Matchweek 5: Underdogs

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. 

Rich: We’re back after the international break so let’s start by looking at the headlines from Matchweek five.

Headlines

Jack: Canaries flying high against City.

Rich: Norwich City created the biggest Premier League upset of the season as they beat Manchester City 3-2. The underdogs stormed into a 2-0 lead through Kenny Mclean and Todd Cantwell. The Premier League Champions pulled one back through Sergio Aguero before half time but there was no comeback and the underdogs extended their lead when Teemu Pukki got his sixth of the season. Rodri got a consolation for City but it was not enough and the CHampions were beaten for the first time in nine months.

Jack: Liverpool come from behind to go clear at the top.

Rich: Liverpool are five points ahead at the top of the Premier League table after a come from behind win against Newcastle. The Magpies took an early lead against the run of play but a brace from Sadio Mane and one from Mohamed Salah turned the match around. Liverpool have now won 14 Premier League matches in a row.

Jack: Abraham pulls Wolves apart.

Rich: Tammy Abraham got his first Premier League hat-trick as Chelsea got a stunning 5-2 win away at Wolves. Abraham is the Premier League’s joint-top scorer with seven goals this season and Chelsea were 4-0 up before the hour mark. Wolves are still looking for their first Premier League win of the season.

Jack: Some great matches last weekend. There was also a big 4-0 win for Spurs and wins for Bournemouth, Southampton and Manchester United.

Vocabulary alert!

Rich: In our vocabulary alert, we look at some football English that we used in the headlines.

Jack: Our six words and phrases this week are: upset, underdog, against the run of play, a brace, a hat-trick, and joint-top scorer.

Rich: Let’s start with the two we used about Norwich CIty’s surprise win against Manchester City. We didn’t just describe it as a surprise we said it was the biggest upset of the season. An upset is a shock result; when a smaller team beats a bigger team.

Jack: It can be used as a verb too. We can say Norwich upset Manchester City. I’m sure the City fans were upset. 

Rich: Very good - upset can also be an adjective that means sad.

Jack: We described Norwich as the underdogs. The underdog is the participant or team that are not the favourites to win because they are not usually as good or successful.

Rich: But sometimes the underdogs do win as Norwich showed everyone at the weekend. 

Jack: We used a couple of interesting phrases when speaking about the Liverpool-Newcastle match. The first was against the run of play.

Rich: We said Newcastle scored against the run of play. We use this phrase when one team scores even though the other team is attacking more and playing much better. 

Jack: Liverpool were playing better than Newcastle but Newcastle scored against the run of play.

Rich: Sadio Mane scored a brace against Newcastle. A brace?

Jack: Yeah, it’s a strange word. It’s used quite a lot in football and it means a pair of goals or two goals in one match. We don’t say a pair of goals, we say a brace of goals and we usually drop the word ‘pair’ and just say ‘a brace’.

Rich: A much more common word is if you score three goals in a match. The word is ‘hat-trick’ and Tammy Abraham scored a hat-trick for Chelsea against Wolves last weekend.

Jack: And the final word this week is joint-top scorer or just joint-top. If you are joint-top it means you are equal top, you are in equal first place. 

Rich: So, Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham is joint-top scorer with Sergio Aguero. We also hear the phrase when two teams have the same amount of points in first and second place in the league.

Jack: For example, you could say Liverpool and Manchester City are joint-top.

Rich: No, you can’t Liverpool are top and City are five points behind.

Jack: Yes, I know. It was just an example and don’t get too excited we’ve only played five games.

Rich: 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.

Jack: The words and phrases are: upset, underdog, against the run of play, a brace, a hat-trick, and joint-top scorer.

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. The whole Norwich team were superb but especially Emi Buendia who got two assists. There were also good performances from Tammy Abraham who got a hat-trick and Callum Wilson who got a brace for Bournemouth.

Jack: But our Player of the Week is Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min. The South Korean was superb for Spurs and was another player to get a brace last weekend.

Rich: The next award is for Team of the Week. There were great wins for Spurs and Chelsea last weekend but there is only one team that is going to win this award this week.

Jack: Yes, it’s Norwich City. The Canaries became the first team to beat Manchester City since January. A fantastic result.

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.

Jack: Goal number one: Son Heung Min for Tottenham against Crystal Palace. A wonderful first-time finish for his second goal.

Rich: Goal number two: Moussa Djenepo for Southampton v Sheffield United. The Malian midfielder went past three defenders like they weren’t there to win all three points for the Saints.

Jack: Goal number three: Pierre Emerick Aubameyang for Arsenal versus Watford. Aubamyang finished off a stunning team goal to put the Gunners 2-0 up although it wasn’t enough for all three points in the end.

Rich: Right, 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: I haven’t been doing very well lately.

Jack: No, I think you went for a Wolves win last week and Chelsea won 5-2! You’re looking at another Chelsea match this week.

Rich: That’s right. The big match in MAtchweek six is at Stamford Bridge where Chelsea are at home to Liverpool. Chelsea’s start has been up and down and they haven’t won a home match yet this season. Liverpool, of course, are on fire and are top of the table and have won their last 14 Premier League matches. Both play in the Champions League this week but Liverpool have a tough trip to Napoli while Chelsea are at home to Valencia. I have a feeling that Chelsea may end Liverpool’s winning run but they won’t get all three points. Final score: Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool.

Jack: You can make your predictions on the Premier Skills English website in the comments section and talk about the big match at the same time!

Rich: Remember that we also have some questions for you to answer that give you a chance to use this week’s vocabulary.

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: If you listen to us on Apple Podcasts, don’t forget to leave us a review. We’d love to hear from you.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.