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 story from the Premier League.

Today, I am going to talk about one story and I want to talk about a lot of language. When I write these stories, each week, I use some tools to check the level of the vocabulary and I try to explain any regular English that’s B2 or higher. This week, I have written quite a long story and there’s so much language that I’m going to break down the story and go through it line by line. So if it’s really hard to understand the first time you hear it, hold on and I’ll try to explain it all and that should make it easier.

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.

Last week’s football phrase was to **** *** ******* ****. This is quite difficult to explain without using the words in the phrase. The phrase is an action and to do it, a player has to time a run forward perfectly so that they can run onto and behind the last defenders without breaking the ******* rule. Defenders try to catch attackers out by pressing forwards and so that attacking players are ******* when the ball is played forwards. This is the ******* **** and attacking players have to get their timing right if they want to **** *** ******* ****.

Congratulations to Ken from Japan, Vietnguyenngo from Vietnam, AndreTorre102 from Brazil, Ryohei from Japan, Lukas from Czechia, Wojciech M from Poland, Alex from Ukraine, RoEn from Romania, Welcome to the podcast RoEn, and congratulations to Denis2000 from Belarus and Mobeckham from Turkey.

You all worked out that the phrase I was looking for was to beat the offside trap.

Lots of other people got the offside part and there were some other very good guesses, but it was a tricky one last week. Normally, when it’s a tricky one, there just aren’t very many attempts so I’m really happy to see so many people having a go.

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

Now it’s time for this week’s story.

Burnley beaten in Birmingham

Burnley travelled to Birmingham on Saturday to take on Aston Villa. Burnley have a distant connection with the Birmingham side. In 1910, Burnley changed their kit to Claret and light blue because they wanted to look like Aston Villa who were dominant in English football at the time.

Villa have had an amazing season so far under Unai Emery and Burnley have been struggling so the home fans must have been quite confident. Villa have ended 2023 with their highest point tally at the midway point in a Premier League season.

Villa looked confident from the start. 13 minutes in, Ollie Watkins, who was one goal away from a record-breaking Villa goal tally in a calendar year, tried his luck with a powerful left-footed volley but was denied by Trafford.

In the 28th minute, Ollie Watkins made a really intelligent run to receive the ball and then showed great composure as he held off defenders to wait for the right ball through to Leon Bailey whose shot took a slight deflection on its way into the goal.

Three minutes later, Zeki Amdouni equalised for Burnley. The goal came from a free kick from just past the halfway line that sailed into the box where O’Shea headed the ball square to Amdouni who volleyed the ball past Martinez in the Villa goal.

Not long after, Lyle Foster ran onto a through ball and fired the ball into the Villa goal, but he’d been caught offside, just offside and the assistant referee’s flag was up signalling no goal.

Just before halftime, Moussa Diaby put Villa ahead. Ollie Watkins ran onto the ball and took it to the goal line. There were five Burnley players in the box, but Watkins spotted a line to Diaby and fired the ball through. Diaby tapped the ball in from close range.

Then Sander Berge was sent off. In the run-up to the last goal, Sander Berge had run into the path of Diaby. The replay looked like both players had their eyes on the ball, but the referee decided that the block deserved a yellow card.

In the second half, Charlie Taylor took a throw-in and tried to target Berge, but Douglas Luiz ran in and stole the ball. Berge might have been a little frustrated by the theft and grabbed Douglas Luiz’s shirt... right in front of the referee. The referee stopped play and showed Berge a second yellow and then a red and Burnley were down to ten men.

Lyle Foster finally beat the offside trap in the 71st minute and equalised. From a goal kick that was headed forward, Foster timed his run to perfection and got behind the defenders. He had three Villa players trying to crowd him off the ball but he wasn’t bothered, he held off the challenge and smashed the ball under Martinez’s glove.

In the 89th minute, Jhon Durán was tapped in the area and went down winning a penalty.

Douglas Luiz converted the penalty with a strike that clipped the underside of the crossbar and bounced into the goal.

I really feel sorry for Burnley and Vincent Kompany. At the start of the season, he said it was going to be hard but he was looking forward to the chance to learn. Some managers would be fearful of playing against the big teams of the Premier League, but Kompany said such matches would be better opportunities to learn. And the club is playing well now. They were unlucky to not be awarded anything from a handball and then Douglas Luiz’s penalty was also lucky for Villa. After the match, Kompany was disappointed, but I hope he and Burnley can learn from this defeat and eventually, his attitude and hard work will start to pay off.

Final score: Aston Villa 3 - 2 Burnley

Today, I’ve used so much useful language that I’m going to go through the whole story and explain the vocabulary as I go. So ... here’s the story once more.

Burnley beaten in Birmingham

Burnley travelled to Birmingham on Saturday to take on Aston Villa. Burnley have a distant connection with the Birmingham side.

The adjective distant means far away and is the opposite of close. I connection is something that connects or relates two things. People might be connected because they are family or they are married or work together. These would be close connections. A distant connection might be something like they go to the same supermarket or know other people who know each other.

In 1910, Burnley changed their kit to Claret and light blue because they wanted to look like Aston Villa who were dominant in English football at the time.

If something or someone is dominant in an area, in a sport, for example, they are the most powerful or successful in that area. Manchester City have been dominant in English football for the last few years, but back in 1910, Aston Villa were the most successful club.
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Villa have had an amazing season so far under Unai Emery and Burnley have been struggling so the home fans must have been quite confident.

To struggle to do something means to find it difficult to do something.

Villa have ended 2023 with their highest point tally at the midway point in a Premier League season.

A tally is a record of the number of something. If you keep a tally of something, you record the number of these things.

Villa looked confident from the start. 13 minutes in, Ollie Watkins, who was one goal away from a record-breaking Villa goal tally in a calendar year, tried his luck with a powerful left-footed volley but was denied by Trafford.

A calendar year is a year measured from the first of January to the 31st of December. Normally, football statistics are recorded by season. As the football season runs from August to May, seasons don’t match calendar years.

If someone tries their luck, they try to do something that they are not completely confident about. So when a striker takes a shot from distance, they will be less confident about scoring than from a tap-in. So if they score, it might be a bit lucky. To try your luck, then means to try to do something to see if you are lucky.

In the 28th minute, Ollie Watkins made a really intelligent run to receive the ball and then showed great composure as he held off defenders to wait for the right ball through to Leon Bailey whose shot took a slight deflection on its way into the goal.

If you hold someone off or hold off someone, you stop them from attacking you or at least if they are attacking, you stop them from beating you. It’s commonly used to talk about defenders in sports and also about war, when an army might hold off an attacking force to stop them invading.

Three minutes later, Zeki Amdouni equalised for Burnley. The goal came from a free kick from just past the halfway line that sailed into the box where O’Shea headed the ball square to Amdouni who volleyed the ball past Martinez in the Villa goal.

To equalise is a football English verb that means to score a goal that makes the scores level or equal. If the score is 1 - 0 and then the team that are behind score a goal, the score will be 1 - 1 which is equal so that goal was an equaliser and the player who scored the goal equalised.

Not long after, Lyle Foster ran onto a through ball and fired the ball into the Villa goal, but he’d been caught offside, just offside, and the assistant referee’s flag was up signalling no goal.

To signal means to express or say something, usually without using words. You can signal something with gestures, with movements of your hands. If you point at something with your finger, you are signalling the location of the thing.

Just before halftime, Moussa Diaby put Villa ahead. Ollie Watkins ran onto the ball and took it to the goal line. There were five Burnley players in the box, but Watkins spotted a line to Diaby and fired the ball through. Diaby tapped the ball in from close range.

If the scores are level and then a player scores a goal, this means that their team will be leading or ahead so we can say that a player put their team ahead when they scored from a level position.

Then Sander Berge was sent off. In the run-up to the last goal, Sander Berge had run into the path of Diaby. The replay looked like both players had their eyes on the ball, but the referee decided that the block deserved a yellow card.

The run-up is the time and situation before an event. I think it’s probably most commonly used to talk about the time before a political election to talk about all the activity that politicians do to prepare for an election. We use the run-up in football to talk about the passes and other moves that happened before a goal.

If you are in the path of something, you are where it is travelling towards. So the route that something travels on is its path. You sometimes hear about the path of a storm which means the route that the storm took as it moved across the land. If a storm is heading your way then you are in the path of the storm. Berge ran into the path of Diaby which means he moved into the space that Diaby was headed into.

If you deserve something, it is fair or correct that you receive it. If you work hard at school and get a good mark in your final exam, you probably deserve that good mark. If something happens to you that is unfair, you might feel that you didn’t deserve it.

In the second half, Charlie Taylor took a throw-in and tried to target Berge, but Douglas Luiz ran in and stole the ball. Berge might have been a little frustrated by the theft and grabbed Douglas Luiz’s shirt... right in front of the referee. The referee stopped play and showed Berge a second yellow, then a red, and Burnley was down to ten men.

To be frustrated means to feel angry because you can’t do something, often because someone stops you from doing it.

Lyle Foster finally beat the offside trap in the 71st minute and equalised. From a goal kick that was headed forward, Foster timed his run to perfection and got behind the defenders. He had three Villa players trying to crowd him off the ball but he wasn’t bothered, he held off the challenge and smashed the ball under Martinez’s glove.

If you time something to perfection, you do something that you need to be careful about the timing, that you have to do at exactly the right time, perfectly. You can do other things to perfection, if you do them perfectly, Most commonly, I think we talk about food that has been cooked to perfection.

The word crowd, normally is a noun meaning a large number of people in a place, but you can also use the word as a verb that means to move in close to someone so that they can’t do something very easily or so that they feel like they are surrounded. I think it’s most commonly used in football English when two or more players try to get close to an attacking player.

In the 89th minute, Jhon Durán was tapped in the area and went down winning a penalty.

If you go down in football English, it means you fall over. When a player goes down in the penalty area, often, they probably wouldn’t have fallen over anywhere else on the pitch. Players grab their ankles and act as if they are in lots of pain to signal to the referee that they were fouled. The phrasal verb to go down does not mean the same as to dive. A dive is when a player goes down too easily to try to win a penalty, but you can’t really tell when someone’s just going down and when someone’s diving.

Douglas Luiz converted the penalty with a strike that clipped the underside of the crossbar and bounced into the goal. Trafford dived the right way, but there was no way he was going to stop that.

The ball clipped the underside of the crossbar. The underside is the bottom part of the crossbar. I said that the ball clipped it because the ball hit just part of the bar. It didn’t hit the crossbar in the middle, it just hit the edge. So in this situation, to clip something means to hit the edge of something.

I really feel sorry for Burnley and Vincent Kompany. At the start of the season, he said it was going to be hard but he was looking forward to the chance to learn.

If you feel sorry for someone, you are sad because of what happened to them. You are sad about their situation or because you think it is not fair for them to be suffering their problems, that they don’t deserve to be suffering.

Some managers would be fearful of playing against the big teams of the Premier League, but Kompany said such matches would be better opportunities to learn. And the club is playing well now. They were unlucky to not be awarded anything from a handball and then Douglas Luiz’s penalty was also lucky for Villa. After the match, Kompany was disappointed, but I hope he and Burnley can learn from this defeat and eventually, his attitude and hard work will start to pay off.

The adjective fearful means frightened or afraid about something. It’s not the same as frightened or afraid. I think there’s a fear scale that starts with concern so you might be a little concerned about something and then if it’s more serious you start to worry about it and then you might start feeling apprehensive and then you’re nervous about something and then your fearful and finally you’re afraid and if it gets any worse you could say you are terrified.

Language challenge

Right, now it’s time for you to think about the language again. I spoke about quite a lot of language today and I’m only going to test you on 7 items which are:

• Tally
• To try your luck
• To hold off someone
• Run-up
• To deserve
• To go down ... and
• to feel sorry for someone

I have found examples of these words and phrases online and edited them slightly. I have removed the vocabulary so I want you to fill in the gaps with the correct form of the language from the podcast.

Number 1. A Daily Echo reader says he "__________" for traders in Dibden Purlieu who recently spoke out against the impact of roadworks on Christmas sales.

Number 2. Blackburn Rovers manager Jon Dahl Tomasson claims his side didn't __________ to lose the Lancashire derby against Preston North End and suggests his young side will learn from the defeat.

Number 3. Paqueta helped West Ham get off to a flying start with a superb assist for Jarrod Bowen’s opener inside five minutes. But he __________ off the ball soon afterwards holding his left knee and was replaced by teenage striker Divin Mubama.

Number 4. Southampton's Adam Armstrong __________ from just inside the half-way line as the Saints took the lead at home to Plymouth.

Number 5. UK shoppers spent £13.7bn on groceries in the __________ to Christmas as they sought out bargains and switched to discounters to try to offset price inflation.

Number 6. Edinburgh __________ the Lions to make it two wins from two to start their United Rugby Championship campaign.

Number 7. The revered Australian fast bowler, Glenn McGrath has recently revealed his pick for a bowler he thinks could overtake his Test wickets __________.

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

Football phrase

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

This week’s football phrase is a ***-**. This is a noun that means a goal that is scored by an attacker from very close range with very little effort. The skill comes from timing a run right so that when the cross comes the attacker is in the right place and can score with a ***-**.

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. Passengers waiting on the station's concourse often surge forwards when the platform their train is departing from is announced.

Number 2. From ChatGPT to machine learning, 2023 was the year artificial intelligence broke through.

Number 3. “Through the legs,” reflected Jurgen Klopp. “That was a bit cheeky.” This word sums up Curtis Jones, who brings an impishness and an impudence to his duties.

Number 4. A fresh perspective from an outsider was exactly what the team needed to break the deadlock in their brainstorming session.

Number 5. Boris Johnson was “bamboozled” and “confused” by the scientific modelling and data presented to him during the pandemic, the UK’s Covid-19 public inquiry heard on Monday.

Number 6. The most powerful anti-Trump argument in the Republican party has evaporated now that Biden’s poll numbers are plummeting.

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.