This Week: A Topsy-turvy Weekend

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 britishcouncil.org/premierskillsenglish 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.

The words and phrases I am focusing on this week are: in the bag, satisfied, to underestimate, a howler, on aggregate and to have money on someone or something.

Listen out for these phrases in the headlines and stories.

After each story there will be a short language focus and then there will be a task for you to complete and then at the end of the podcast there will be a new football phrase.

Football Phrase

But before that, 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.

The word is *********. This noun is used to describe a kick or sometimes a header that moves the ball away from the goal in a defensive move. A ********* is away from the goal and not towards another player so is only used when a team is at risk of conceding a goal. A good ********* is a powerful kick that puts the ball a long way from the goal and gives the defence time to get into position.

Congratulations to Taher Koshen from Somalia, Wilson2103 from Colombia, Hayato from Japan, Vietnguyenngo from Vietnam, Gabeced from Brazil, Gil_soul from Brazil, Taran_t from Iran, Hiracky16 from Japan, Hantheman from Korea, Hajime from Japan, Gochi from Japan, Thitipat from Thailand, Cristiano2000 from Germany and Cukongss from Indonesia. Welcome to Gil_soul, Taran_t, Hantheman, Hajime, Gochi, Cristiano2000 and Cukongss who have commented for the first time and good to see you again Thitipat. Thanks again to Hsn from Turkey for suggesting last week’s phrase.

You all managed to work out that the word Hsn suggested was clearance. Listen till the end of the podcast for a new football phrase.

OK, it’s been a bit of a topsy-turvy weekend in the Premier League. Topsy-turvy was one of my favourite words when I was a kid. It means backwards and upside down and all over the place in a kind of chaotic disorganised way and that’s what happened in the results in the Premier League so I’m going to talk about the surprising stories from the weekend. Let’s get on with this week’s three football stories!

Newcastle and City in 6 goal thriller

Manchester City are the strongest team in the Premier League. Pep Guardiola has built his team around possession and this, along with a bench full of world-class talent, makes Manchester City one of the toughest sides to beat. When Ilkay Gundogan scored against Newcastle United after just 5 minutes, it looked to many that the win and points were in the bag.

However, Eddie Howe’s side was not going to give up so easily, producing a brilliant display of power, bravery and imagination. Miguel Almiron and Callum Wilson struck back in the first half and Kieran Trippier made it 3-1 in the second half. City had the scores level again within 10 minutes and by the final whistle, both teams must have felt satisfied with the point.

Final score: Newcastle United 3 - Manchester City 3

The words and phrases I want to talk about from this story are in the bag and satisfied.

If something is in the bag, then it is certain. You can use this phrase to talk about the outcome of sporting competitions, elections or job applications. We have spoken about it before in this podcast, back when Rich was still here. It comes from a superstition at a New York Baseball team. When the team was winning, one of the team would leave the field with the ball bag. The team believed that this guaranteed them the win. And since then, if a win is in the bag, it means it is guaranteed. If your friend has applied for a job and you are confident that they will get it, you could say: you’ve got this one in the bag.

The adjective satisfied means happy or pleased because something happened the way you wanted or expected it. It doesn’t mean quite the same as happy. If you are hungry and then you eat something, when you are no longer hungry, you can say that you are satisfied. If you are doing a business deal and perhaps the terms of the deal are not amazing, but you think they are OK, they are good enough, then you might say you are satisfied with the terms. So satisfied is similar to happy because things are as you want or expect them.

Let’s move on to the next story.

Leeds United demolish Chelsea defence

Leeds United’s American attacking midfielder Brenden Aaronson is only 21 years old and has only made 2 appearances for his club, but has been crucial in both games. He was all over the pitch on Sunday and tore through Chelsea’s vastly more experienced defenders, getting his side’s first goal. The Blues’ Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy underestimated the young American and failed to clear the ball when he had the chance. This howler let Aaronson get a toe in which deflected the ball into the midfielder’s path across the goal. Aaronson ran the ball over the line to the delight of the home crowd and the frustration of Mendy and his team mates.

With a goal in hand, the Whites’ confidence increased and Jack Harrison and Rodrigo took turns to assist and score.

Final score: Leeds United 3 - Chelsea 0

The words and phrases I want to talk about from this story are to underestimate and a howler.

If you underestimate something, you fail to guess or estimate the real value of that thing. This might be its strength, you might not estimate how strong something is or its difficulty, you might underestimate how difficult a task is and discover that it is much more difficult than you thought. If you underestimate an opponent in a sporting competition, you may be surprised at how good they are and then your strategy could fail. Often, people underestimate how much something will cost. So if you need some work done to your house, you should always budget for a lot more than your first estimate as these things are always more expensive than they appear.

The next word from this story is a howler. A howler is a really big mistake. It’s similar to a blunder, but I think we use howler for a mistake that is even more embarrassing. The word comes from the verb to howl which means to cry out in a long, high-pitched yell or wail. We use the word howl to describe the noise that wolves make and there’s a very noisy monkey called a howler monkey. I have tried to look up the origin of howler meaning a big mistake, but I can’t find anything clear. I suspect it comes from a mistake that’s so awful that people who see it howl with laughter.

Let’s move on to the final story.

Manchester United beat Liverpool

This story has no need of a clever headline. Manchester United, who were humiliated last week at Brentford, managed to outplay their biggest rival, Liverpool. Last season, they were defeated 9-0 on aggregate by Liverpool, so not many people would have had money on the Red Devils when they kicked off at Old Trafford.

Klopp’s choice of players was limited with 10 of his squad unavailable due to injury or suspension. Ten Hag’s selection was interesting because he dropped Maguire, his captain, and Ronaldo. Liverpool dominated possession and made plenty of attempts, but the quality of United’s players was up to the challenge and they fought back on the counter attack.

Final score: Manchester United 2 - Liverpool 1

The words and phrases I want to talk about from this story are on aggregate and to have money on something.

The phrase on aggregate is very commonly used to talk about the scores of teams in league competitions and in cup competitions when the finals are played in both team’s home grounds. The noun aggregate means something that is made when other things are added together. So you might hear people talk about the aggregate profits of several companies, when all the companies’ profits are added together. In football English, it’s the combined scores of two matches, usually a home leg and an away leg. So last year, Liverpool beat Manchester United twice. At Old Trafford, the score was 5-0 and then at Anfield the score was 4-0. On aggregate, the score was 9-0.

The last phrase I want to talk about is to have money on something. This phrase comes from gambling. If you place a bet on the outcome of a match, you could be said to have money on the outcome of that match. So gamblers put money on sporting events. However, we can use the phrase in a figurative way to say that you believe something is going to happen. In spoken football English, it’s common to make a prediction by saying my money’s on and then the team you think are going to win. So I might say my money’s on Arsenal. You also hear people say the smart money is on ... and then the club that an intelligent football forecaster would choose. The smart money is on Manchester City again this season, for example. I said that not many people would have had money on Manchester United because I didn’t think many people would have been confident about Manchester United securing a win.

OK. That’s 6 words or phrases today. The words and phrases from the stories were: in the bag, satisfied, to underestimate, a howler, on aggregate and to have money on someone or something

Listen to the headlines one more time to hear these words and phrases in context.

Newcastle and City in 6 goal thriller

Manchester City are the strongest team in the Premier League. Pep Guardiola has built his team around possession and this, along with a bench full of world-class talent, makes Manchester City one of the toughest sides to beat. When Ilkay Gundogan scored against Newcastle United after just 5 minutes, it looked to many that the win and points were in the bag.

However, Eddie Howe’s side was not going to give up so easily, producing a brilliant display of power, bravery and imagination. Miguel Almiron and Callum Wilson struck back in the first half and Kieran Trippier made it 3-1 in the second half. City had the scores level again within 10 minutes and by the final whistle, both teams must have felt satisfied with the point.

Final score: Newcastle United 3 - Manchester City 3

The words and phrases I want to talk about from this story are in the bag and satisfied.

Leeds United demolish Chelsea defence

Leeds United’s American attacking midfielder Brenden Aaronson is only 21 years old and has only made 2 appearances for his club, but has been crucial in both games. He was all over the pitch on Sunday and tore through Chelsea’s vastly more experienced defenders, getting his side’s first goal. The Blues’ Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy underestimated the young American and failed to clear the ball when he had the chance. This howler let Aaronson get a toe in which deflected the ball into the midfielder’s path across the goal. Aaronson ran the ball over the line to the delight of the home crowd and the frustration of Mendy and his team mates.

With a goal in hand, the Whites’ confidence increased and Jack Harrison and Rodrigo took turns to assist and score.

Final score: Leeds United 3 - Chelsea 0

Manchester United beat Liverpool

This story has no need of a clever headline. Manchester United, who were humiliated last week at Brentford, managed to outplay their biggest rival, Liverpool. Last season, they were defeated 9-0 on aggregate by Liverpool, so not many people would have had money on the Red Devils when they kicked off at Old Trafford.

Klopp’s choice of players was limited with 10 of his squad unavailable due to injury or suspension. Ten Hag’s selection was interesting because he dropped Maguire, his captain, and Ronaldo. Liverpool dominated possession and made plenty of attempts, but the quality of United’s players was up to the challenge and they fought back on the counter attack.

Final score: Manchester United 2 - Liverpool 1

Language Challenge

Right, now it’s time for you to think about the language again.

Here are 6 sentences with gaps in them and you have to complete the gaps with the correct form of the words and phrases from this podcast.

Number 1: They lost the match 1-0, but got through to the final __ _________.

Number 2: Manchester United fans will take some comfort from the team’s performance against Liverpool, but they still aren’t _________ with the management of the club.

Number 3: They seriously ____________ the costs of opening a new restaurant and are way over budget.

Number 4: Only after I’d published the podcast did I work out that I was mispronouncing his name which was a bit of a _______.

Number 5: When Leeds scored their third goal, the game was pretty much __ ___ ___.

Number 6: I know we’re only at the beginning of the season, but my ______ __ Arsenal to win the title.

Leave your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website and I will go through them next week.

Football phrase

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

This week’s football phrase is the **** **** ****. This is how matches that finish even on aggregate are decided. This is difficult to describe without using the words in the phrase. So... this way of deciding the winner is based on the number of times each team scores when they are not playing at home. If the score is 3-3 on aggregate but one team scored twice when they were at their opponent’s ground and their opponent scored all of their goals at home, the team that scored their goals in their opponent’s stadium would be declared the winner.

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, here are the answers to last week’s language challenge.

Number 1: The restaurant is closed for renovations but will be up and running by the time you visit.

Number 2: Petr Cech is the most successful goalkeeper in the history of the Premier League. Throughout his career, he racked up over 200 clean sheets.

Number 3: I went to a political rally and one of the speakers got the crowd so fired up I thought there might be a riot.

Number 4: When the teacher pointed out my mistake to the whole class I was humiliated.

Number 5: The adder is the only venomous reptile in the UK.

Number 6: The hunter returned with a brace of pheasants strung over his shoulder.

Number 7: High inflation is causing a financial crisis and millions of people are going to fall into poverty.

Number 8: Archeologists in America are puzzled by some beads from Europe that predate Christopher Columbus’ arrival.

Number 9: Joe Ledley opened his account for Crystal Palace against West Brom in his debut match.

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 all of you stay fit and healthy and safe.

Bye for now and enjoy your football.