Chelsea are still way out in front of the chasing pack and can pretty much wrap up the title if they beat Arsenal in this weekend’s London derby. On the show, we also discuss some football words and phrases, including break the bank and some sent in by a long-time listener José – ‘dogpile’ and ‘piggy in the middle’. To start the show, we will review some of the footballing news in our good, the bad and the ugly section. And of course, you can read the transcript for the show in our post below (Damian = DF, Damon = DB).

Learn English Through Football Podcast 2016-17: London Derby

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Transcript of the show

DB: You’re listening to languagecaster’s football language podcast. My name’s Damon and I’m in a sunny Tokyo with spring not too far away. Now, unfortunately, we don’t have Damian down the end of the phone line in London this week, but I’m sure he is looking forward to the football this weekend just as much as I am and I hope you are too listener.

Line up

OK, we’re going to start the show with the good, the bad and the ugly – three stories from the week’s footballing news. Then we’ll discuss a few phrases from football, especially a couple sent in by José from Brazil – dogpile and piggy in the middle. And just before our predictions at the end of the show, we’ll have our weekly quiz question, which this week is connected with penalties.

Yes indeed. You are listening to languagecaster.com and that was in Brazilian. Drop us a line at [email protected] if you have the message “You are listening to languagecaster.com” in your language. OK, let’s kick off with some of the good news from the world of football.

Good

Congratulations to Egypt and Cameroon as both teams reached the final of the African Cup of Nations. Egypt squeezed past Burkina Faso 4-3 on penalties after the game was deadlocked at 1-1 after extra time. In the other semi-final, Cameroon had an impressive win over one of the pre-tournament favourites, Ghana. The Indomitable Lions beat the Black Stars 2-0. The final is on Sunday and there is no clear favourite. Hopefully it will be a cracker!

Bad

Now for bad. Things are looking very bad for the current reigning Premier League and English champions, Leicester. The East Midlands side that shocked the football world by claiming the Premier League title last year, are now sliding down the table towards the relegation places. The manager who took them to the title, Ranieri, could even face the chop, be sacked,  if he can’t stop the rot. The Foxes sit in 16th place, two points above Crystal Palace in 18th and the drop zone. Rumours of player unrest with the manager and a run of only 2 wins in 13 outings mean alarm bells are ringing at the King Power stadium.

Ugly

And I’m going to finish in the ugly section not with an ugly, we’ve had too much bad news in the world recently, haven’t we?