Matchweek 24 & FA Cup: In Form

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, we’re speaking about Chinese New Year. Did you know that Jamie Vardy was born in the year of the rabbit? 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 weekend’s action from the FA Cup and the Premier League action from Matchweek 24.

Headlines

Jack: Liverpool tamed by the Shrews.

Rich: Shrewsbury Town stunned Liverpool by coming back from 2-0 down to earn a replay in the fourth round of the FA Cup. A much-changed Liverpool team looked comfortable when an own goal put them 2-0 up early in the second half but two goals from Jason Cummings means the League One minnows will get a second game against the European Champions.

Jack: Mixed fortunes for United in League and Cup.

Rich: Manchester United slumped to their eighth Premier League defeat of the season in matchweek 24 when they lost 2-0 at home to Burnley. However, they bounced back in the cup when they thrashed Tranmere Rovers 6-0. United were 5-0 up at half-time and will be looking to take some of that form into their next Premier League match.

Jack: Chelsea and Arsenal share the spoils in London Derby.

Rich: Chelsea were held to a two-all draw by Arsenal in an exciting match at Stamford Bridge. David Luiz was sent off against his former club and Jorginho scored from the spot. Arsenal equalised when Gabriel Martinelli sprinted the length of the pitch to score but Cesar Azpilicueta restored Chelsea’s lead. Chelsea couldn’t hold on though and Hector Bellerin curled home from the edge of the area.

Jack: FA Cup and Premier League action all in one week. Nobody gave Shrewsbury a chance but they played brilliantly.

Rich: Excuse me! I think you’ll find I predicted a Shrewsbury win last week. 

Jack: You got it wrong then! A shout out to Oxford United too. Another League One minnow that forced a replay against a Premier League team. They held Newcastle to a goalless draw.

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: a replay, a minnow, to slump to defeat, form, former club and to restore a lead.

Jack: Let’s start with the words we used when describing that draw between Liverpool and Shrewsbury.

Rich: The first word is replay. We said that Shrewsbury earned a replay. A replay, in this case, is a second match.

Jack: In some FA Cup matches, when a match finishes in a draw, the two teams play the match again but at the other team’s stadium.

Rich: If the replay ends in a draw a second time, the winner is decided in extra time or then by penalties.

Jack: In the past though, teams would carry on playing replays. Teams sometimes had to play three or four times to decide a winner and the record amount of replays was six.

Rich: Another way we use the word replay is the repeated action we see on the television screen. After a goal, television will show a replay.

Jack: VAR looks at lots of replays - for offsides, penalty decisions red cards …

Rich: The next word is minnow. A minnow is a little fish and is used to describe small teams that are not seen as very important. We usually use the term minnow in contrast with another team that is much bigger. The big fish.

Jack: Shrewsbury Town, the League One minnows were up against Liverpool - the Premier League big fish.

Rich: We often say something like league one or non-league in front of minnow to emphasise that the club is small. 

Jack: Let’s talk about the words we used to talk about Manchester United. We said that Manchester United slumped to defeat.

Rich: I like the sound of this word - slump. Manchester United slumped to defeat. The word slump is connected to numbers going down and profits falling and things like that. Ticket sales have slumped by 50%.

Jack: Slump is also used to describe sitting or falling down heavily. After running a lot you might slump down in a chair because you’re really tired. 

Rich: I think slump to defeat is closest to this meaning - the team fell down heavily - defeated and deflated.

Jack: The next word is form. We said that Manchester United will want to take their form from the six nil cup win into the Premier League. 

Rich: A team’s form describes how well or badly they have been playing recently. A team can be in good form or in bad form. 

Jack: Manchester United have generally been in bad form this season.

Rich: Finally, let’s talk about that London Derby. We said that David Luiz got sent off against his former club.

Jack: We hear this a lot when a player has played for different clubs. A player’s former club is a club that he or she has played for before.

Rich: David Luiz plays for Arsenal now but before he played for Chelsea - Chelsea is his former club.

Jack: The last phrase this week is to restore a lead. We said that Cesar Azpilicueta restored Chelsea’s lead.

Rich: To restore means to return something to what it was like before. A leader might be restored to power or power might be restored to your home after a power cut.

Jack: Chelsea were leading then Arsenal made it 1-1 then Chelsea scored - their lead was restored - the goal restored Chelsea’s lead.

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: a replay, a minnow, to slump to defeat, form, former club and to restore a lead.

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. The awards this week are for the FA Cup and Matchweek 24.

Jack: Let’s start with Player of the Week. Jordan Henderson was superb for Liverpool against Wolves, Bournemouth’s goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale had a fantastic game as the Cherries beat Brighton and Florian Lejeune got two injury-time goals for Newcastle against Everton.

Rich: But our Player of the Week is Shrewsbury Town’s Jason Cummings. You come off the bench when your team is losing 2-0 to the European Champions and you score two goals - fantastic stuff.

Jack: Team of the Week could be Shrewsbury Town but they didn’t win, or maybe Bournemouth as they won for the first time in ages.

Rich: No, we’re going to go with Burnley for their 2-0 win at Old Trafford. Their first win there since 1962!

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: Jason Cummings for Shrewsbury Town against Liverpool. Cummings went past two Liverpool defenders before beating the keeper.

Jack: Goal number two: Jay Rodriguez for Burnley versus Manchester United. A fabulous long-range effort from the Burnley striker.

Rich: Goal number three: Mohamed Besic for Sheffield United v Millwall. The Bosnian got his first goal for the Blades with a curler from the edge of the area.

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 I went for a Shrewsbury win against Liverpool and everyone thought I was crazy.

Jack: Yes, they were so close to winning it. We should all listen to your predictions more closely, Rich. Which match are you going to talk about in matchweek 25?

Rich: Tottenham are at home to Manchester City. Spurs are not in the best form as they continue to chase a top-four spot whereas City continue to chase Liverpool even though they are not getting any closer. Tottenham are not scoring many goals and are finding it difficult without the injured Harry Kane whereas City don’t have any problems in attack although their defence has looked leaky on occasions this season. I think this will be a good game to watch and I think City will win. Final score: Tottenham 1-2 Manchester City

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 or you can email us at premierskills@britishcouncil.org.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football.