This Week: Keeping hopes alive

Hello, my name’s Jack and welcome to the weekly round-up called This Week on Premier Skills English.

In This Week, we’ve got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.

If you are listening to this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify you can also visit the Premier Skills English website at premierskillsenglish.britishcouncil.org where you’ll be able to download the podcast.

On the Premier Skills English website, you can read the transcript and join the Premier Skills English community by completing a language task in the comments section. This will really help you remember the new words and phrases from the stories from the Premier League.

This week, I’m talking about an 8-goal spectacular at St James’ Park and a high-stakes match between the league leaders Liverpool and Arsenal.

There was just so much action in both of these matches that I’m going to split the language focus up and challenge you to use the language from each story straight after the story. It’s going to be a bit different from a normal podcast, but only a little bit.

So After each story, there will be a language focus and then there will be a language challenge for you and then at the end of the podcast, there will be a new football phrase.

But before I get to the first story, I want to look at last week’s football phrase. If you didn’t hear it last week, here’s one more chance to guess now.

Last week’s football phrase was a really tricky one so I was really impressed that so many of you got it right. When players score lots of goals, they sometimes have a special gesture they do afterwards. Alan Shearer raised one hand in the air, Daniel Sturridge did a special dance and Son Heung-Min makes a frame with his fingers to take a photo. These acts are their ********* **** ************.

Congratulations to Wojciech M from Poland, Ryohei from Japan, Ken from Japan, AndreTorre102 from Brazil, Ahmad Amr from Egypt, Vietnguyenngo from Vietnam (I missed you last week Vietnguyenngo, Congratulations to Hasan from Turkey, Denis2000 from Belarus, Garycham from Hong Kong, Lukáš from Chechia and Mobeckham from Turkey.

You all worked out that the phrase I was looking for was signature goal celebrations

Keep listening till the end of the podcast for a new football phrase.

Now it’s time for this week’s story.

The language from the story that I want you to focus on is:

• A threat
• To nab
• To go someone’s way
• To parry
• Conveniently
• To scoop

Listen out for this vocabulary.

Luton clash with Newcastle in 8-goal spectacular

When Newcastle hosted Luton on Saturday, the Magpies surely felt confident that they were going to finish with three points. Luton have barely been out of the relegation zone all season and there seemed no reason to see them as much of a threat. In less than 7 minutes, Sean Longstaff put Newcastle ahead, slamming the opener into the back of the net from a Kieran Tripper cross, the perfect start to the afternoon for Eddie Howe’s side.

But Luton Town were not planning to make it easy for their hosts and 20 minutes in nabbed an equaliser. Ross Barkley fired the ball into the area for Carlton Morris who headed the ball back across for Gabriel Osho who scored with a lovely header.

Things started to go Newcastle’s way two minutes later when, following a furious exchange in front of the Newcastle goal, the ball was finally cleared and Anthony Gordon ran with it. Gordon had the pace to keep clear of Osho who was chasing him down. He sidestepped his marker and fired the ball low. Thomas Kaminski dropped down and parried the shot well, but it rebounded to Longstaff who got his second.

Newcastle's lead didn’t last long. Soon, Barkley was charging up the pitch for Luton. He played the ball through for Alfie Doughty who struck well. This time Martin Dubravka did well to drop and parry the strike away from the goal but the ball dropped conveniently and most invitingly at the feet of Ross Barkley who wasn't about to miss

In the second half, Chiedozie Ogbene was on the ball and outpacing Dan Burn into the penalty area. Burn reached out and pulled Ogbene back and gave away a penalty for Luton. Morris scored from the spot but Morris had to retake as players had run into the area before he took the shot, but he made no mistake the second time around and put the visitors ahead.

Then in the 62nd minute, Dan Burn gave the ball away with a sloppy pass. Amari’i Bell intercepted the ball for Luton Town and played it forward. Doughty was able to break as Barkley ran on in support. Doughty crossed to Barkley who calmly rolled the ball into the path of Elijah Adebayo who scored with a sharp finish.

Newcastle fought back right away and black and white shirts crowded into the Luton area. After a series of attacks, the ball finally fell to Trippier who slammed it home before scooping the ball up and running it to the centre spot, determined to get back into the game.

Newcastle equalised in the 72nd minute when the ball fell to Harvey Barnes who had barely been substituted on, playing in his first match since an injury in September. Barnes came back with a bang, bringing his team level with a powerful strike from outside the penalty area.

Final score: Newcastle United 4 - 4 Luton Town

The words and phrases from the story that I want to talk about are:

• A threat
• To nab
• To go someone’s way
• To parry
• Conveniently
• To scoop up

A threat
A threat is normally something that someone says. People make threats or threaten. When someone makes a threat they tell people that something bad is going to happen if the people do not do what they say. Criminals, when they rob people, use the threat of violence, perhaps they have a gun or a knife, to get people to give them their money. They don’t have to shoot or stab people, they can threaten them and the threat is enough. So in a way, a threat is an idea that something bad will happen. In the story, I said that Newcastle might not have thought that Luton Town were much of a threat. The idea of playing Luton Town was not very scary. Obviously, if they had thought that, they were wrong as the Hatters very nearly beat them. 

To nab
To nab something means to take something, usually in a quick and perhaps sneaky way. It’s quite informal so you’d probably not use it to talk about big or serious things. I said that Luton nabbed an equaliser. I used the word nab to emphasize that the goal was scored quickly, more than sneakily. We do also use the word to say that the police caught a criminal. You might hear someone say: She was nabbed on the way out of the bank.

To go (someone's) way
This idiom means that things happen in a way that is good for someone. If things go your way, that means a series of events have happened in a way that you are happy with. Sometimes things don’t go your way and everything seems to go wrong, but on some days, it’s like you are super lucky and everything goes your way. When the match turned and Newcastle looked in control, I said that things started to go Newcastle’s way.

To parry
To parry means to defend yourself from an attack, usually with a weapon. So if someone attacks you with a sword and you block their attack with your swaord, you parry their attack. I learned this word from video games. I can’t remember what the game was, but you pressed x to attack and square to parry. In football English, you sometimes hear commentators use the word parry to describe a goalkeeper blocking a shot. If a keeper blocks a shot and the ball bounces away, you could say that they parried the shot.

Conveniently
This adverb is used to describe something that is easy for you to get to ort easy for you too use. It’s normally used to say that something is in a good place so you can easily used it. The adjective convenient means easy to use and suitable for your needs. When I lived in Manchester, there was a shop near my house that was always open. I asked the staff there if they were going to close at all over the Christmas holidays. The man asked me ‘what does it say on the front of the shop?’ I told him it said convenience store. ‘Exactlyi!’ he said. ‘If the shop is closed then we will not be very convenient for our customers!’

To scoop up
This is slightly tricky to describe. The noun scoop means a type of spoon or tool with a rounded cup that you can use to pick up things like sand or even water. The verb means to pick something up in a similar motion. You sort of make a cup with your hands and pick something up, you don’t grab or use your fingers to hold it, you just scoop it up. 

 

Language challenge

Right, now it’s time for you to think about this language again. I have found examples of these words and phrases in stories online and edited them slightly. I have removed the vocabulary from the story so I want you to fill in the gaps with the correct forms of the language from the podcast.

Number 1. Nine-year-old Stephanie Shen only began fencing a year ago but the talented athlete is already making a name for herself in this ancient sport. After many hours of practice, Stephanie has learned to feint, lunge and _______ like a pro.

Number 2. Asda shopper shows off £54-worth of clothes she _________ for just £7 in the sale.

Number 3. Texas beekeeper stuns followers by _________ up swarms of bees with her bare hands after the insects formed a queen-less hive under an umbrella

Number 4. West Brom showed that when they're on top and things are ________________________ they've got good technical qualities. They're a good team, with very good players that are
very well coached.

Number 5. A drinking fountain is now ____________ located on Ross Street near Coronation Park in the downtown.

Number 6. Steve Madeley, Wolves reporter for The Athletic, has highlighted Pedro Neto as a “potent _______________ on the break” ahead of Brentford’s visit to Molineux on Saturday.

Leave your answers to this language challenge in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Now it’s time for the second story.

The language from the story that I want you to focus on is:

• To keep hopes alive
• High stakes
• To delight
• To pivot
• To ricochet
• To hesitate

Listen out for this vocabulary.

Arsenal fight to keep their title hopes alive

Liverpool travelled to North London to take on Arsenal in the two club’s 200th league meeting. Liverpool, the league leaders were looking to widen the gap on the Gunners to 8 points. Arsenal needed a win to stay in the title race so the stakes were high for the home side.

Arsenal scored first with a well-worked team goal. They played a lovely combination of one-touch passes to cut through the midfield and delight their fans. When the ball made it to Odegaard, he played a perfect through ball to Havertz whose shot was blocked by Alison. Fortunately for Arsenal, Saka was in the right place to benefit from the rebound and scored with a confident strike.

At the end of the second half, Arsenal were unlucky. Ryan Gravenberch played a good ball in for Luiz Diaz. Saliba ran in and crowded him as Diogo Jota ran into the area. Saliba looked like he’d got control, but Diaz stabbed a toe at the ball to pass to Jota. As Gabriel pivoted to track Jota, the ball ricocheted off his thigh, then his wrist and trickled into the goal and the scores were level.

And then their luck changed for the better. Gabriel played a long ball all the way up the field to Martinelli who was blocked by Vin Dijk on the edge of the area. Alison came leaping out to gather the ball, but realised he was leaping out of the goal area and hesitated to touch the ball which dropped. Martinelli kept his head and was able to score with a gentle tap in.

In added time, Trossard received the ball and managed to get between Diaz and Elliot. He sprinted down the left-hand side of the pitch and seeing that there were no Arsenal shirts close enough, he took the shot on himself and put the ball right through Alison’s legs, securing the win and keeping Arsenal’s title hopes alive.

Final score: Arsenal 3 - 1 Liverpool

The words and phrases from the story that I want to talk about are:

• To keep hopes alive
• High stakes
• To delight
• To pivot
• To ricochet
• To hesitate

To keep hopes alive
If you do something to keep something alive, you are trying to make sure that it exists that it doesn’t stop existing or die. I used the phrase to keep someone’s hopes alive which is quite a common expression when someone has a goal that they really want to achieve, they have something that they hope will happen. So a child might grow up wanting to become a Premier League footballer or perhaps a pilot and fly jets and these hopes and dreams will still be alive ... until they aren’t. Arsenal’s hopes are to win the Premier League, but if they had lost against Liverpool, the points gap would have made it very difficult. I think that lots of fans would have lost hope, perhaps even some players. But the win means that they are still in with a chance and that has kept their hopes alive.

High stakes
I have spoken about this before. A stake is the money a gambler risks when they bet on something. If a poker player joins a high-stakes game, that means that the players have to be prepared to lose a lot of money. We use the term high stakes for other things that we are not sure about if there is a serious risk if it goes wrong. A high-stakes strategy for a company might mean that the company goes bankrupt if it doesn’t work out. For Arsenal, the match was high stakes because if they lost, they were probably out of contention for the league title and for Liverpool, the opportunity for them to secure their place at the top while hurting one of their rivals meant that the rewards were very great as well.

To delight someone
We use the verb to delight to say that we have done something that makes someone very happy or gives them a lot of pleasure. I always imagine the verb meaning to make someone so happy they smile a big wide happy smile. If someone’s face lights up, it means they suddenly look really happy and that’s what happens if you delight someone. 

To pivot
To pivot means to turn or twist on the spot. I think we normally use it in sports if someone turns completely around on the spot. When a footballer receives a cross and then turns and shoots, they normally pivot on the spot. 

To ricochet
This is another verb that I have spoken about before. To ricochet is very similar to deflect. It’s commonly used to talk about bullets. If a bullet hits a wall, it might bounce off. Sometimes soldiers are hit by bullets that have ricocheted off a wall or off the ground. In football English, I think we normally use the verb bounce or rebound if the ball hits a surface and bounces right back. If the ball bounces off from 90 to 45 degrees in the direction of the target. However, ricochet and deflect are very similar. The word ricochet comes from French so the spelling is not standard English ... yes, I know English spelling and pronunciation is not very standardised, but this word is even harder than most. The rico part is OK, but it ends in chet so you might think it should be pronounced ricochet, but it’s ricochet. 

To hesitate
The last word I want to talk about today is the verb to hesitate. This is a B2 verb and it means pause before you do something. People often hesitate if they are not sure what to do ior oif they are nervous about something. I have done a lot of exam practice with students to help them relax so they don’t hesitate too much during their English speaking exams. 

Language challenge

Right, now it’s time for you to think about this language again in another language challenge. As with the vocabulary from the first story, I have found examples of the words and phrases in stories online and edited them slightly. I have removed the vocabulary from the story so I want you to fill in the gaps with the correct forms of the language from the podcast.

Number 1. Speaking about scoring his first goals in Celtic colours, the Irishman has signalled that he is ‘_________ ’ to have got off the mark for his new club.

Number 2. 'Goodness gracious' said the golfer. 'Just think about the odds of this. Not just your tee shot __________ back and hitting you, but hitting you there. And not just hitting you there, but hitting you there with cameras rolling.'

Number 3. In football, motions such as cutting and _________ can put a great amount of force on the knee.

Number 4. In the __________ world of espionage, every move must be calculated and precise.

Number 5. Bruno Fernandes talks up the FA Cup significance as Manchester United __________ of silverware _______.

Number 6. Bruno Fernandes explains why he __________ before signing a new Man Utd contract.

Today, I’ve spoken about 12 useful words and phrases. Listen to the stories one more time to hear this language in context.

Luton clash with Newcastle in 8-goal spectacular

When Newcastle hosted Luton on Saturday, the Magpies surely felt confident that they were going to finish with three points. Luton have barely been out of the relegation zone all season and there seemed no reason to see them as much of a threat. In less than 7 minutes, Sean Longstaff put Newcastle ahead, slamming the opener into the back of the net from a Kieran Tripper cross, the perfect start to the afternoon for Eddie Howe’s side.

But Luton Town were not planning to make it easy for their hosts and 20 minutes in nabbed an equaliser. Ross Barkley fired the ball into the area for Carlton Morris who headed the ball back across for Gabriel Osho who scored with a lovely header.

Things started to go Newcastle’s way two minutes later when, following a furious exchange in front of the Newcastle goal, the ball was finally cleared and Anthony Gordon ran with it. Gordon had the pace to keep clear of Osho who was chasing him down. He sidestepped his marker and fired the ball low. Thomas Kaminski dropped down and parried the shot well, but it rebounded to Longstaff who got his second.

Newcastle's lead didn’t last long. Soon, Barkley was charging up the pitch for Luton. He played the ball through for Alfie Doughty who struck well. This time Martin Dubravka did well to drop and parry the strike away from the goal but the ball dropped conveniently and most invitingly at the feet of Ross Barkley who wasn't about to miss

In the second half, Chiedozie Ogbene was on the ball and outpacing Dan Burn into the penalty area. Burn reached out and pulled Ogbene back and gave away a penalty for Luton. Morris scored from the spot but Morris had to retake as players had run into the area before he took the shot, but he made no mistake the second time around and put the visitors ahead.

Then in the 62nd minute, Dan Burn gave the ball away with a sloppy pass. Amari’i Bell intercepted the ball for Luton Town and played it forward. Doughty was able to break as Barkley ran on in support. Doughty crossed to Barkley who calmly rolled the ball into the path of Elijah Adebayo who scored with a sharp finish.

Newcastle fought back right away and black and white shirts crowded into the Luton area. After a series of attacks, the ball finally fell to Trippier who slammed it home before scooping the ball up and running it to the centre spot, determined to get back into the game.

Newcastle equalised in the 72nd minute when the ball fell to Harvey Barnes who had barely been substituted on, playing in his first match since an injury in September. Barnes came back with a bang, bringing his team level with a powerful strike from outside the penalty area.

Final score: Newcastle United 4 - 4 Luton Town

 

Arsenal fight to keep their title hopes alive

Liverpool travelled to North London to take on Arsenal in the two club’s 200th league meeting. Liverpool, the league leaders were looking to widen the gap on the Gunners to 8 points. Arsenal needed a win to stay in the title race so the stakes were high for the home side.

Arsenal scored first with a well-worked team goal. They played a lovely combination of one-touch passes to cut through the midfield and delight their fans. When the ball made it to Odegaard, he played a perfect through ball to Havertz whose shot was blocked by Alison. Fortunately for Arsenal, Saka was in the right place to benefit from the rebound and scored with a confident strike.

At the end of the second half, Arsenal were unlucky. Ryan Gravenberch played a good ball in for Luiz Diaz. Saliba ran in and crowded him as Diogo Jota ran into the area. Saliba looked like he’d got control, but Diaz stabbed a toe at the ball to pass to Jota. As Gabriel pivoted to track Jota, the ball ricocheted off his thigh, then his wrist and trickled into the goal and the scores were level.

And then their luck changed for the better. Gabriel played a long ball all the way up the field to Martinelli who was blocked by Vin Dijk on the edge of the area. Alison came leaping out to gather the ball, but realised he was leaping out of the goal area and hesitated to touch the ball which dropped. Martinelli kept his head and was able to score with a gentle tap in.

In added time, Trossard received the ball and managed to get between Diaz and Elliot. He sprinted down the left-hand side of the pitch and seeing that there were no Arsenal shirts close enough, he took the shot on himself and put the ball right through Alison’s legs, securing the win and keeping Arsenal’s title hopes alive.

Final score: Arsenal 3 - 1 Liverpool

 

Football phrase

Now it’s time for this week's football phrase.

This week’s football phrase is the ********** ****. This is the bottom three places in the league. If a team finishes the season in this place, they will face ********** and be demoted to the Championship, the second tier of English football.

If you know the answer, be sure to leave it in a comment on the page for this podcast on Premier Skills English.

Before I finish, I am going to go through the answers to last week’s language challenge.

Number 1. Schools and parents in the County Wicklow town took the initiative last month and banned smartphones from primary schools amid concerns they were fuelling anxiety.

Number 2. The young midfielder tries to be the most awkward, irksome and devious opponent possible. He winds up players, he winds up officials, he winds up fans. And he does it all on purpose.

Number 3. When long-haired Jonny Farrell went into his local butchers as a young student looking for a job, he was laughed out of the door and told he had "no chance". Now more than a decade later, the 36-year-old who lives near Ormskirk has had the last laugh after his business received the New Butchery Business of the Year award.

Number 4. Hijack, the high-octane TV thriller from George Kay and Jim Field Smith, has been renewed for a second season.

Number 5. A New fried chicken restaurant opened its doors in Newport city centre on Friday and was so popular it ran out of chicken on its opening night.

Number 6. Birmingham manager Wayne Rooney laments his side for conceding 'sloppy' goals in their defeat against Coventry.

Number 7. Aston Villa fell to their first home league defeat in over 11 months as Newcastle United dismantled Unai Emery's side at Villa Park.

Number 8. Liverpool need more high-calibre signings like Mac Allister, says Van Dijk.

And that’s all I have time for today. Before I finish, I just wanted to say that I hope you found this podcast useful, and I hope everyone stays fit and healthy and safe.

Bye for now and enjoy your football.