Matchweek 11

Introduction

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to our Monday round-up section on Premier Skills English.  

Jack: Hi there. I’m Jack. Every Monday we discuss last weekend’s action, the best players, the best matches, Fantasy Football, and make some predictions for next weekend.

Rich: We want you to practise your English and interact with Premier League fans from around the world in our comments section.

Jack: You can do this on the Premier Skills English website or the Premier Skills-British Council Facebook page - if that’s where you are listening to us.

Rich: There were some tremendous matches in Matchweek 11 so let’s get on with this week’s roundup!

Headlines

Rich: City outclass Arsenal to go eight points clear at the top.

Jack: Manchester City beat Arsenal 3-1 at the Etihad to increase their lead at the top of the Premier League table. Goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus were too much for the Gunners. City have now won 15 games in a row and have 31 points from their first 11 matches - a Premier League record.

Rich: No happy return to Chelsea for Mourinho.

Jack: The Premier League champions beat Manchester Utd with a goal from Alvaro Morata. Chelsea should have won by more but a great save from Thibaut Courtois stopped United from getting a last-minute equaliser.

Rich: Liverpool win big in London.

Jack: Liverpool beat West Ham 4-1 at the London stadium. Mohamed Salah was on fine form and got two goals. The result leaves Liverpool in sixth. The Reds are one of four clubs on 19 points. Chelsea in fourth and Burnley in seventh are only separated by goal difference.

Definition Alert!

Rich: Chelsea in fourth and Burnley in seventh are only separated by goal difference? Goal difference? What’s this phrase all about?

Jack: Goal difference is the difference between the number of goals a team has scored and the number of goals a team has conceded. For example, Chelsea have scored 19 goals and have conceded 10 so they have a goal difference of +9.

Rich: Right. Burnley have scored 10 and have conceded 9 so they have a goal difference of +1.

Jack: When teams are level on points it’s goal difference that separates teams in the Premier League table.

Rich: In 2011/12 Manchester City and Manchester Utd finished on the same number of points but City won the title on goal difference.

Matchweek Awards

Rich: Right, every Monday, we give out three matchweek awards. Player of the Week, Team of the Week and Match of the Week.

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

Rich: Last week, not all of you agreed with our choice.

Jack: For example, Umlaut Team Gubin from Poland felt that we should have chosen Manchester Utd as Team of the Week instead of Leicester because they beat Spurs who are on great form at the moment.

Rich: Yes, they are. They are flying and must be full of confidence after beating Real Madrid last week.

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

Rich: Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante were brilliant for Chelsea against Manchester Utd. Brighton’s defence stood strong against Swansea and Rajiv van La Parra scored a fantastic winner for Huddersfield against West Brom.

Jack: But we are running out of things to say about our Player of the Week. He was just brilliant and must be one of the best players in the world at the moment. Our Player of the Week is Manchester City’s ... Kevin De Bruyne.

Rich: It seems that we are choosing City players every week, but they are playing some unbelievable football at the moment.

Jack: Right, shall we move on to the next award?

Rich: Our next award is for Team of the Week. There were good wins for Chelsea, City, Huddersfield, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Everton, Brighton, Spurs and Burnley.

Jack: Our team of the week has to be ... Tottenham Hotspur.  Yes, they got a 1-0 win against Palace but we have to mention their 3-1 win against Real Madrid - probably one of the greatest wins in the club’s history.

Rich: It was a fantastic performance and I’m sure lots of people are thinking that Spurs might surprise a few more of the big European clubs this season.

Jack: Finally, what about Match of the Week?

Rich: Our match of the week this week is ... Everton against Watford. Watford were winning 2-0 with about 20 minutes to go but Everton won the match with an injury-time penalty. Amazingly, there was still time for Watford to make it 3-3 when they got a penalty too but Tom Cleverley, an ex-Everton player, hit the ball wide of the post.

Jack: I missed that game, but it sounded very exciting. Especially because Everton were in the relegation zone before the match!

Fantasy Football

Rich: What’s been happening in fantasy football this week, Jack?.

Jack: The top scoring players in matchweek 11 were Bournemouth defender Steve Cook and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah. They both got 15 points.

Rich: And in the Premier Skills League the team at the top is … wait for it … the Premier Skills team!

Jack: Really? Cool.

Rich: We scored 71 points last week. If you want to help us stay at the top send in your advice for players that we should buy and sell in the comments section.

Jack: But the Premier Skills Fantasy Premier League Team of the Week for Matchweek 11 is Valar Dohaeris managed by Frananda Mussart from Indonesia. 

Rich: Frananda scored 75 points! Well done to you! 

Matchweek Prediction

Jack: Last week’s prediction was Chelsea v Manchester Utd. Rich predicted a draw last week, but it finished 1-0 to Chelsea. Bad luck, Rich!

Rich: Ah well, you can’t get it right every week. But well done to Carole Ann Marie from Italy, RafaelRC from Brazil and Khaldoun83 from Algeria who all predicted a Chelsea victory.

Jack: We have to wait a while for Matchweek 12 because this week we have an international break. But Matchweek 12 is will be back on the weekend of the 18th and 19th November with one of the biggest matches of the season!

Rich: That’s right Jack. It’s one that you are looking forward to. It’s the North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham. Tottenham are full of confidence after beating Real Madrid and are a confident team away from home. Arsenal’s form is a bit more hit and miss. Sometimes they are brilliant and sometimes well … not so brilliant. Arsenal are at home but I think Spurs are going to win. Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Harry Kane will have too much for the Arsenal defence. Final score: Arsenal 1-3 Tottenham.

Jack: No way. Arsenal will be up for this one. We will win 2-0.

Rich: We’ll see … we want you to make your predictions at the bottom of the page on the website. Are you a good predictor? 

Jack: Right, that’s all we have time for. I hope you have enjoyed this Monday round-up. Don’t forget to join the discussion at the bottom of this page.  

Rich: Also, if you want to improve your English, take a look at our weekly podcast. There is a link on the side of this page.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.