Matchweek 28: Silverware

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

Rich: 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.

Jack: Our latest podcast is called Learning Vocabulary: Confusing Words. We look at six pairs of words that English learners often find confusing. Do you know the difference between win and beat or classic and classical? You can find the lesson on the Premier Skills English homepage, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and most other podcast platforms now. 

Rich: But let’s start this show by reviewing three of the big matches in Matchweek 28 with our headlines.

Headlines

Jack: Cup glory for City.

Rich: Manchester City claimed the season’s first piece of silverware with a 2-1 win against Aston Villa at Wembley. Sergio Aguero and Rodri made it 2-0 to City but Mbwanna Samatta pulled a goal back for Villa just before the break. City had chances to make the game safe in the second half and Villa could have taken the game to extra-time but Bjorn Engels header hit the post with a few minutes left. Manchester City have now won eight of the last nine domestic trophies.

Jack: Liverpool lose

Rich: Liverpool lost in the Premier League for the first time this season when they went down 3-0 to Watford. Liverpool were not good enough but Watford played with discipline and an intensity that surprised the visitors. Ismaila Sarr scored twice and Troy Deeney got another in a fantastic second-half performance for Watford. The hornets climb out of the relegation zone and Liverpool remain 22 points clear of City at the top.

Jack: Wolves topple Spurs in race for Champions League.

Rich: Wolves came from behind to win 3-2 away at Spurs and give their Champions League hopes a boost. Steven Bergwijn poked the ball home for Spurs and Serge Aurier scored a great goal for Spurs but Wolves equalised both times - first through Matt Doherty and then Diogo Jota. The winner came when Raul Jimenez got his thirteenth of the season with fifteen minutes left.

Jack: A great weekend of football. There were also exciting draws between Everton and Manchester United, and Bournemouth and Chelsea and wins for Crystal Palace, West Ham and Norwich City.

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: silverware, domestic, discipline, intensity, give something a boost and to poke.

Rich: Let’s start by talking about Manchester City lifting the League Cup trophy. 

Jack: Another trophy for City. They’ve won lots of trophies and cups in the last few seasons.

Rich: In the headlines, I said Manchester City claimed the season’s first piece of silverware. Silverware is a word we use for objects that are made out of silver, especially cutlery which are things like knives and forks and spoons.

Jack: Football trophies are also usually made out of silver and we can also use the word silverware to describe trophies in general. We can say Manchester City won the first piece of silverware on offer this season.

Rich: But it’s not an exact synonym of trophy. We don’t usually say David Silva lifted the silverware.

Jack: No, David Silva lifted the trophy. This trophy was the eighth domestic trophy that City have won out of the last nine.

Rich: And that’s our next word: domestic. When we talk about domestic trophies, we’re talking about national trophies - competitions that are played between clubs from the same country.

Jack: The League Cup is a domestic trophy but the Champions League is an international or European trophy.

Rich: We use the word more generally, too. At the airport, you might see signs for domestic flights and international flights or the news might talk about domestic issues, laws and policies.

Jack: Let’s speak about Liverpool’s surprise defeat to Watford. Watford were brilliant. Rich said that they played with a lot of discipline and had a great intensity to their game. Let’s look at these two words - discipline and intensity.

Rich: When we talk about a team showing great discipline we’re usually talking about the player’s ability to keep to a specific shape and formation. We are usually talking about defensive discipline.

Jack: This is a team’s ability and determination to stay together defensively. Watford defended brilliantly and then attacked as a team.

Rich: A different meaning of discipline you might hear about football is connected to obeying the rules of a game. A player who gets lots of yellow and red cards might be described as having a lack of discipline or a bad disciplinary record.

Jack: Discipline is used in a more general sense too. People often speak about the importance of discipline in schools and it’s also used a lot when we’re talking about soldiers and the army.

Rich: We said Watford played with an intensity. If a team plays with a high intensity we’re saying that they are very strong and have lots of energy. 

Jack: When a team plays with a lot of intensity, players will close down opponents very quickly and try to win the ball.

Rich: Finally, let’s talk about Wolves win at Tottenham. We said that their victory gave a boost to their Champions League hopes.

Jack: To give something a boost means to increase or improve something. Wolves won which gives them a better chance of qualifying for the Champions League. Their win gave their Champions League hopes a boost.

Rich: The last word this week is to poke. We said that  Steven Bergwijn poked the ball home for Spurs.

Jack: We usually poke something with our finger or a stick. 

Rich: In football, the word is used when a player stretches with his leg and only just connects with ball with the toes. Steven Bergwijn poked the ball home - he scored by stretching as far as he could and reaching the ball with his toes.

Jack: OK, so there are the six words and phrases. Listen to this part of the podcast again if you are not sure how to use them.

Rich: The words and phrases are:  silverware, domestic, discipline, intensity, give something a boost and to poke.

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. There were some great performances last weekend. Phil Foden was man of the match at Wembley for Manchester City, Diogo Jota scored again for Wolves and Michail Antonio was great for West Ham.

Rich: But we’re not going to go for any of those, we’re going to choose the Watford striker Ismaila Sarr. The Senegalese striker was brilliant against Liverpool and scored twice to set Watford on the road to victory.

Jack: OK, Team of the Week. Manchester City won the silverware this week but we’re going to give this award to Watford.

Rich: Nobody had beaten Liverpool in the Premier League this season until the Reds arrived at Vicarage Road and Watford not only beat them but they outplayed them too. 3-0 was a fair result.

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: Ismaila Sarr for Watford against Liverpool. Sarr’s second goal was great. He sprinted clear and chipped it over the keeper.

Jack: Goal number two: Bruno Fernandes for Manchester United against Everton. A long-range strike that swerved a lot in the air to make it difficult for the keeper.

Rich: Goal number three: Jarrod Bowen for West Ham against Southampton. A tidy finish on the player’s full Premier League debut.

Jack: OK. Those are our three options. Did you see them? Which do you think was the best? 

Rich: 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: Matchweek 29 sees one of the biggest matches of the season - it’s the Manchester Derby. United are at home to City. United go into the game playing pretty well and City go into the match on the back of their first piece of silverware this season. I think this should be a good game and it’s the first time in a while that City don’t go into the Derby as overwhelming favourites. I think if United stay disciplined and show good intensity they have a chance in this one against a City team who may have one eye on the Champions League. Final score: Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City.

Jack: I’m not so sure. I think City will win 2-1.

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 on the Premier Skills English website. 

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

Rich: 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.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.