Welcome everyone to the football podcast for learners of English. On this week’s show we’ll be looking ahead to the North London derby between Tottenham and Arsenal and also looking back at some of the big Champions League stories from the week. We also have some new football language to explain, including ‘to pepper the goal‘ , while we finish off with some predictions. You can read the transcript for the show in our post below (Damian = DF, Damon = DB).

Learn English Through Football Podcast: The 2016-17 North London Derby

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Transcript of the show

DF: You are listening to languagecaster.com’s football language podcast. Welcome everyone to the show for all fans of football who wish to learn more about the language of the beautiful game. My name is Damian and I am here in a chilly London where we are getting ready for the 5th November firework celebrations here. Damon, of course, is in Tokyo, Japan. Damon, how are you getting on?

DB: Very well indeed, Damian. Lovely weather here, so all good.

DF: Now, as I mentioned, this weekend will see lots of firework displays taking place in the UK – how about in Japan, Damon, when is it usual to see fireworks?

DB: Summer is the big time for fireworks in Japan, and they are fantastic events if you have the chance to go. They’re often held next to rivers or by the sea, so they can be quite spectacular! Anyway, what do we have on today’s show?

Line up

DF: Well, on the podcast today we will be reviewing a few of the big football stories from the week in our Good, the Bad and the Ugly review section – that’s coming up next. Then, we’ll have our regular weekly quiz, followed by some English for football phrases which this week includes the phrase ‘to pepper the goal’. Then of course at the end of the show we will be featuring the north London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham in our predictions section along with Watford’s trip to Liverpool and Chelsea hosting Everton.

DF: OK, let’s start with our good, the bad and the ugly section. Damon, what was good for you this week?

Good

DB: Well, it’s been good for Chelsea and their manager’s decision to change formation and go 3-4-3, that’s playing three centre backs. Their performances have been transformed and they won four on the bounce, or four in a row, and haven’t conceded in those games either! Good for the Blues, which might not be so good for those they are chasing at the top of the Premier League: Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool. How about bad?

Bad

DF: It has not been a good couple of weeks for my team Spurs. Since beating Manchester City at the start of October we have played six times in all competitions and won none scoring only three times. The latest setback occurred this week at