Football Expression: Undefeated
If a team loses a match we can say that they have been defeated or they have suffered a defeat – they’ve lost. Alternatively, if that team has not lost a match for a while they are undefeated – they have not been beaten or defeated. The verb ‘to remain’ is often used with this word – the team remained undefeated – they are still undefeated. ‘Unbeaten‘ is another way of saying this, for example, the team remained unbeaten. We can also say that a team is on an unbeaten run which is when a team has not lost for a long time but we cannot say that a team is on an undefeated run. Other phrases that you might hear with this include ‘on the bounce’ andA ‘in a row’ when talking about the number of games involved in the unnbeaten run or how long a team has been undefeated. Leicester City are undefeated in seven games – they have not lost for seven matches in a row.
- Example:A In the 2003-04 season Arsenal remained undefeated throughout the whole season and went on an unbeaten run of 49 games.
- Example: Tottenham were undefeated at White Hart Lane in their final season at the old stadium.
- Example: Liverpool’s hopes of remaining unbeaten for an entire Premier League season were ended in sensational style by a rampant Watford at Vicarage Road (BBC.co.uk, 29 February 2020).
Related Phrases
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