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Americans Abroad: A Look Ahead

Tim Howard 3 (Reuters)

by FRANCO PANIZO

With winter break slowly starting to take into effect across Europe, more members of the Americans Abroad contingent finds themselves with a pause in the action, but that doesn't mean there aren't any quality matches to keep an eye on this weekend.

After last week's clutch performance, Tim Howard will once again need to be heroic in goal as Everton travels to Stamford Bridge to take on first-place Chelsea. The Blues are undefeated at home in league play this season, and are averaging just under three goals scored in those games, so another impressive showing from Howard will likely be needed for Everton to steal a result.

Other players to watch for will be Marcus Hahnemann and Jay DeMerit. After having won his first EPL game since 2008 last week, Hahnemann will look to make his third consecutive start for Wolverhampton Wanderers when they take on Tottenham Hotspur, while DeMerit could earn his first start for Watford since being sidelined with a pair of injuries in August.

Here is a rundown of who the Americans Abroad will be playing this weekend:

FRIDAY

Luis Robles and Kaiserslautern play David Yeldell and TUS Koblenz.

SATURDAY

Jozy Altidore and Hull City play Blackburn Rovers.

Jonathan Spector and West Ham United play Birmingham.

Marcus Hahnemann and Wolverhampton Wanderers play Tottenham Hotspur.

Clint Dempsey, Eddie Johnson and Fulham play Burnley.

Brad Friedel, Brad Guzan and Aston Villa play Manchester United.

Tim Howard and Everton play Chelsea.

Frank Simek and Sheffield Wednesday play Leicester City.

Jay DeMerit and Watford play Derby County.

Mike Grella and Leeds United play Brentford.

Jon-Paul Pittman and Wycombe Wanderers play Carlisle United.

Ian Joyce and Southend United play Hartlepool United.

Jemal Johnson and Milton Keynes Dons play Leyton Orient.

Zak Whitbread and Millwall play Walsall.

Dominic Cervi and Celtic play Motherwell.

DaMarcus Beasley, Maurice Edu and Rangers play St Johnstone.

Michael Bradley and Borussia Moenchengladbach play Steve Cherundolo, Sal Zizzo and Hannover 96. (Zizzo is out injured.)

Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 play Werder Bremen. (Jones is out injured.)

Matt Taylor and FSV Frankfurt play Ahlen.

Kenny Cooper and TSV 1860 Munich play FC Augsburg. (Cooper is out injured.)

Carlos Bocanegra and Stade Rennes play AS Nancy Lorraine.

SUNDAY

Oguchi Onyewu and AC Milan play Palermo. (Onyewu is out injured.)

MONDAY

Freddy Adu and Belenenses play Kamani Hill and Vitoria de Guimaraes.

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Which Americans Abroad match are you most looking forward to? Which player(s) do you see having a big impact? Can Howard help Everton pull out a positive result this weekend? Do you see Hahnemann posting a second consecutive victory with the Wolves? Think DeMerit gets the start?

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Comments

  1. The rumor a year ago was that Fox Soccer Channel would be HD January 2010 – what is the status of that. Directv has been showing most of the Champions League games in HD for free. If the games are available in HD broadcast then Fox Soccer Channel needs to get with it. What is the status of HD for Fox Soccer Channel?

    Reply
  2. I’ve grown really fond of Aston Villa after ESPN-HD landed quite a few of their games on the limited EPL games they show. Hopefully we can more of these stateside. The clarity of HD vs. FSC or PC broadcast changes the game. The fact that you can see the players reactions makes you react stronger. ESPN needs to aggressively get stateside rights to EPL games as soon as possible, or FSC needs to go HD.

    I’m MUCH more inclined to watch a game I don’t care about on HD.

    With that said… Eddie Johnson sucks.

    Reply
  3. Midweek games that we don’t hear about often is why. In some way it arguably prepares players in those leagues better for the World Cup as they have more short turnarounds during the season, just like during the world cup. In England you only see that much with the cup contests midweek, but many teams set their best for the early rounds (and almost all of the Carling cup).

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  4. No Dio Kamara and no Andy Johnson means that Eddie Johnson is likely to sit the bench against Burnley… The rumors are swirling that EJ is on the transfer block but the cold hard facts are that Fulham still like him just not his wage packet @ 15k a week when other starters dont earn that much a week.

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  5. This is the week Altidore finally scores in the EPL. I can feal it. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dempsey add to his tally in a rare Fulham away victory.

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  6. Just as an FYI, if Chelsea lose and United win, then United will be in first, when only a couple weeks ago people were saying the EPL season was basically over and Chelsea were going to run away with it. Ah, how the tides do change. Essien is injured and Chelsea haven’t won in three games. Obviously it can go the other way, and Chelsea can be five points up again, but I’m just saying, it’s silly to speculate about the season already, when on any given weekend things can change the outlook of the title race…

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  7. It always amazed me that the EPL starts earlier than most seasons in Europe, and has no winter break, yet they play the same number of games as say, Spain and Italy who take a break, and they finish up around the same time. I know the other leagues make up these games, but I never seem to notice how they make up about four or five games a season…

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  8. i only look for forward to watching dempsey. until altidore starts scoring, im not watching him.

    what are frank simek’s chances on making the wc team?

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