By FRANCO PANIZO
Stuart Holden has enjoyed a strong start to the season, but if he is to make it even more impressive by opening his scoring abroad account this weekend, he'll have to do it against a fellow American.
Holden and his club, Bolton Wanderers, travel to face Brad Friedel and Aston Villa in the marquee American match-up of the weekend. Holden is coming off a 90-minute performance in Bolton's loss to Arsenal, and he will look to help get them back on track against Friedel and Aston Villa, who are also hoping to rebound after a defeat of their own.
Maurice Edu will also be aiming to build off his most recent showing. Fresh from going the distance in his Champions League debut against Manchester United on Wednesday, Edu should dress for Rangers FC's league match against Dundee United. Currently tied with Celtic on 12 points through four games, Edu and Rangers likely need a win in order to avoid falling behind their arch-rival.
Wondering what other interesting matches are on tap? Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04's battle against Neven Subotic and Borussia Dortmund might pique your interest, as might Jozy Altidore and Villarreal's game versus recently-promoted Levante.
Here is a rundown of who the Americans Abroad will be playing this weekend:
FRIDAY
Mike Grella and Leeds United play Doncaster Rovers.
Ricardo Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt play Daniel Williams and SC Freiburg.
Sammy Ochoa and Estudiantes Tecos U.A. de G. play Pumas UNAM.
SATURDAY
Jonathan Spector and West Ham United play Stoke City.
Marcus Hahnemann and Wolverhampton Wanderers play Tottenham Hotspur.
Brad Friedel, Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa play Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers.
Clint Dempsey, Eddie Johnson and Fulham play Blackburn Rovers.
Tim Howard and Everton play Newcastle United.
Conor Doyle and Derby County play Barnsley.
Zak Whitbread and Norwich City play Preston North End. (Whitbread is out injured.)
Frank Simek and Carlisle United play Brighton.
Anton Peterlin and Plymouth Argyle play Sheffield Wednesday.
Maurice Edu and Rangers play Dundee United.
Oguchi Onyewu and AC Milan play Catania.
Steve Cherundolo, DaMarcus Beasley and Hannover 96 play VfL Wolfsburg.
Michael Bradley and Borussia Moenchengladbach play VfB Stuttgart.
Luis Robles and Karlsruhe play SC Paderborn 07.
Carlos Bocanegra and St Etienne play Montpellier.
Charlie Davies and Sochaux play Nice.
Marcus Tracy, Chris Rolfe and Aalborg BK play Randers FC. (Tracy is out injured.)
Edgar Castillo and San Luis play Jose Torres, Herculez Gomez, Marco Vidal and Pachuca.
Sonny Guadarrama and Atlante play Morelia.
SUNDAY
Dominic Cervi and Celtic play Kilmarnock.
Jozy Altidore and Villarreal play Levante.
Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 play Borussia Dortmund.
Amaechi Igwe and FC Ingolstadt 04 play Arminia Bielefeld. (Igwe is out injured.)
David Yeldell and MSV Duisburg play FC Erzgebirge Aue.
Kenny Cooper and TSV 1860 Munich play Fortuna Dusseldorf. (Cooper is out injured.)
Freddy Adu and Aris Salonika play Panionios.
Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play KV Kortrijk.
Benny Feilhaber and AGF Aarhus play Hobro.
Ryan Miller and Halmstads BK play Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro SK.
Steve Clark and Honefoss BK play Molde.
Mikkel Diskerud and Stabaek IF play Odd Grenland.
Clarence Goodson, Hunter Freeman and IK Start play Stromsgodset.
Dominic Cervi and Celtic play Kilmarnock.
Jozy Altidore and Villarreal play Levante.
Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 play Borussia Dortmund.
Amaechi Igwe and FC Ingolstadt 04 play Arminia Bielefeld. (Igwe is out injured.)
David Yeldell and MSV Duisburg play FC Erzgebirge Aue.
Kenny Cooper and TSV 1860 Munich play Fortuna Dusseldorf. (Cooper is out injured.)
Freddy Adu and Aris Salonika play Panionios.
Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play KV Kortrijk.
Benny Feilhaber and AGF Aarhus play Hobro.
Ryan Miller and Halmstads BK play Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro SK.
Steve Clark and Honefoss BK play Molde.
Mikkel Diskerud and Stabaek IF play Odd Grenland.
Clarence Goodson, Hunter Freeman and IK Start play Stromsgodset.
MONDAY
Michael Parkhurst and FC Nordsjaelland play Lyngby.
Michael Parkhurst and FC Nordsjaelland play Lyngby.
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Do you see Holden scoring against Friedel, or will Aston Villa keep a cleansheet? Expecting Edu to start against Dundee? Hoping Jones scores against Subotic and Borussia Dortmund? Think Altidore will make his La Liga season debut against Levante?
Share your thoughts below.
http://www.livesoccertv.com/schedules/. It doesn’t take long to do the research with the “Find” function in your browser.
I disagree regarding your statement regarding Dempsey on Fulham’s forum. I hear the same thing all the time in the forum, but you can very rarely ever find someone over glorifying Dempsey. Usually, it is just that he had a good game or they think he should get more playing time and then the British fans get upset. I have noticed more recently that it is the other way around that non-Americans are purposely stating that Dempsey is no good and does not deserve to play. Then other people start arguing that it is a team sport and that you should not be following individual players. Which is kind of a stupid statement because everyone has an opinion on which 11 players should be in the starting 11. Most people also have a favorite player on the team and would not say that everyone is equal on the pitch.
Anyone notice Stuart Holdens wearing Nike Now. He must have gotten another big pay day
Fantasy league complicates things. Friedel is my keeper and yet I’d love to see Holden put one past him. I hope they both play well.
You are correct. Their biggest complaint there is that all the American fans only care about Dempsey and not the club. I agree that a lot of the American Fulham fans would follow Dempsey if he were to leave. They waste a lot of interent space going back and forth. To be honest I don’t know if I would follow Fulham anymore if Dempsey left.
he’s not in the 18 against Nice. probably playing another reserve match. I’ll be surprised to see him before January. Get well soon CD9
huh?
he’s made only 5 or so appearances and scored 1 or 2
Last thing I read on Charlie D is that he is playing with the reserves team. His recovery was miraculous but he still has a long way to go to return to the Davies we all remember. Sochaux brought in a few forwards which will only make it more competitive for Charlie. Sochaux looks to be fighting to avoid relegation, so it is looking like quite the task to get playing time. The article seems to suggest that Charlie will be lucky to see first team action a handful of times. I am not sure where the article was from but a quick google search, which someone here a while back suggested, took me right the article.
*great chance
To be fair, there are also a large number of American fans who post on Fulham’s forum and purposely antagonize the British fans by glorifying Dempsey at the expense of the other players on the squad. It’s really painful to read some of posts on both sides, really.
I agree with you that Eddie Johnson will not be starting–I expect Dempsey or Gera to play upfront with Dembele. Eddie does have a great to chance to make another appearance off of the bench though…and hopefully for a significant amount of minutes.
It’s because it makes logical sense to have bother in one post instead of wasting time with two.
+1
Any idea how Charlie Davies is doing? When we can see him play (or sit on the bench even)again? love that guy!
There is a large number of fans on the Fulham board that do not like Dempsey much so I wouldn’t read to much into it. Despite being tied with Bobby Zamora fore scoring the most goals for Fulham of the current squad he has not really won all their hearts and minds. It is kind of sad. A lot of similar talk on there to here about Dempsey. A lot of people think he needs to run aimlessly more there too.
Why is it that every week, someone demands TV listings in the “Look Ahead” post? Is it that we have a lot of really demanding first-time visitors or is it that people forget that that the TV listings aren’t posted in the “Look Ahead” post?
I really hope Schalke wins this weekend. terrible start to their season.
i really hope they give him a shot.
seconded
Believe it or not, after his decent performance last week and the injury to Zamora, there’s a chance EJ will start getting some serious playing time. A lot of Fulham fans even think he’ll start instead of Demps this weekend:
http://cc.fulhamfc.com/forum/topics/team-for-blackburn
Can we get some tv listings?
What about the, guy who just went to celtic?
Really hope gooch plays beasley to. Lets hope we can get most, yanks playing this week. When will the, list of the roster for friendlys come out
hasn’t played yet this season
its his ankle
Don’t forget Michael Hoyos and Estudiantes De La Plata on Sunday against All Boys in Argentina.
what happen 2 Oguchi Onyewu?
O/T but is Holden like the NT’s heartthrob after Bocanegra? I mean ever notice how i don’t know looking good. Plus Boca seems to be getting the model treatment. A few months back I read he was supposed to star a fashion or model career ala Beckham.
Maybe Beaz can get on the scoresheet vs the confused Wolfsburg defense, and DeMerit will get a call soon… although I saw a report saying Everton is interested in Jay as well.
i think he’s nursing a knee injury
What is Klejstan’s deal? He was starting and scoring for a while now he can’t even sniff the bench.
1. No, I don’t see him scoring.
2. Yes, I expect him to start.
3. Yes, I hope he scores.
4. No, I don’t think he will come off the bench.