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Americans Abroad: Weekend Preview (Zack Steffen, Konrad De La Fuente, and more)

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Zack Steffen will face a fight for playing time with Manchester City this season, but he won’t have to wait long to play for some silverware.

The U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper is in line to start for City in the curtain-raising Community Shield against Leicester City on Saturday, in what will be the headlining match of this weekend’s Americans Abroad action.

Brazilian star Ederson is still on vacation after competing in Copa America, so Steffen is expected to get the starting nod in the clash between reigning Premier League and FA Cup champions.

This weekend will also feature Konrad De La Fuente’s chance to make his Ligue 1 debut with Marseille, while Tim Weah and reigning French champions Lille begin their title defense.

The German Bundesliga season doesn’t begin for another week, but German clubs are in action as the DFB Pokal gets underway, with several Americans potentially featuring in the weekend’s action.

Sergiño Dest and Weston McKennie last shared a field in the Concacaf Nations League final win against Mexico with the U.S. men’s national team, but they’ll be on opposite sides on Saturday when Barcelona and Juventus face off in the Joan Gamper Trophy in Barcelona.

Here is a closer look at this weekend’s Americans Abroad action:


England


CoMMUNITY SHIELD

Zack Steffen and Manchester City face Leicester City on Saturday.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream and Fulham face Middlesbrough on Sunday.

Ethan Horvath and Nottingham Forest face Coventry on Sunday.

Duane Holmes and Huddersfield Town face Derby County on Saturday.

Matthew Olosunde is OUT (Achilles injury) for Preston North End’s match vs. Hull City on Saturday.

LEAGUE ONE

Lynden Gooch and Sunderland face Wigan on Saturday.


Germany


DFB POKAL

Josh Sargent and Werder Bremen face Andrew Wooten and VFL Osnabruck on Saturday. (Sargent will miss the match as a reporter transfer to Norwich City is finalized.)

Gio Reyna and Borussia Dortmund face Wehen on Saturday.

Tyler Adams, Jesse Marsch and RB Leipzig face Sandhausen on Saturday.

John Brooks and Wolfsburg face Preussen Munster on Sunday.

Julian Green and Greuther Furth face Babelsberg on Saturday.

Pellegrino Matarazzo and Stuttgart face BFC Dynamo on Saturday.

Timmy Chandler and Eintracht Frankfurt face Mannheim on Sunday.

Matthew Hoppe and Schalke face Villingen on Sunday.


SPAIN


Sergino Dest and Barcelona face Weston McKennie and Juventus on Saturday in the Joan Gamper Trophy.


France


Tim Weah and Lille face Metz on Saturday.

Konrad De La Fuente and Marseille face Montpellier on Saturday.


Portugal


PRIMEIRA LIGA

Alex Mendez and Vizela face Sporting Lisbon on Friday.

LIGA PORTUGAL 2

Sebastian Soto and FC Porto B face Trofense on Saturday.


Austria


Bundesliga

Brenden Aaronson and Red Bull Salzburg face Austria Vienna on Sunday.

Thomas Roberts and SK Austria Klagenfurt face Hartberg on Saturday.

2. Liga

Ulysses Llanez and SKN St. Polten face BW Linz on Friday.


Belgium


Mark McKenzie and Genk face Kortrijk on Saturday.

Chris Durkin and Sint-Truiden face Waregem on Saturday.


Switzerland


Super League

Jordan Pefok and Young Boys face Sion on Saturday.


Denmark


Superliagen

Christian Cappis and Brondby face FC Copenhagen on Sunday.

Emmanuel Sabbi and Odense face Nordsjaelland on Monday.


Poland


Ekstraklasa

Aron Johannsson and Lech Poznan face Cracovia on Friday.

Ben Lederman is OUT (Injury) for Rakow.


Scotland


Premiership

Christian Ramirez and Aberdeen face Livingston on Sunday.

Ian Harkes and Dundee United face Rangers on Saturday.


Sweden


Allsvenskan

Romain Gall and Orebro face Mjallby on Saturday.

Nebiyou Perry and Ostersunds face Hacken on Sunday.


Mexico


Liga MX

Sebastian Saucedo and Pumas face San Luis on Sunday.

Fernando Arce and Necaxa face Cruz Azul on Friday


Argentina


Liga Profesional

Joel Sonora and Banfield face Talleres Cordoba on Saturday.

Alan Sonora and Independiente face Racing Club on Sunday.


Brazil


Serie A

Johnny Cardoso and Internacional face Flamengo on Sunday.

Comments

    • Bayern’s match was postponed due to a Covid case with other team now will be Aug 25. I also heard Leicester is now looking into Richards after one of their defenders broke his leg.

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    • I’d probably say Hoffenheim is safer because it’s his former coach at Bayern II, but Leicester plays European football and Rodgers is a good manager. Leicester has chance for more development but bigger risk.

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    • Just looked it up – 4 goals in 4 appearances. 3 were in Europa Conference play. Nice for the old Loon!

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    • For some perspective they played the 8th place team in Sweden and third place team in Iceland. Dundee United finished 8th in Scottish Premier League last year, so it’s a great start but the competition hasn’t been great.

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      • Johnny I get that. So what does that say about him? If I’m Rangers, Celtic, Malmo or the like and I see him scoring against that level of competition maybe I take an extra look at him. But in any case I’m just happy to see him succeeding.

    • Yeah he seemed to not really get a real chance at LAFC and Houston so it’s nice to see. The Scottish league just isn’t very good beyond Celtic and Rangers. The Conference League seems to be really stretching when it’s taking 3rd place teams from Iceland. Ramirez’s success has to make Chris Mueller feel good about his decision to go to Hibs.

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      • To be honest- he got a fair shot from Bradley at LAFC- unfortunately he had a bad spell and left a lot of ripe scoring opportunities wanting.

    • As far as bigger 2nd tier teams Christian is 30, I think this is probably an only spot in Europe deal. He might come back to MLS before he retires but I don’t see him moving up because of his age.

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  1. Sargent’s about to be transferred and won’t be playing for Bremen this weekend (or ever again, apparently). Someplace out of Germany, maybe Norwich.

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  2. ESPNFC reported that Sargent is on an imminent move to most likely to Norwich City in the EPL this morning. Great news for Sargent!

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    • I’m not sure how great a move this is, other than for Josh’s wallet. Everybody moaned about the lack of service that Josh received on a bad Bremen team, but is Norwich in the EPL going to be any better than Bremen was in the Bundesliga? And with a 10 million Euro transfer fee, there will be some pressure on Josh to produce and justify the fee. I do like the Norwich coach, he used to coach the juniors at Dortmund. Good luck to Josh.

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      • Sargent will get 10% of the transfer fee, plus the EPL pays so well that he will probably get a nice jump- in salary. If he spends a couple of years in the EPL he will essentially be financially set for life. That’s hard to turn down. Plus, if he wants to get better he needs to stay in a Top 5 league. I don’t see many downsides for him.

      • I’m not suggesting he should turn the move down, as you say the money can be life altering. But I don’t agree that he can only get better in a top 5 league. It’s possible that he might benefit with a year in a lower league or a 2nd division, where he’s hopefully banging in goals left and right. Jozy’s move from Holland to Sunderland was certainly good for his wallet, but was it good for his development as a player? But again, good luck to Josh. He’s got Pukki ahead of him and then 3 other forwards, none of whom have outstanding numbers. If the transfer fee that I saw is correct (10 million Euros), it would be Norwich’s record fee paid and Josh will certainly be given playing tome.

      • Not in love with this fit. Newly promoted team who sold their best player and top creator (Buendia). This feels like it’ll be a Jozy to Sunderland type of move

    • Johnny99 they just signed Rashica from Bremen for 12 million. That would put Rashica on the right and Cantwell on the left, they’ve got Chelsea youngster Billy Gilmour as I’d guess an 8. So their offense should be better than Bremen’s even if it does include two Bremen players. My question is are they changing formation because Puki has scored 60 goals for them the last 3 seasons and yes he’s now 32 but it wouldn’t be just step aside for Josh, or do they want play him as a second striker.

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      • I saw that they got Rashica. Actually, Rashica’s fee, which might end up being slightly more than what they pay for Josh, would be Norwich’s record.
        Promoted teams almost always struggle in the EPL. Yes, they picked up Gilmour, Rashica and it looks like Sargent. But they sold Buendia to Villa for $42 million. I don’t know Buendia, but that’s a lot of money. So they likely lost a very good player.

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