AMSTERDAM – The weekend card for Americans playing in Europe
includes a cup final in Scotland, derbies in England, crunch clashes in Germany
and a season opener in Norway. All times are ET.
PREMIER LEAGUE
Manchester United vs. Bolton
Saturday, 11 am on Fox Soccer Channel
American: Stuart Holden (BOL)
Holden & Co. have won three of four unbeaten road starts heading to Old
Trafford, where the current league leaders have beaten them seven straight by a
combined 20-3 tally. Inviting a bit of hope for Owen Coyle in his first-ever game in charge at the Theatre of Dreams, United will be extra light for this one. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Paul Scholes are
serving bans, Darren Fletcher and Park Ji-Sung are in heavy doubt, and those
ruled out include Anderson, John O'Shea and Nemanja Vidić. Meanwhile, Bolton's
only new fitness concern is sick right back Grétar Steinsson.
[inline_node:327765]Everton vs. Fulham
Saturday, 1:30 pm
Americans:
Clint Dempsey (FUL), Tim
Howard (EVE)
Howard conceded to Carlos Bocanegra and Brian McBride when they were Cottagers,
but MC Deuce has yet to put one past him. Should Dempsey be able to this time,
he'll set a new career high and become the 10th EPL player with 10 league goals
this term. Any change in the fixture narrative would be welcome by Fulham,
who've lost 17 straight at Goodison by a 44-9 count. The home side are missing
Mikel Arteta and Marouane Fellaini, with Tim Cahill in for a late fitness
check. Fulham will arrive without Dickson Etuhu and Bobby Zamora.
BUNDESLIGA
Hannover 96 vs. Hoffenheim
Saturday, 10:30 am on Dish German
Sports
American:
Steve Cherundolo (H96)
With three teams on their tail for the league's third Champions League invite,
Cherundolo and the Reds will try to break their Hoffenheim jinx. Hannover have
yet to beat the recent upstarts in five tries, with four losses. The more
encouraging trend is that the weekend hosts have won six of the last seven
games at AWD. Hannover have lost starting keeper Ron-Robert Zieler to a
shoulder injury, while Hoffenheim arrive short Andreas Ibertsberger, Chinedu
Obasi and Tobias Weis.
FC Nürnberg vs. Werder Bremen
Saturday, 10:30 am on Dish German
Sports
American:
Timothy Chandler (FCN)
Chandler will want to celebrate his first USMNT call-up by helping Der Club enhance their bid for Europe,
likely from the right back post. The team has yet to lose in his eight
appearances and they come into this one unbeaten in seven, six of those wins.
However, they've won just once in the last five visits from Bremen. Of course,
this is not the typical Werder side, as they stand just a point above the trap
door and have but one victory in eight league games. FCN are missing key men
Juri Judt and Julian Schieber, while Bremen will show up without Daniel Jensen,
Naldo and Sebastian Prödl.
[inline_node:330878]SCOTTISH CO-OPERATIVE CUP
Celtic vs. Rangers
Sunday, 11 am
American:
Maurice Edu ('Gers)
The US midfielder and his teammates best put the disappointment of Thursday's
Europa League ouster in the rearview mirror because they're on a collision
course with a fifth Glasgow throw-down of this young year. They've yet to win
one, with only a single draw to show for the four games. The Light Blues do,
though, have a 7-4 advantage in Old Firm League Cup finals. Rangers cannot
count on Kyle Bartley, Lee McCulloch and Jamie Ness at Hampden Park, while Kyle
Lafferty and Vladimir Weiss are questionable. Defender Daniel Majstorovic is
the lone Hoops absence of significance.
BELGIAN JUPILER LEAGUE
Anderlecht vs. Gent
Sunday, 1 pm
American: Sacha Kljestan (AND)
While Anderlecht try to figure out if Mbark Boussoufa is actually gone or
not, Kljestan should retain his midfield place for this big tilt. The league
leaders are currently up one point in a two-horse race; a home loss to Gent
would allow a third horse into the title chase. Make no mistake, the visitors
are on the back stretch charge. They've yet to lose in any competition in 2011
and carry a nine-game league unbeaten streak. On the other hand, they've
managed just three draws on their last nine games at Constant Vanden Stock. The
defensive central triad of Lucas Biglia, Roland Juhász and Ondřej Mazuch are
all in doubt for Les Mauves, while Gent will happily return starting keeper
Bojan Jorgačević and center back Marko Šuler.
Best of the rest:
EPL: Aston Villa (Michael Bradley,
Brad Friedel) v Wolverhampton (Marcus Hahnemann) - 11 a.m. on FoxSoccer.tv
Ligue 1: Lorient v Saint-Etienne
(Carlos Bocanegra) - Sat, 2 p.m. on FoxSoccer.tv
Eredivisie: Excelsior Rotterdam
v FC Twente (Oguchi Onyewu) - Sun. 9:30 a.m.
Tippeligaen: Stabæk v (Mikkel
Diskerud) v Lillestrøm - Sun. noon
Gambrinus: Sigma Olomouc (Stefan
Jerome) v Slavia Prague - 12 p.m.
Championship: Hull City (Brad Guzan)
v Norwich City (Zak Whitbread) - Sat. 11 a.m.
Bank Asya 1.League: Akhisar Belediye
Genclik Ve Spor v Rizespor (Freddy Adu) - Sun. 7:30 a.m.
