Learn English Through Football

This football language podcast takes a look at the Liverpool vs Manchester City match played last weekend in the 2021-22 season. We focus on some of the language used to talk about this exciting match, including the cliche ‘there or thereabouts’. You can read a transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com or leave a question or comment on our forum. (DB=Damon)
There or thereabouts – Football Language Podcast: 2021-22 Season: Liverpool vs Man City
DB: Hi there you’re listening to languagecaster.com’s football language 2021-2022 season podcast and my name’s Damon, one half of the Languagecaster team. Damian, our languagcaster team member is in London and I’m based in Tokyo. Over here in Japan, we’re enjoying some fantastic weather after a big typhoon dumped a load of rain on us on Friday. And talking of fantastic, the match we focus on today was certainly a fantastic game, which saw Liverpool and Manchester City drew 2-2.
In this short podcast, we’ll look at a few football phrases that can be used to talk about this game, but first, here is a message from one of our supporters from Korea.
Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Korean).
DB: Thank you for that message. Right, let’s kick off with some language connected with the first meeting between Liverpool and Manchester City this season.
Top-of-the-table clash
DB: This game, with Liverpool in 1st place and Man City in 2nd before kick off was a top-of-the table clash. ‘Top-of-the table clash’ is a phrase you’ll often hear when teams in the top four spots go head to head, or play each other.
Before the season started, most pundits had Manchester City as favourites to win the Premier League and some saw Liverpool as potential challengers. So, some people were already saying this game was a ‘title decider‘. This  top-of-the-table clash was a title decider. Although, as we are only seven games into the season, most people would say it is too early to talk about titles. But in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons the early matches between these two teams did seem to have an impact on the way the seasons went.
In 2018, Manchester City drew at Anfield and went on to win the return and then of course winning the league by 1 point. In 2019, Liverpool blew Manchester City away 3-1 and opened up a massive lead early in the season.
Liverpool’s 3-1 win at Anfield in 2019 certainly felt like a six-pointer, a game that denied one team 3 points (Manchester City) and gave 3 points to their rival (Liverpool). Watch out for this phrase towards the end of the season, especially for teams near or in the relegation zone, at the bottom of the table. Games between teams close together on points and trying to avoid relegation are often called six pointers.
So, we have top-of-the table clash, title decider, and six pointer. All of these phrases you may have heard or read in connection with the 2-2  draw between The Reds, Liverpool, and the Sky Blues, Manchester City.
There or thereabouts