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Big day for Americans in the UK

Spector (Reuters Pictures)

Jonathan Spector has had quite a run over the last couple months, and if he and West Ham turn in another winning performance on Wednesday, they'll book themselves a place at Wembley Stadium for a Carling Cup title bout with Arsenal on Feb. 27.

West Ham and Birmingham square off in the second leg of their cup semifinal tie (2:45 p.m., Fox Soccer.TV, Fox Soccer Plus) at St. Andrews Stadium. The Hammers own a 2-1 aggregate advantage after the first leg, in which Spector assisted on the matchwinner.

Spector isn't the only American in the United Kingdom with an important match on the slate, though. With a victory over Liverpool at Anfield (3 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel), Clint Dempsey and Fulham can pull even with the Reds for 11th place in the Premier League and further distance itself from the drop zone. Dempsey, coming off a two-goal performance over the weekend, looks to maintain his stellar form.

Meanwhile, in Scotland, Maurice Edu and Rangers are in danger of slipping even further in the Premier League table, though a match against lowly Hibernian comes at the right time. With first-place Celtic and third-place Hearts of Midlothian also squaring off Wednesday, Rangers has a chance to improve its table position one way or another with a victory.

Comments

  1. I think that the outcome of him staying at the club is kind of up in the air now. If they survive relegation, he’ll have established himself as a goal-scorer at a Premier League club for another season and that’s fantastic. If they are relegated and/or let him go, he’ll have to find himself another club in the summer. The effort he’s put into WH should help him secure a decent position, though.

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  2. Liverpool will play their best 11 and Torres back in form. Liverpool needs the win. Should be a good game.

    Agree- Arsenal will pull out all stops for the cup win.

    I do think Spector is being shopped, although his play this past weekend may be changing the equation there. Seems like he has been on/off and was due to be off. Perhaps the fact that he played and scored is making him more valuable on the team than sold.

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  3. A month ago yes. Now he’s the 3rd leading top-scorer for the club so he’s safe for the moment. I think the club will keep him til season’s end and let him go. If I were him I’d leave but then again he could salvage his WH career by helping them to win the Carling Cup and surviving relegation and also using his better performances to help him latch on to another club.

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  4. One of the lead stories on the WHUFC site is about “goal machine” Jonathan Spector. Hah. After all of these years of him falling by the wayside at West Ham, that’s kind of nice to see.

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  5. big 3 points on the table for Fulham and co. They could jump 4 spots with a win and put a dent in liverpool’s little run of form lately.

    It’d be nice to see West Ham win the carling, but Wenger is going to field his top 11 for that final i think. He needs a trophy NOW

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