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Americans Abroad: A Look Ahead

Landon Donovan 7 (Getty Images)

By FRANCO PANIZO

Landon Donovan has enjoyed a good run of form since joining Everton five matches ago, impressing against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City, but this weekend provides him with his biggest challenge yet.

Donovan will get his first taste of the Merseyside derby, as Everton and Liverpool square off in one of the weekend's marque matches. Everton has not lost a league match since falling to Liverpool back in Nov., and Donovan will be looking to make an impact against Liverpool's stingy defense. Liverpool has conceded just one goal in its past 548 minutes.

Also looking to build on his recent string of positive outings is Jozy Altidore, who is still searching for his first Premiership goal. Altidore and Hull City won't have it easy playing a Manchester City team that will benefit from the returns of defenders Joleon Lescott and Wayne Bridge.

Here is a rundown of who the Americans Abroad play this weekend:

SATURDAY

Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Everton play Liverpool.

Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers play Clint Dempsey and Fulham. (Holden and Dempsey are out injured.)

Jonathan Spector and West Ham United play Burnley.

Jozy Altidore and Hull City play Manchester City.

Brad Friedel, Brad Guzan and Aston Villa play Tottenham Hotspur.

Jay DeMerit and Watford play Barnsley.

Kenny Cooper and Plymouth Argyle play West Bromwich Albion.

Frank Simek and Sheffield Wednesday play Nottingham Forest.

Jemal Johnson and Stockport County play Milton Keynes Dons.

Mike Grella and Leeds United play Hartlepool United.

Jon-Paul Pittman and Wycombe Wanderers play Yeovil Town.

Zak Whitbread and Norwich City play Millwall.

DaMarcus Beasley, Maurice Edu and Rangers play St Mirren in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup.

Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 play SC Freiburg. (Jones is out injured.)

Steve Cherundolo, Sal Zizzo and Hannover 96 play TSG Hoffenheim. (Cherundolo and Zizzo are out injured.)

David Yeldell and TUS Koblenz play Energie Cottbus. (Yeldell is out injured.)

Charlie Davies and Sochaux play AS Nancy Lorraine. (Davies is out injured.)

Carlos Bocanegra and Stade Rennes play Bordeaux.
 
Freddy Adu, Eddie Johnson and Aris Salonika play Panthrakikos.
 
Edgar Castillo and Tigres UANL play UNAM.
 
Herculez Gomez and Puebla play Atlante.
 
Jose Francisco Torres and Pachuca play San Luis. (Torres is out injured.)

SUNDAY

Marcus Hahnemann and Wolverhampton Wanderers play Birmingham.
 
Dominic Cervi and Celtic play Dunfermline Athletic in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup.
 
Oguchi Onyewu and AC Milan play Bologna. (Onyewu is out injured.)

Michael Bradley and Borussia Moenchengladbach play Mainz

Ricardo Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt play Borussia Dortmund. (Clark is out injured.)

Luis Robles and Kaiserslautern play SC Paderborn 07.

Matt Taylor and FSV Frankfurt play Alemania Aachen.

Marco Vidal and Indios de Ciudad Juarez play Morelia.

MONDAY

Ian Joyce and Southend United play Colchester United.

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Which Americans Abroad match are you most looking forward to? Which players do you see having a big impact? How do you see Donovan doing against Liverpool?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Ives – Is Daniel Williams of SC Freiburg going to be added to your recap? An outside back getting time in Germany can’t be a bad thing…

    (SBI-No, he’s not. If he declares an intent to play for the United States, then he will be.)

    Reply
  2. Well I just read this quote from Phil Brown so this bodes well for possibly another start for Altidore.

    “People can’t forget that Jozy’s only 19,” Brown said. “As long as Jozy can stay with that form and stay with that confidence, stay with that belief, the goal will come.

    “I think that they will be like London busses and if he gets one it will quickly be followed by another.”

    Reply
  3. i actually really like that away kit. i think it looks really sharp, there’s nothing else really like it and the pink isn’t overkill like so many italian team’s pink jerseys.

    Reply
  4. potential currently healthy starting 11:

    G: Howard
    D: Spector DeMerit Bocanegra Bornstein
    M: Donovan Feilhaber Bradley Castillo
    F: Altidore Casey

    Some potential benchers:
    Guzan, Goodson, Pearce, Wynne, Beckerman, Rogers, Kljestan, Bedoya, EJ, Ching, Cunningham

    Reply
  5. Howard

    Spector

    Bocanegra

    DeMerit

    Bornstein

    Donovan

    Bradley

    Edu / Torres / Jones / Clark (all have some knock right now)

    So Feilhaber instead (maybe Beckerman)

    Rogers (only pacey LM option if Holden is not on the right and Beasley not back)

    Altidore

    Ching (maybe Findley, Cooper or Cunningham)

    So we have Holden, Clark, Dempsey, Gooch, Davies, Torres, Jones, Edu, Beasley, Cherundolo… YIKES but the good news is… I expect each to be healthy by April/May

    Reply
  6. In the Plymouth-West Brom game, Cooper could face Slovenia captain and midfield anchor Robert Koren. He has been at West Brom for a while but has been sparingly used lately, and was looking at transferring to get playing time to be sharp for South Africa. But he decided to stay at West Brom.

    Reply
  7. i count 10 US internationals out injured currently or attempting to comeback after a long layoff. I believe we could form a very strong All-Wounded XI just from the ranks of our Yanks abroad:

    Yelldell; Onyewu, Beasley, Edu, Cherundolo; Clark, Dempsey, Torres, Holden; Davies, Cooper.

    All of that team has been capped, most of them many times, except for Yelldell. Four were starters in the Confed Cup (and Cherundolo likely would have started if not injured at that time also). All you would have to do to make a strong all-injured XI is put DMB at left back, where he has played for the US, and put Edu at center back, where he played well for the 08 Olympic team. Throw in Zizzo and Jermaine Jones as subs and you have a decent USA B team that could at least make the Gold Cup final and likely do much better in the final than the C team that Bradley used last summer.

    Scary, no?

    Reply
  8. Hopefully Pittman can get back to scoring. He was doing well until that injury. Ironically enough he got it while scoring in training.

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  9. M.H. speaks the truth! The home jerseys with their faux-v necks are awful. They have a seam on the shirt above the diaphram that, coupled with the faux-v neck, makes it look they are all wearing oversized bras. Horrendous.

    The away jerseys, however, I like. Nothing like it and not too bad looking.

    Reply
  10. That jersey is light years above their home kit. Their home shirt looks like something cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation would wear. Disgusting.

    Reply
  11. I agree, the away jerseys are awesome. I think they look better than the current home jerseys. The white triangle is terrible and makes it look like the jersey doesn’t fit right.

    Reply
  12. I have this game set up on My DVR for Sunday at 12-1pm on Pacific time on ESPN2. I can wait for Donovan to get another Goal but he need to be more aggrassive, move around freely and look for the goal like when he play for the Galaxy.

    Reply
  13. Franco, “DaMarcus Beasley, Maurice Edu and Rangers play St Mirren in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup.”

    Both Edu and Beasley have not dressed the past two games, aren’t they injured?

    Reply
  14. ditto, i’d rock the black and pink one. Also, Everton’s limited edition purple kits look really nice too. You can check them out on their website. If only they could get rid of the smock looking home jerseys. I know they are a throwback to their last great season in 85′, but they are hideous.

    Reply
  15. LD and Timmy against Liverpool…that sounds just great. The only thing that would make me happier is Dempsey on that team as well.

    Reply
  16. Jozy against City – big match for city (with two games in hand on their rivals) and Hull looking to avoid going down. should be good Saturday on FSC…

    Reply

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