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Football Phrase of the Week: Theirs to Lose
In this football phrase of the week we take a look at the phrase, theirs to lose’ which has been in the news after Liverpool stayed top of the Premier League after beating Tottenham 6-3. You can read the 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.
Theirs to Lose
DB: Hello everyone. This is Damon from the Languagecaster team and I hope you are all doing well. And welcome to our latest football phrase of the week.
Stinger: You’re listening to Languagecaster.com (Liverpool fan)
This episode’s weekly football phrase is ‘theirs to lose’, which, after Sunday has been used to describe Liverpool’s chances of winning the Premier League title.
Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur away 6-3, while also playing like they could win 9-0. The win put them four points clear of Chelsea and with a game in hand – they have played one game less than their rivals.
A lot of people think they are favourites to win the Premier League.
When you think a team are strong favourites to win a title, you say ‘it is theirs to lose’ or ‘the title is in their hands’. If they continue playing like they are, you think they will be champions.
The phrase infers that it is only the team itself than can stop them winning the title. So, only poor performances can stop the team winning. It is almost like saying they can choose to lose or choose to win.
Here are some examples used this week to talk about Liverpool:
- CBS Sport: ‘Liverpool’s four-point lead over second place Chelsea, plus the game in hand they boast, reaffirms the feeling that the title is still theirs to lose.’
- The Guardian: ‘Liverpool keep doing Liverpool things. The Premier League is now theirs to lose.’
- Monday Night Podcast: ‘The team chat Liverpool and is the title theirs to lose?’
Bottle It
All of these suggest that Liverpool are strong favourites to win the Premier League. If they don’t, people will say they ‘bottled it’, or they ‘choked’, which means the pressure was too much and the team could not handle it and their form suffered.
Now, I think it is far too early to use the phrase ‘it is Liverpool’s to lose’. The teams haven’t even played half the season, and of course a lot can happen in just a few games. Liverpool could easily drop points, remember they lost at home to Nottingham Forest. They could pick up injuries to key players. What if Gravenberch or Salah are injured for example. There are no clear alternatives to players like these.
So, the title is on the cards, it’s a possibility, but it certainly isn’t Liverpool’s to lose.
How would you say this expression in another language that you know? Let us know by dropping us a line at admin@languagecaster.com.
Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (German)
Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster and that message was in German. And we’ll be back with some more football language in our podcast later on in the week. Enjoy all the football. Ta-ra.
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