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Americans Abroad: Weekend Preview

Jose Torres Tigres UANL (Getty Images)

By FRANCO PANIZO

Currently trailing on aggregate, Jose Torres and Tigres UANL will need to come up with a big performance at home if they are to salvage their season this weekend.

First-place Tigres are down on aggregate after suffering a 1-0 loss to Monterrey in the first leg of their Liga MX quarterfinal series on Wednesday, and Los Felinos cannot settle for anything less than a victory on Saturday in order to avoid an early exit from the playoffs. Torres was partially responsible for the goal Tigres surrendered in the first leg, so an improved outing will be needed if he is chosen to start again.

Another player who could use a win in his respective playoffs is Sacha Kljestan. Kljestan and Anderlecht currently sit in first place of the Pro League postseason standings with three matches left, but they only have a two-point advantage over Club Brugge. That scenario should see Anderlecht go out and search for three points on the road against Racing Genk, who could move atop the table with a win of their own.

Wondering what other match might be worth watching? Look no further than Tottenham’s clash with Stoke City on Sunday, as it could pit Clint Dempsey against U.S. Men’s National Team teammate Geoff Cameron in a match Spurs will likely need to win in order to stay in the hunt for a UEFA Champions League spot.

Here is who the Americans Abroad take on this weekend:

FRIDAY

Conor O’Brien and FC Nordsjaelland play Odense BK.

SATURDAY

Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa play Chelsea.

David Yelldell and Bayer Leverkusen play Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96.

Michael Parkhurst and FC Augsburg play Bayern Munich.

Timmy Chandler and FC Nurnberg play Fortuna Dusseldorf. (Chandler is out injured.)

Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 play VfB Stuttgart.

Fabian Johnson, Danny Williams and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim play Hamburg SV. (Williams is out injured.)

Tony Taylor and Estoril Praia play Beira Mar.

Caleb Patterson-Sewell and Vitoria Setubal play Moreirense.

Terrence Boyd and Rapid Vienna play Wolfsberger AC.

Ventura Alvarado and Club America play Pumas UNAM in the Liga MX playoffs.

Jose Torres, Jonathan Bornstein and Tigres UANL play Joaquin Alonso Hernandez and Monterrey in the Liga MX playoffs.

SUNDAY

Geoff Cameron, Brek Shea and Stoke City play Clint Dempsey, Brad Friedel and Tottenham Hotspur.

Tim Howard and Everton play Sebastian Lletget and West Ham United.

Zak Whitbread and Leicester City play Watford.

Oguchi Onyewu and Malaga play Sevilla.

Carlos Bocanegra and Racing Santander play Real Madrid Castilla.

Michael Bradley and AS Roma play AC Milan.

Andrew Wooten and SV Sandhausen play Energie Cottbus.

Alfredo Morales, John Anthony Brooks and Hertha Berlin play FC Cologne.

Bobby Wood and TSV 1860 Munich play SC Paderborn 07.

Joe Gyau and St Pauli play TSV Eintracht Braunschweig.

Jozy Altidore and AZ Alkmaar play Willem II Tilburg.

Eugene Starikov and FK Rostov play Zenit St Petersburg.

Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play Racing Genk in the Pro League playoffs.

Charlie Davies and Randers FC play FC Midtjylland.

Clarence Goodson and Brondby IF play Aalborg BK.

Brian Span and Djurgarden IF play Malmo FF.

Josh Gatt and Molde FK play Sandnes Ulf.

Herculez Gomez, Benji Joya and Santos Laguna play Atlas in the Liga MX playoffs.

Freddy Adu and Bahia play Vitoria in the first leg of the Baiano finals.

MONDAY

Maurice Edu and Bursaspor play Eskisehirspor K.

Alejandro Bedoya and Helsingborg IF play BK Hacken.

Steve Clark and Honefoss BK play Mix Diskerud and Rosenborg BK.

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Which of these games are you most looking forward to? Do you see Torres and Tigres bouncing back vs. Monterrey this weekend? Expecting Kljestan and Anderlecht to pick up three more points?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. For what it’s worth, the first leg of Santos-Atlas is 0-0 at half time right now. Apparently on Univision Deportes Network, a channel I don’t get. Hérculez Gómez not in starting line up according to Medio Tiempo match tracker.
    Incidentally, 1st 2 rounds of LigaMX playoffs now use away goals as 1st tiebreaker, position in the table as second tiebreaker.
    Meaning, for example, that Tigres can advance with a 1-0 win (1-1 aggregate) by better position in the table, but must win by 2 if Monterrey scores in their stadium

    Reply
  2. Has anybody noticed the recent increase of minutes buccaneers has gotten hopefully this helps him get a call up to the gold cup squad

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  3. If anyone wants to see Clint in the UCL next year then we better hope Arsenal drop points this weekend. I just don’t see it though. I think Arsenal have the experience and know how to finish the job.

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    • Aston Villa pulling the upset would make things interesting, and I have to believe they are motivated as they are one of the 7 teams on the relegation bubble.

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      • They are playing much better now but I can see a bit of a letdown since they are pretty much safe from relegation at this point.

        Chelsea should be motivated to lock up CL but they have dropped points all over this year. Chelsea actually have the best points gain against the top 7 or 8 but were pretty bad against the rest.

        Definitely an interesting game though.

      • Aston Villa is not playing Arsenal. Arsenal on Tuesday plays Wigan, who need points and will play like a WC final. And then next weekend Arsenal plays at Newcastle while Wigan plays Villa. If Newcastle loses this weekend against QPR, then Newcastle is still facing the possibility of relegation and will fight like heck to beat Arsenal. So I am hoping like heack QPR beats Newcastle so Newcastle will have something very big to play for when they meet Arsenal.

        All that said, even if Arsenal drops two points against either Wigan or Newcastle, Tottenham still has to win both of the last two games and not sure that will happen if AVB continues doing silly stuff like starting not-yet-ready Lewis Holtby and not-yet-back-to-form Lennon. Tottenham looked good against Chelsea only after Sigurdsson and Clint entered the game and those two should be starting the final two games.

      • Villa are playing Chelsea, and a Villa result would have implications in the race for the Champions League places. Arsenal aren’t the only team playing for their spot here.

      • That’s true. I now see that and have done the math. Chelsea is three points up on Tottenham with an insurmountable goal advantage. But is possible for Tottenham to move ahead winning the last two games if Chelsea collects two or fewer points in its last two games. I could see Villa performing a miracle at home today and drawing and we all know the great Timmy Howard and Everton on the last day of the season are capable of beating or tying Chelsea.

        Yep. First step: Go Aston Villa kick bu++.

  4. Gooch is very likely to start this weekend since 2 defenders for Malaga got sent off in the match Wed against Real Madrid

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    • Man, wouldn’t THAT be sweet … esp. if he ends up elsewhere before next season! I’d love to see Ives give us some USMNT player-pool history by showing us how short this list would’ve been 10 and esp. 20 years ago.

      Reply

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