By FRANCO PANIZO
Fresh off a two-goal performance, Clint Dempsey will look to add to his season tally as Fulham attempts to win its third game of the season.
There's only one problem, though. He'll be facing typically-solid Brad Friedel and Aston Villa.
Friedel and Aston Villa have only allowed one goal in their last three league matches, and are eager for a win, having failed to record a victory in October. Making matters more difficult for Dempsey and Fulham is that the Cottagers have failed to defeat Aston Villa since the 2008-09 season.
This weekend will also provide a chance to see Clarence Goodson play in his final game for IK Start. Having signed a three-year deal with Brondby IF earlier this week, Goodson should start in the season finale against Haugesund.
Jozy Altidore likely won't start for Villarreal when it faces Athletic Bilbao, but he may come off the bench, just as he did last week against Sporting Gijon. Altidore started in Villarreal's Europa League match on Thursday, so a cameo as a substitute is not out of the question.
Here is a rundown of who the Americans Abroad play this weekend:
FRIDAY
Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 play St Pauli.
Amaechi Igwe and FC Ingolstadt 04 play Energie Cottbus. (Igwe is out injured.)
Quentin Westberg and Evian Thonon Gaillard play Le Havre AC.
Sammy Ochoa and Estudiantes Tecos U.A. de G. play Toluca.
SATURDAY
Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers play Tottenham Hotspur.
Clint Dempsey, Eddie Johnson and Fulham play Brad Friedel, Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa.
Jonathan Spector and West Ham United play Birmingham.
Marcus Hahnemann and Wolverhampton Wanderers play Manchester United.
Tim Howard and Everton play Blackpool.
Zak Whitbread and Norwich City play Burnley. (Whitbread is out injured.)
Conor Doyle and Derby County play Portsmouth.
Frank Simek, Mike Grella and Carlisle United play Tipton Town in Round 1 of the FA Cup.
Anton Peterlin and Plymouth Argyle play Swindon Town in Round 1 of the FA Cup.
Jemal Johnson and Milton Keynes Dons play Stevenage in Round 1 of the FA Cup.
Dominic Cervi and Celtic play Aberdeen.
Michael Bradley and Borussia Moenchengladbach play Bayern Munich.
Ricardo Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt play VfL Wolfsburg.
Daniel Williams and SC Freiburg play Mainz.
David Yeldell and MSV Duisburg play SpVgg Greuther Furth.
Carlos Bocanegra and St Etienne play Lorient. (Bocanegra is out injured.)
Charlie Davies and Sochaux play AJ Auxerre.
Marcus Tracy, Chris Rolfe and Aalborg BK play Esbjerg. (Tracy and Rolfe are out injured.)
Jose Torres, Herculez Gomez, Marco Vidal and Pachuca play Queretaro.
Edgar Castillo and San Luis play Santos.
Sonny Guadarrama and Atlante play America.
SUNDAY
Maurice Edu and Rangers play St Mirren.
Jozy Altidore and Villarreal play Athletic Bilbao.
Oguchi Onyewu and AC Milan play Bari.
Steve Cherundolo, DaMarcus Beasley and Hannover 96 play Borussia Dortmund.
Kenny Cooper and TSV 1860 Munich play Alemania Aachen. (Cooper is out injured.)
Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play Club Brugge.
Michael Parkhurst and FC Nordsjaelland play Odense BK.
Benny Feilhaber and AGF Aarhus play Fredericia.
Ryan Miller and Halmstads BK play Djurgarden.
Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro SK play Trelleborgs FF.
Mikkel Diskerud and Stabaek IF play Molde.
Steve Clark and Honefoss BK play Sandefjord.
Clarence Goodson, Hunter Freeman and IK Start play Haugesund.
MONDAY
Luis Robles and Karlsruhe play VfL Osnabruck.
Freddy Adu and Aris Salonika play Larissa.
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Who do you see winning between Fulham and Aston Villa? Think Dempsey will score on Friedel? How do you see Goodson faring in his IK Start finale? Expecting Altidore to get another cameo off the bench this weekend?
Share your thoughts below.
hey- there are a TON of names on this list week in and week out that I never see in USMNT callups… call me a eurosnob for assuming they should be, but what gives?
That’s my boi GOOCH!!
On the topic, Onyewu grabbed Ibrahimovic by the neck today in Milan’s practice. He felt that Ibra was too violent on a ball they were contesting…
Jones is definitely playing. Yellow card to boot. 🙂
Yup, that’s definitely the right Jones…he just picked up a yellow…
Yeah, some guy named Raul just scored…
Am actually a fan of Adu but he shouldn’t be on this list given his current situation
Yep, he’s playing, and showing no ill effects.
Schalke up 1-0.
I’m watching the Schalke game online as I type. Jones is definitely on the field…
And wait…I spoke too soon. He is listed (as a starter).
UEFA.com doesn’t even have him on the roster for the match — I would rely on them before ESPN.
ESPN has Jones in Schalke’s starting line up. Mistake, or is he back already?
All signs point to his being in the US — Aris supporters know he isn’t with the team (and certainly won’t be at Larissa).
I think you might be the only one who cares.
I wish someone would do a report on “where in the world is freddy adu?!?!?!”
Because it doesn’t sound like he is in Greece.
Hoping Jozy gets another 15-20 minutes this weekend. Good showing in the Europa this week, He is earning is stuff this year.
I don’t think he’s even in Greece. I believe he’s back in Maryland.
any chance Beasley plays? I mean he wasn’t playing at Rangers and that’s the best team in Scotland which is ranked like no15 in Europe and now he’s in 3rd ranked Germany playing for a mid table club. Surely he should be able to prove himself worthy of a start.
Luis Robles and David Yelldell. 2 very talented GK’s we have in Germany albeit the 2nd Bundesliga.
Bradley should give Yelldell a look. Call him into the winter camp same with Robles. well I know he’s aware of Robles but still show him some love. Make him a 3rd GK at the Gold Cup.
Clark is usually on the bench but has a lot of hard work to break into the starting XI. Should get cup games. Paycheck is nice though.
Spector seems to have played himself out of West Ham entirely. why is that though? something happened to him off the field over this year?
what’s the deal with Clark and Spector? They just collecting paychecks while they relax before winter.
West Ham united play Birmingham. Jonathan Spector will watch on his television
Can I get a “Like” button, please?
Freddy Adu and Aris Salonika play Larissa. (Adu is out tweeting.)
Freddy Adu…riiiight.