It’s a return to club ball for the members of the United States men’s national team, and business as usual for those who didn’t join Jurgen Klinsmann or Andreas Herzog’s teams for the international break.
None of the States’ three busiest Premier Leaguers -- sorry DeAndre Yedlin -- were with the Yanks in Denmark and Switzerland, but all with face stiff challenges this weekend. Geoff Cameron’s Stoke side head to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea, while goalkeepers Tim Howard and Brad Guzan face the attacks of Southampton and Manchester United, respectively.
Howard has lost his last two matches versus Saints, 2-0 and 3-0, while Guzan has a 1-1 draw versus United under his belt (though Villa was beaten 4-1 and 3-0 at their hands last season).
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Fabian Johnson and Borussia Monchengladbach are off to Hoffenheim for a Bundesliga match, while elsewhere in Germany’s top flight we find Timmy Chandler’s Eintracht Frankfurt hosting Hannover 96 on Saturday. A day later, John Anthony Brooks and Hertha Berlin get a visit from Paderborn in a relegation scrap.
Ale Bedoya and Nantes will break an even 10-10-10 record when they host relegation-threatened Caen on Sunday.
In the Netherlands, Rubio Rubin will look to make it back-to-back league matches with a goal on Sunday versus Ajax, while the injury that kept Aron Johannsson out of the Switzerland game also threatens his status for Sunday’s AZ Alkmaar match against Feyenoord.