Matchweek 17: Set your sights on something

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 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. 

Rich: Coming up later this week, we’ll have a new podcast for you. On Thursday, we’re going to publish a new podcast: Learning Vocabulary: Christmas around the world

Jack: Again we’re going to give you the chance to speak to us and appear in our podcast. 

Rich: Over the last couple of week’s we’ve spoken to listeners from Indonesia, Argentina and Brazil - last week we spoke to Mario from Mexico. He spoke about bargains and Premier League football shirts he has bought.

Jack: You can listen to Mario in our latest podcast about shopping for bargains. It’s on the Premier Skills English homepage now.

Rich: This week we want to do the same thing. We are going to ask you three questions and we want you to contact us by email with your answers and contact information so we can call you.

Jack: Send us an email to premierskills@britishcouncil.org

Rich: The questions are all connected to this week’s podcast: Learning Vocabulary: Christmas around the world. Here are the three questions:

Jack: Question 1: How will you celebrate Christmas?

Rich: Question 2: Do most people celebrate Christmas in your country?

Jack: Question 3: Can you tell us a traditional Christmas custom that is specific to your country?

Rich: Send us an email with your answers and we’ll get in touch to talk to you tomorrow or on Wednesday so we can get you into the Podcast on Thursday.

Jack: The email address again is: premierskills@britishcouncil.org.

Rich: Let’s get on with our round-up of Matchweek seventeen with our headlines.

Headlines

Jack: Liverpool set off for Qatar in fine form.

Rich: Liverpool beat Watford 2-0 at Anfield to push their lead at the top of the Premier League into double figures. Mohamed Salah got both goals and now the Reds can set their sights on becoming FIFA’s Club World Champions this week.

Jack: Canaries and Foxes share the points.

Rich: Leicester City’s winning run came to an end when they could only manage a one-all draw against struggling Norwich City. Teemu Pukki put Norwich into a first-half lead but an own goal by Norwich City’s goalkeeper levelled things up.

Jack: Chelsea fall to Bournemouth.

Rich: Bournemouth pulled off a surprise win at Stamford Bridge to give the Cherries their first points in six matches. Dan Gosling got the only goal of the game in the 84th minute. The original offside decision was overturned by VAR.

Jack: There was also a fantastic 3-0 away win for Manchester City at Arsenal and good wins for Burnley, Sheffield United, West Ham and Tottenham.

Rich: So, do you think Liverpool will become Champions of the World this week.

Jack: I don’t see why not! Let’s see what happens in Qatar.

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 set off, to set your sights on something, one-all, to level things up, to pull off and to overturn a decision.

Jack: Let’s start with the phrases we used to talk about the Liverpool - Watford match. We said that Liverpool set off for Qatar in fine form.

Rich: To set off is a phrasal verb that has a few common meanings but here it means to begin a trip. This can be a short trip to school or work or a long vacation.

Jack: I set off for work at eight every morning. Liverpool are setting off for Qatar to play in the Club World Cup.

Rich: Liverpool have set their sights on becoming World Champions. To set your sights on something is an idiom which means to decide you want to do something and to try everything to try to achieve that thing.

Jack: When you are young, you might set your sights on becoming a teacher, a doctor or even a footballer.

Rich: Our next two phrases come from the match between Leicester City and Norwich City. We said that the match finished one all. This is a very common phrase to use when a match finishes one one.

Jack: We can say one all, two all, three all, four all but we can’t say when there are no goals. In a match with no goals, we say nil-nil or goalless.

Rich: We said an own goal by the goalkeeper levelled things up. To level things up means to equalise - to make the scores level again.

Jack: Finally, let’s look at a couple of phrases from the Chelsea - Bournemouth match. We said Bournemouth pulled off a surprise win.

Rich: To pull off means to achieve something difficult or surprising. We use it a lot in sports when there is a surprise or an upset. 

Jack: You might say that Boris Johnson pulled off an amazing win in the UK general election.

Jack: Our final phrase this week is to overturn a decision. We’re hearing this a lot these days because of VAR. To overturn a decision means to officially decide that the original decision was not correct and to change it.

Rich: In football, we often hear this in the passive, the decision was overturned. It’s also used a lot in connection to criminal courts and decisions. The original decision or verdict was overturned.

Jack: OK, so there are our six words and phrases. Listen to this part of the podcast again if you are not sure how to use them.

Rich: The words and phrases are: to set off, to set your sights on something, one-all, to level things up, to pull off and to overturn a decision.

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.

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

Jack: Let’s start with Player of the Week. There were some great performances last week. John Fleck got two for Sheffield United as did Mohamed Salah for Liverpool but our PLayer of the Week goes to another player who scored twice.

Rich: Our Player of the Week is Manchester CIty’s Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian was fantastic against Arsenal.

Jack: Now Team of the Week. We could give it to Manchester City because they were brilliant but we’re going to give it to Bournemouth.

Rich: The Cherries had lost their previous five matches and had loads of injuries so to go to Chelsea and pull of that result is outstanding.

Rich: Finally, our Goal of the Week. We’re going to leave this one to you. We’re going to give you three options and you need to tell us which you think was best.

Jack: Goal number one: Kevin De Bruyne for Manchester City against Arsenal. The Belgian’s first goal was fabulous.

Rich: Goal number two: Adama Traore for Wolves versus Tottenham. A blast from outside the box but it wasn’t enough for Wolves.

Jack: Goal number three: Mason Greenwood for Manchester United against Everton. The teenager’s precise finish saved a point for the Red Devils.

Rich: OK. Those are our three options. Did you see them? Which do you think was the best? Let us know your choice and if you agree with our other weekly awards in our comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Matchweek Prediction 

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

Rich: Last week I went for a CIty win at Arsenal and they won - much more esily than I had predicted.

Jack: Bad times at Arsenal at the moment. Which match are you going to look at this week?

Rich: Matchweek 18 sees a big London Derby. It’s fourth against fifth. It’s North London against West London and it’s Jose Mourinho up against the club where he made his name in the Premier League. Tottenham host Chelsea and it is definitely an interesting match up. Chelsea have been playing great attacking football under Frank Lampard but have not been in great form recently which has allowed Spurs to close the gap to those all-important Champions League places. Since Mourinho took charge, Spurs have also been scoring lots of goals which is surprising for a manager who normally prioritises a tight defence. I actually don’t think there will be many goals in this one and I’m going to go for a home win. Final score: Tottenham 1-0 Chelsea

Jack: This has got draw written all over it. Let us know in the comments section what you think the score will be.

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. And don’t forget to contact us by email with your answers to our Christmas questions.

Rich: The email is premierskills@britishcouncil.org Bye for now and enjoy your football.