Matchweek 28

Introduction  

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to our Monday round-up section on Premier Skills English.  

Jack: Hi there. I’m Jack. Every Monday we discuss last weekend’s action, the best players, the best matches, Fantasy Football, and make some predictions for next weekend.

Rich: We want you to practise your English and interact with Premier League fans from around the world in our comments section.

Jack: You can do this on the Premier Skills English website or the Premier Skills-British Council Facebook page - if that’s where you are listening to us.

Rich: There were some brilliant matches in Matchweek 28 so let’s get on with this week’s round-up!

Headlines

Rich: United come from behind to beat Chelsea.

Jack: Manchester Utd beat Chelsea by two goals to one in the battle between two of the Champions League contenders. Chelsea went ahead through Willian and looked the better team but they were pegged back by United. Romelu Lukaku got the equaliser and then he set up Jesse Lingard for the winner in the second half.

Rich: Liverpool hammer the Irons.

Jack: Liverpool thumped West Ham 4-1 with goals from Emre Can, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane. Salah has now been involved in 31 Premier League goals for the Reds this season which is more than any other Premier League player.

Rich: Kane strikes late for Spurs.

Jack: Spurs beat Crystal Palace 1-0 with a last-minute winner from, yes you guessed it … Harry Kane. It was Kane’s 25th goal of the season and took Tottenham up to fourth place.

Rich: The race to get into next season’s Champions League is looking very close.

Jack: Yes, it is. I think we’re looking at three teams from five to get into the Champions League.

Rich: Five? You still think Arsenal have a chance. They have no chance of clawing their way back into it. Did you watch them in the Cup Final yesterday? City won 3-0 and it could have been five!

Jack: Thanks for your sympathy! Just a bad day at the office, we’ll bounce back!

Definition Alert! 

Rich:  Chelsea were pegged back by United. Arsenal have no chance of clawing their way back. Peg back and claw back? What do these phrases mean?

Jack: They’re not very common in general English but they are phrasal verbs that you hear quite often when we are talking about football.

Rich: To peg back means to stop someone from winning or to stop a team from going even further ahead. United pegged Chelsea back by equalising.

Jack: Claw back is used in a similar way. A team might claw a goal back when they are losing 2-0. This means that they are fighting back. Claws are what many animals and birds have on the end of their feet.

Rich: To claw back really gives the idea of fighting and battling.  Something Arsenal need to start doing …

Jack: Alright. That’s enough.

Activity Week

Rich: Before we move on we’d like to tell you about our new activity week on Premier Skills English. It’s a free series of lessons designed to help you with your English and you can sign up for it now on our homepage.

Jack: Just go to the website and look for the live tab at the top of the page. This activity week is all about the language of health and fitness and we would love to see you there!

Matchweek Awards

Rich: Right, every Monday, we give out three matchweek awards. Player of the Week, Team of the Week and Match of the Week.

Jack: In the comments section, you need to tell us if you agree with our choices …

Rich: These awards always create a lot of discussion. Last week lots of you agreed with our choices but not all of you.

Jack: Lynnhtetmyo from Myanmar didn’t know why we chose Newcastle as our Team of the Week. He felt it should have been Manchester City.

Rich: And Toha-23 from Ukraine felt that we should have chosen Brighton! So there are always lots of different opinions. 

Jack: Let’s see who agrees and disagrees with our choices this week. Write your opinions on our facebook page or on the website.

Rich: Let’s start with our Player of the Week. There were some great individual performances in the Premier League last week.

Jack: Willian was great for Chelsea, Mohamed Salah fantastic again for Liverpool and Glenn Murray brilliant for Brighton.

Rich: But our Player of the Week this week is Manchester Utd’s Romelu Lukaku.

Jack: A great choice. Manchester Utd weren’t at their best but Lukaku was and he’s finally performed against a big team. A great performance.

Rich: Right our next award is for Team of the Week. There were good wins for Manchester Utd, Liverpool, Tottenham, Huddersfield and Watford but our team of the week is Brighton & Hove Albion.

Jack: Brighton beat Swansea 4-1 to move four points clear of the relegation zone. A great result for them.

Rich: Finally, what about Match of the Week?

Jack: Some great games but I’ll let you choose our Match of the Week, Rich.

Rich: Our Match of the Week is Liverpool against West Ham. Liverpool played some brilliant stuff.

Fantasy Football

Rich: What’s been happening in Fantasy Football this week, Jack?

Jack: The top scoring player in matchweek 28 so far is Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah with 20 points.

Rich: I’m sure many of you had him in your teams. He’s in my team but not the Premier Skills team!

Jack: Where is the Premier Skills team in the Premier Skills Fantasy football league?

Rich: We’ve gone down to 13th place but we have three Manchester City players I’m sure they will get some points when City play Arsenal again on Thursday!

Jack: Yes, probably. Our Fantasy Football Premier Skills Team of the Week is Atsu bless you who are managed by Sherif Ali from Egypt! Well done to you!

Matchweek Prediction

Jack: Rich - your prediction for matchweek 28 was for Manchester Utd to beat Chelsea 2-1 and would you believe it Manchester Utd beat Chelsea 2-1!

Rich: I know, I know. I’m very happy!

Jack: Let’s see if you can do it again. What’s your prediction for matchweek 29?

Rich: Matchweek 29 sees Manchester City play Chelsea. It will be the second time in a week that Chelsea have to travel to Manchester. They played well against Utd but lost and if they play well again they have a chance of getting something out of the game. The problem for Chelsea is that City are just too good at the moment. They were brilliant against Arsenal to win the League Cup last weekend and apart from that shock cup result against Wigan they have looked unstoppable. For that reason I’m going to go for a City win. Final score: Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea.

Jack: I think Chelsea might get a draw. We want you to make your prediction at the bottom of the page. Are you a good predictor? 

Rich: Right, that’s all we have time for. I hope you have enjoyed this football round-up. 

Jack: Remember to check out the Premier  Skills English homepage for our new activity week on the language of health and fitness!

Rich: And don’t forget to join the discussion at the bottom of the page. And if you’ve enjoyed this podcast why not leave a rating or review and that will help other people find us. 

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.