American Exports Preview: Holden vs. Man. Utd

Bolton's Stuart Holden (left) challenges Chelsea's Ramires on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge in London.

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.

American Exports Preview: Holden vs. Man. Utd -