Subscribe: Weekly Football Phrase
Each week the languagecaster team will explain a football phrase or cliche for learners of English who love the sport. On this week’s show we take a look at the phrase ‘To lose ground’. Click on the link below to learn about the word or phrase, while you can also read the transcript. You can also find many more examples by going to our football cliches here and our huge football glossary here.
This week’s English for football is to lose ground. This phrase is followed by the preposition ‘on’ to make ‘to lose ground on‘. It means to fall behind another team on points. Imagine if one team is top with 60 points and the second place team has 58 points. They both play at the weekend. The top team wins and now has 63 points, but the second place team loses and still has 58 points – they have lost ground on the leader. This week in the Argentinian Primera Division, Estudiantes lost ground on leaders Boca Juniors after losing 2-1 to Belgrano Cordoba. The opposite is to make up ground on. So, this week in the Premier League, Manchester United lost and Manchester City won. City made up ground on United. To lose ground on, to make ground on.