no say since I did only watch Man City vs Arsenal.

What a cracker by Roberto Pereyra!


Ahmed Adam Mamado's picture
Ahmed Adam Mamado
17/08/2018 12:07
Sudan
Liverpool
2903

Liverpool hammered the Hummers. What a great start to new campaign!

Richarlison has hit the ground running at Everton. Definitely a player to keep an eye on.

As for the awards, I have no say since I did only watch Man City vs Arsenal.

What a cracker by Roberto Pereyra!

Khaldoun83's picture
Khaldoun83
15/08/2018
DZ
325
points

Well, I didn't watch all the games. So, I can't choose neither best player nor the best team of the week but I could say that Raheem Sterling was Brilliant against Arsenal.

I could also say that Bernardo Silva's goal was quite wonderful.


Khaldoun83's picture
Khaldoun83
15/08/2018 17:42
Algeria
Liverpool
325

Well, I didn't watch all the games. So, I can't choose neither best player nor the best team of the week but I could say that Raheem Sterling was Brilliant against Arsenal.

I could also say that Bernardo Silva's goal was quite wonderful.

anhduongspurs
15/08/2018
VN
1084
points

Could you fix " Totteenham" to "Tottenham"


anhduongspurs
15/08/2018 15:24
Vietnam
Wolverhampton Wanderers
1084

Could you fix " Totteenham" to "Tottenham"

Liubomyr's picture
Liubomyr
15/08/2018
UA
4417
points

I haven’t seen the match live on TV, but if I have, as a Watford fan I would rather have said something like “What an incredible strike that was!”


Liubomyr's picture
Liubomyr
15/08/2018 14:45
Ukraine
Watford
4417

I haven’t seen the match live on TV, but if I have, as a Watford fan I would rather have said something like “What an incredible strike that was!”

elghoul's picture
elghoul
15/08/2018
DZ
3988
points

1. It is great to focus our attention on new Premier League members. The best result this week among the three newers is the Wolves draw. So I agree with the choice of Ruben Neves as best player.

2. Like the four other top PL clubs Chelsea got off well this season.

So congratulations for the new manager.

3. Roberto Pereira for Watford was on target with his best goal of the week but I don't think this would a flying start for him as a scorer. There must be some lucky strikers from the top five who should win the gold boot this season.


elghoul's picture
elghoul
15/08/2018 14:24
Algeria
Manchester City
3988

1. It is great to focus our attention on new Premier League members. The best result this week among the three newers is the Wolves draw. So I agree with the choice of Ruben Neves as best player.

2. Like the four other top PL clubs Chelsea got off well this season.

So congratulations for the new manager.

3. Roberto Pereira for Watford was on target with his best goal of the week but I don't think this would a flying start for him as a scorer. There must be some lucky strikers from the top five who should win the gold boot this season.

RafaelRC's picture
RafaelRC
15/08/2018
BR
663
points

Hi! This season had an great beginning. I think that will be an amazing season.
For me Roberto Pereyra was the player of the week, two beautiful scores.
I thought Liverpool team of the week, great victory, what a brilliant match. I don't know if this expression exist in English but in Portuguese we would said: West Ham didn't see the ball's colour.

Describing the goal of the week:
Cross!!! Pereyra... What a fantastic volley!!!! Pereyra a shot on target!!!!


RafaelRC's picture
RafaelRC
15/08/2018 03:29
Brazil
Arsenal
663

Hi! This season had an great beginning. I think that will be an amazing season.
For me Roberto Pereyra was the player of the week, two beautiful scores.
I thought Liverpool team of the week, great victory, what a brilliant match. I don't know if this expression exist in English but in Portuguese we would said: West Ham didn't see the ball's colour.

Describing the goal of the week:
Cross!!! Pereyra... What a fantastic volley!!!! Pereyra a shot on target!!!!

Rich's picture
Rich
15/08/2018
ES
594
points

Hi RafaelRC,

That idiom doesn't exist in English but you could say something like 'the West Ham players were chasing shadows for the whole match'. I think this has a similar meaning. 

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team


Rich's picture
Rich
15/08/2018 08:39
Spain
Liverpool
594

Hi RafaelRC,

That idiom doesn't exist in English but you could say something like 'the West Ham players were chasing shadows for the whole match'. I think this has a similar meaning. 

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team

RafaelRC's picture
RafaelRC
15/08/2018
BR
663
points

Ok, the meaning is the same like West Ham was lost on the match.
Thanks!!


RafaelRC's picture
RafaelRC
15/08/2018 11:02
Brazil
Arsenal
663

Ok, the meaning is the same like West Ham was lost on the match.
Thanks!!

Richard J's picture
Richard J
15/08/2018
EC
2846
points

Hi everyone,
I didn't watch any game of the Premier League this week just the first game Machester United vs Leicester City even I haven't watched all the goals of this week just the goals of Liverpool because is my favourite team. However I agree Chelsea is the team of the week because althought Chelsea has fantastic players the team needs to adapt to the idea of the new manager and Chelsea had lost the Community Shield Cup against Machester City some days ago, so I think is a great recovery.


Richard J's picture
Richard J
15/08/2018 00:46
Ecuador
Liverpool
2846

Hi everyone,
I didn't watch any game of the Premier League this week just the first game Machester United vs Leicester City even I haven't watched all the goals of this week just the goals of Liverpool because is my favourite team. However I agree Chelsea is the team of the week because althought Chelsea has fantastic players the team needs to adapt to the idea of the new manager and Chelsea had lost the Community Shield Cup against Machester City some days ago, so I think is a great recovery.

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1Alex_from_Ukraine6577
2mobeckham6539
3hsn5558
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4779
6Liubomyr4417
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia74676
2Ukraine33869
3Spain29492
4Serbia27426
5Brazil23475
6Albania20578
7Vietnam20455
8Turkey20109
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United146932
2Liverpool111415
3Chelsea90252
4Arsenal86253
5Manchester City58861
6Tottenham Hotspur19474
7Newcastle United10626
8West Ham United7671
9AFC Bournemouth4915
10Crystal Palace4539

Level

2
Average: 2 (1 vote)

Goals

Improve your football English.

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