Matchweek 23: In the bag

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: Remember we are looking for people to interview in our podcasts. If you want to practise your English skills and answer a few questions just email us at premierskills@britishcouncil.org and we’ll write back to you.

Rich: You can find all our latest content on the Premier Skills English homepage or the Premier Skills - British Council Facebook page. 

Jack: Don’t forget that we also have our weekly Premier Skills English Podcast that is released every Friday. Every week we help you with some different vocabulary or an aspect of grammar.

Rich: In our latest podcast, I speak about my new dog and we help you with the present perfect continuous. You can find the lesson on the Premier Skills English homepage, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and most other podcast platforms now. 

Jack: Let’s start this week’s show by reviewing the Premier League action from Matchweek 23.

Headlines

Jack: City stumble against Palace.

Rich: Crystal Palace got a surprise point at Manchester City when they held the Champions to a two-all draw. Cenk Tosun, on loan from Everton, shocked the Etihad when he put the visitors ahead. It looked like Sergio Aguero had turned the game on its head with two goals in the final 10 minutes, but Palace got a deserved equaliser when Fernandinho put the ball in his own net.

Jack: The title is surely in the bag for Liverpool.

Rich: Liverpool beat Manchester United 2-0 to go 16 points clear at the top with 16 games left to play. The result against their fiercest rivals surely means nobody can stop the Reds now but Jurgen Klopp poured cold water on that idea saying that his focus is just on the next game. Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah got the goals that won the game for the Reds.

Jack: Wolves turn it around against Saints.

Rich: Wolves earned a spectacular 3-2 win at Southampton after coming back from 2-0 down at half-time. Goals from Jan Bednarek and Shane Long put in-form Saints ahead and they were coasting at half-time. However, a goal from Pedro Neto and two goals from Raul Jimenez completed the fightback. No team has earned more points from losing positions this season than Wolves.

Jack: There was also a fightback at Burnley as the Clarets defeated Leicester. Newcastle beat Chelsea with an injury-time winner and Norwich got an important win in their bottom of the table clash with Bournemouth.

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 be in the bag, to pour cold water on something, to be on loan, to turn a game on its head, to be coasting and fightback.

Jack: Let’s start with the phrases we used to talk about Liverpool’s win over Manchester United.

Rich: We said that the title is surely in the bag for Liverpool.

Jack: To be in the bag is an idiom and it describes something that you are certain or virtually certain to get or achieve.

Rich: We were saying that the title is in the bag for Liverpool - they are certain or virtually certain to win it. Nobody can stop them.

Jack: We can use it outside of football, too. Listen to this:

Rich: Hey Jack. How did the job interview go?

Jack: It went really well. They loved me.

Rich: The job’s in the bag then?

Jack: The job’s in the bag, Rich. Just waiting for that call.

Rich: The next phrase is also an idiom. We said that Jurgen Klopp poured cold water on the idea that the title is in the bag.

Jack: To pour cold water on something means to criticize an idea and the phrase is used to stop people getting too excited about something.

Rich: Jurgen Klopp doesn’t want the players to get too excited because the title isn’t won yet and he’s poured cold water on the idea that the title is won already. He says the team needs to think about one match at a time.

Jack: Let’s speak about Crystal Palace’s draw at Manchester City. We said Cenk Tosun scored first for Palace. Tosun is on loan from Everton.

Rich: On loan means to be playing for a team temporarily. A permanent transfer has not been completed. Usually, a player is on loan for a season or a month. We often hear the phrase a season-long loan.

Jack: A player is on loan at one club and from another club. Tosun is on loan at Crystal Palace. Tosun is on loan from Everton.

Rich: We said that Sergio Aguero turned the game on its head. This is another idiom. It means to turn something around - to completely change something or make the opposite happen.

Jack: Palace were winning then Sergio Aguero turned the game on its head by scoring twice to make the score 2-1 to City.

Rich: Finally, let’s talk about that fightback from Wolves at Southampton.

Jack: Yes, and the first word is fightback. We said Raul Jimenez completed the fightback for Wolves. A fightback is an attempt to win from a losing position.

Rich: Fightback can be a noun or a phrasal verb. Wolves fought back from 2-0 down. Raul Jimenez completed the fightback for Wolves.

Jack: Our final phrase this week is to be coasting. We said Southampton were coasting at half-time.

Rich: To be coasting means to be succeeding without making much effort. 

Jack: For example, a team coasts to victory when they are four nil up and there are only a few minutes left and the other team has given up.

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:  to be in the bag, to pour cold water on something, to be on loan, to turn a game on its head, to be coasting and fightback.

Football Awards

Jack: Right, every week, we give out three Matchweek awards. 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. Virgil van Dijk and Jordan Henderson were superb for Liverpool and Sergio Aguero never stops scoring.

Rich: But we’re going to go for a Wolves player for that superb fightback. Adama Traore was fantastic but we’re going to choose Raul Jimenez. The Mexican striker has been involved in more Premier League goals than any other player this season.

Jack: Now Team of the Week. We could go for Liverpool or Wolves or maybe Crystal Palace for their draw at Manchester City.

Rich: But we’re going to go with Newcastle United for their win against Chelsea. It’s always good to get a last-minute winner and even sweeter when it’s against a club in the top four.

Jack: 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.

Rich: Goal number one: Jack Grealish for Aston Villa against Brighton. Another brilliant finish by the Villa captain. A fantastic ball from Douglas Luiz followed by great control to go past one defender and score.

Jack: Goal number two: Sergio Aguero for Manchester City against Crystal Palace. His second was a brilliantly controlled header.

Rich: Goal number three: Mohamed Salah for Liverpool against Manchester United. A fast breakaway, Salah holds off the defender and fires home to finish off Manchester United.

Jack: 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 we both went for Liverpool wins. Not a difficult prediction to get right.

Jack: No, but it’s the FA Cup this week so anything can happen.

Rich: That’s right. Matchweek 24 in the Premier League is in midweek but to give you a chance to get your predictions in we’re going to look at an FA Cup fourth-round match.

Jack: And a chance of a giant-killing.

Rich: That’s right. One of the big matches is Shrewsbury Town of League one up against Liverpool - the Champions of Europe and runaway Premier League leaders. Now, this match should only finish one way, in a massive win for Liverpool but, you know, Liverpool might play a few reserves and they might think they are going to coast to victory. For Shrewsbury, it will be the biggest match of their careers. Funny things happen in the Cup and I’m going to predict the biggest giant-killing in the history of the cup. Final score: Shrewsbury Town 1-0 Liverpool

Jack: You’ve got to be joking. I live near Shrewsbury and it would be great if they could but they can’t. 3-0 to Liverpool and it’s Shrewsbury, not Shrewsbury.

Rich: Sorry. Shrewsbury to win one-nil. You heard it here first.

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: If you have any questions or comments or suggestions for the podcast or anything football or English related, you can leave them on the website in the comments section, on social media - on Facebook or Twitter, on apple podcasts or you can email us at premierskills@britishcouncil.org.

Rich: Remember you can also email us if you want to practise your English skills and answer a few questions for a future podcast.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.