We’ve reached the final weekend of club soccer before World Cup qualifiers, and several U.S. Men’s National Team regulars face big-time matchups before looking ahead to Panama and Trinidad & Tobago.
In England, DeAndre Yedlin’s Newcastle has started the season well, but the recently-promoted club faces its biggest test of the young season on Sunday against Liverpool. Danny Williams and Huddersfield Town also face a perennial powerhouse as David Wagner’s team faces off with Tottenham.
German soccer sees Christian Pulisic and Dortmund face off with Augsburg while Weston McKennie and Schalke take on a tough Bayer Leverkusen team. Bobby Wood and Fabian Johnson, meanwhile, will look to build form ahead of qualifiers when they face Werder Brmen and Hannover, respectively.
Elsewhere, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Eric Lichaj face off in the Championship while Jonathan Gonzalez looks to continue his rise with Monterrey.
Here’s a closer look at this weekend’s Americans Abroad:
GERMANY
BUNDESLIGA
Weston McKennie and Schalke face Bayer Leverkusen on Friday.
Fabian Johnson and Borussia Monchengladbach face Hannover on Saturday.
Timmy Chandler and Eintracht Frankfurt face Stuttgart on Saturday.
Christian Pulisic and Borussia Dortmund face Augsburg on Saturday.
Bobby Wood and Hamburg face Aron Johannsson and Werder Bremen on Saturday.
John Brooks and Wolfsburg face Mainz on Saturday. (Brooks is injured)
Caleb Stanko and Freiburg face Hoffenheim on Sunday.
2. BUNDESLIGA
Alfredo Morales and Ingolstadt face Terrence Boyd, McKinzie Gaines and Darmstadt on Friday.
Julian Green and Greuther Furth face Kaiserslautern on Friday.
Haji Wright, Andrew Wooten and Sandhausen face SSV Jahn Regensburg on Sunday.
ENGLAND
PREMIER LEAGUE
Danny Williams and Huddersfield Town face Tottenham on Saturday.
Emerson Hyndman and Bournemouth face Leicester City on Saturday.
Geoff Cameron and Stoke City face Southampton on Saturday.
DeAndre Yedlin and Newcastle face Liverpool on Sunday.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Tim Ream and Fulham face Queens Park Rangers on Friday.
Eric Lichaj and Nottingham Forest face Cameron Carter-Vickers and Sheffield United on Saturday.
Lynden Gooch and Sunderland face Preston North End on Saturday.
MEXICO
LIGA MX
Joe Corona, Michael Orozco, Alejandro Guido and Club Tijuana face Morelia on Friday.
Jonathan Gonzalez, Edgar Castillo and Monterrey face Jonathan Bornstein and Queretaro on Saturday.
Jose Torres and Tigres face Chivas de Guadalajara on Saturday.
Omar Gonzalez and Pachuca face Necaxa on Saturday.
Rodrigo Lopez and Toluca face Club America on Saturday.
Jorge Villafana, Ventura Alvarado and Santos Laguna face Puebla on Sunday.
NETHERLANDS
EREDIVISIE
Shane O’Neill, Desevio Payne and Excelsior face VVV Venlo on Saturday.
Matt Miazga and Vitesse face FC Utrecht on Sunday.
DENMARK
DANISH SUPER LEAGUE
Perry Kitchen and Randers face AC Horsens on Friday.
SWEDEN
ALLSVENSKAN
Mix Diskerud and IFK Goteborg face Sirius on Friday.
Romain Gall and Sundsvall face Djurgardens on Sunday.
BELGIUM
JUPILER LEAGUE
Ethan Horvath and Club Brugge face Kenny Saeif and Gent on Sunday. ( Saeif is injured)
Juan Pablo Torres and KSC Lokoren face Zulte-Waregem on Sunday.
NORWAY
ELITESERIEN
Rubin Rubin and Stabaek face Valerenga on Saturday.
A forgotten young player Shaq Moore made the bench for Levante today
CCV and Gooch both starting in the Championship.
pulisic, fabian, chandler, cameron all starting.
Mix with another goal today. Green’s squad lost 3-0 to the team that was in last place, now Gruether is. Ream also got another start at CB.
McKinney rarely tries to beat someone off the dribble, but always seems able to find somebody open with a one touch or two touch pass. Very good at clogging up passing lanes, too.
thought mckennie was alright. he seems to get caught up in the play a little too often, and he delivered a few too many hospital balls, but the kid is *non-stop*.
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really want to see how he looks lined up with bradley; or maybe a mid 3 of williams–bradley–mckennie, with fabian and yedlin taking turns pushing up from fullback.
Can someone tell me how Eric Lichaj went from player of the year for Forest, to now hardly playing? Otherwise, wow, this list looks stacked! I remember just a couple of years ago, this list was tiny.
Dainja- One it was a fan vote for player of the year (tells you how good of a season they had when the RB is your fans favorite player). Second, they signed a younger RB from Burnley at the end of July (played for them when they won promotion, but didn’t play at all in the EPL last year). You can guess that either Forest didn’t want Lichaj to attend the Gold Cup or that he was perhaps pursuing MLS options and it just didn’t get done in time for this transfer window. Those are just guesses though.
@dainja
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short answer: new manager. as johnnyrazor said, the ‘player of the year’ was basically for being the best of a mediocre team; he *was* good, but not spectacular or anything.
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longer answer: warburton is trying to replace him with a younger, more attacking player. i do like what warburton is trying to do with the team–albeit i’m not a forest fan–and i think darikwa may turn out to be good enough in the end. but actual forest fans aren’t too happy about it right now, since he’s been a disaster defensively, and lichaj is nothing if not dependable.
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it’s got to be concerning for lichaj, though, especially since he just started getting usmnt callups again. warburton seems pretty set on having offensive-minded fullbacks, so unless lichaj proves he can fit the role, he’ll probably be looking for another team soon.
McKennie starting again. The kid seems to have truly implemented himself into the first team now. The next step is getting that first goal.
No Injuries!!!