USMNT viewing guide and open thread: 2018 Boxing Day edition

There will be no nationally broadcast games with United States internationals the next couple of weekends, so we’re breaking from our regular pattern to bring you the Boxing Day games you can watch. We’ll be back next week with a special New Years edition as well.

Boxing Day is a British Holiday celebrated the day after Christmas and has come to be a featured fixture day for the Premier League. There will be two games Wednesday where you may be able to catch USMNT players in action in England’s top league.

Wednesday

Fulham v Wolverhampton Wanderers - 7:30a on NBCSN

In the first game of the day, Tim Ream and Fulham will take on the Wolverhampton Wanderers. Ream was back in the starting lineup for Fulham on Saturday in what was a scoreless draw against Newcastle. It was rather remarkable that the game ended goalless, as it was Fulham’s first clean sheet of the year through eighteen attempts. The point left Fulham tied with Huddersfield Town on points with 10, though Huddersfield still own a significant goal differential advantage. The two teams are four points behind Cardiff City for safety, which doesn’t seem so significant until you remember they’ve only managed 10 points halfway through the season.

On Boxing Day, Fulham will take on a Wolverhampton team that sits in 10th place and has seen fairly balanced results though they are more strong defensively than offensively with just 19 goals through 18 games. They are coming off a 2-0 loss to league-leading Liverpool.

Tim Ream had a stretch of missed games due to injury at the beginning of the season and another stretch in November where he didn’t make it off the bench, but he has now started three straight. It’s always good to see Americans playing for the top clubs in Europe, though being a part of a historically bad defense isn’t exactly something to write home about. Hopefully Ream and Fulham are able to build on last Saturday’s result and come out strong on defense against Wolverhampton’s below average offense.

Liverpool v Newcastle United - 10a on NBCSN

DeAndre Yedlin and Newcastle will take on league-leading Liverpool in the second game of the morning. Yedlin came in as a substitute in Saturday’s draw with Fulham after having missed the previous game due to a red card suspension. Prior to the suspension, Yedlin had started all but one match for Newcastle going the full 90 in nearly every case.

Newcastle are in 15th place in the Premier League with 17 points, which puts them 5 points above the relegation zone as we near the midway point of the season. As was mentioned above, they drew Fulham most recently and were certainly dissappointed to have failed to score against the leagues worst defense. The Magpies will have their work cut out for them this week as they take on a Liverpool side that holds a four point advantage in the standings having scored 39 goals in 18 games while only giving up 7 goals in defense.

It will be interesting to see if last weeks substitute appearance was a blip on the radar and Yedlin works himself back into the lineup or if he has ongoing issues that the club would like him to sort out before he regains his starting role. Interestingly, Yedlin’s red card appearance against the Wolverhampton Wanderers was his third straight appearance in which he was carded, having been cautioned in the previous two matches.

Those are your opportunities to watch USMNT players in action Wednesday, let us know what you’re seeing in the comments below.