Football Phrase of the Week: Stretch their lead

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Football Phrase of the Week: Stretch their lead

In this football phrase of the week we explain the expression, ‘to stretch their lead‘ after Liverpool’s win over the Christmas period. 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.

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Stretch their lead

DF: Hello everyone. This is Damian from the Languagecaster team and I hope you are all doing well. And welcome to our latest football phrase of the week.

I am in a cold but bright Ireland – I am here celebrating the holidays with my family and I hope you have been able to enjoy some kind of break too. Of course, the football season in the UK does not take a break over Christmas or New Year and the fixture list at this time of year is really busy as the season approaches the halfway mark (that’s 19 games in the Premier League). Currently, in-form Liverpool are top of the Premier League after defeating Leicester 3-1 at home. The Reds have 42 points from their 17 games which is six points more than second-place Arsenal who have played 18 matches. Before the Leicester match, Liverpool were four points clear of Chelsea in second place but after the Blues lost at home to Fulham, thanks to a last-minute winner, Liverpool now have a six point lead at the top with a game in hand. So, we can say they have stretched their lead at the top of the table.

To stretch (or to extend) means to make something longer so Liverpool have made the points gap between first and second in the table longer: from four points to six. They have stretched (or extended) their lead at the top of the table. So, a team stretches their lead at the top of the league table when they increase the gap in points between them and the next placed side.

We can also use ‘stretch‘ when a team increases their lead in a game. Let’s take a look at that Liverpool versus Leicester game again as an example:

• Leicester opened the scoring in the first half – this means they went ahead after getting the first goal in this game.
• Liverpool then equalised before half time – they levelled the score to make it 1-1.
• Liverpool then took the lead in the second half – they turned the game around to lead 2-1.
• Liverpool then scored another goal to make it 3-1 so we can say that they stretched their lead; they increased their lead from 2-1 to 3-1.

So, we can say that a team can stretch their lead in a game when they go further ahead or increase their lead and also stretch their lead at the top of the table when they increase their points total to move further away from their rivals.

Can you think of any more examples like this? And how would you say this expression, ‘to stretch their lead‘ in another language that you know? Let us know by dropping us a line at admin@languagecaster.com.

Stinger: You are listening to Languagecaster (in Irish)

Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster and that message was in Irish. And we’ll be back with some more football language in our podcast early next week. I wonder will Liverpool have stretched their lead even further by then? Or maybe Arsenal or Chelsea will have reduced that lead! Enjoy all the football and we’ll see you soon. Bye bye.

More Examples

• Example:  Mo Salah rounds off Liverpool recovery to sink Leicester and stretch lead (Guardian.co.uk, December 26 2024)
• Example: Liverpool stretched their lead of the Premier League to seven points on Boxing Day courtesy of a 3-1 comeback win over Leicester City (Liverpoolfc.com 26 December 2024)

Related Terms

Glossary

Football Language Glossary