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
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
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.
Matchweek Awards
Do you agree with our choices?
Player of the Week: Ruben Neves (Wolves)
Team of the Week: Chelsea
Goal of the Week: Roberto Pereyra (Watford)
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.
- Rich and Jack chose Ruben Neves of Wolverhampton Wanderers as Player of the Week. Do you agree?
- Jack and Rich chose Chelsea as their Team of the Week. Do you agree?
- Rich chose Roberto Pereyra's goal for Watford as Goal of the Week? Did you see it? Do you agree?
- 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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Comments
03/02/2021
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”
03/02/2021 17:37
Tottenham Hotspur
5550
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”
20/08/2018
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.
20/08/2018 07:18
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.
17/08/2018
points
I do agree that Pereyra volley was the best goal of the week,a graet cross led to a great a volley.
17/08/2018 20:21
Liverpool
3705
I do agree that Pereyra volley was the best goal of the week,a graet cross led to a great a volley.
17/08/2018
points
With all due respect,I think that Liverpool is team of the week as they dominated the match against west ham.
17/08/2018 20:20
Liverpool
3705
With all due respect,I think that Liverpool is team of the week as they dominated the match against west ham.
17/08/2018
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.
17/08/2018 20:18
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.
17/08/2018
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!
17/08/2018 12:07
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!
15/08/2018
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.
15/08/2018 17:42
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.
15/08/2018
points
Could you fix " Totteenham" to "Tottenham"
15/08/2018 15:24
Wolverhampton Wanderers
1084
Could you fix " Totteenham" to "Tottenham"
15/08/2018
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!”
15/08/2018 14:45
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!”
15/08/2018
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.
15/08/2018 14:24
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.
15/08/2018
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!!!!
15/08/2018 03:29
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!!!!
15/08/2018
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
15/08/2018 08:39
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
15/08/2018
points
Ok, the meaning is the same like West Ham was lost on the match.
Thanks!!
15/08/2018 11:02
Arsenal
663
Ok, the meaning is the same like West Ham was lost on the match.
Thanks!!
15/08/2018
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.
15/08/2018 00:46
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.