Soccer
American Premier League Performance Tracker for Matchday 3
Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.
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The English Premier League is the best soccer league in the world. It has more of the best player, more of the best managers, and more of the best teams than any league around the globe. There are currently seven American Premier League players, and how they perform on a weekly basis has an impact on not just their teams (Chelsea, Arsenal, Leeds United, Fulham, and Crystal Palace) but the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) as well ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
Because of all this, we’ll be keeping track of these Americans’ Premier League perfromances during the 2022-23 season. Here is how the U.S.-born EPL stars performed on Matchday 3.
Americans in EPL 2022
Brenden Aaronson — Leeds United
The standout American Premier League star for Matchday 3 was, without a doubt, Leeds United’s Brenden Aaronson. The 21-year-old New Jersey native is thriving at Leeds United under American manager Jesse Marsch, and the team is succeeding because of it.
The stunning Leeds 3-0 victory over Chelsea started with Aaronson counter-pressing Chelsea keeper Édouard Mendy into a turnover, then coolly tapping it into the net. After that, Aaronson kept the pressure on the Chelsea backline all game and led his team to victory.
Tyler Adams — Leeds United
While Tyler Adams didn’t have the goal to prove he had a great game against Chelsea, he still was fantastic in the victory. Adams bossed the midfield and frustrated the Chelsea midfield the entire game. He was one of the main reasons the Blues couldn’t get any sustained offense going.
The pairing of former MLS manager Jesse Marsch with former MLS players Brenden Aaronson, Tyler Adams, and Jack Harrison is paying off big time for Leeds United and, with Adams and Aaronson, can pay off huge for the USMNT.
Christian Pulisic — Chelsea
The USMNT “Wonder Boy” still can’t get a start from manager Thomas Tuchel on Chelsea. Despite the club only scoring three goals so far in this year’s EPL campaign — one penalty and two from defenders — Pulisic still hasn’t received a starting nod.
Now, despite interest from the likes of Manchester United, Newcastle, and Juventus, it looks like Pulisic will stay in West London at least until January. Unless something dramatic changes with Tuchel’s belief in Pulisic, this probably isn’t great for the USMNT star.
Antonee Robinson and Tim Ream — Fulham
This week Fulham took on Brentford in the first-ever West London Derby between the two clubs at the Premier League level.
As usual, American Tim Ream started at left center-back, and Antonee Robinson started at left full-back. Since these two play as a pair on the left side of Fulham’s back line, it is hard not to discuss their performance in tandem.
Overall, the pair had a solid game. However, they were double-teaming Brentford winger Yoane Wissa when he sent an incredible pass through Ream’s legs and into striker Ivan Toney for the club’s game-trying second goal.
After Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrović pulled his team ahead 3-2, Ream, Robinson, and the rest of the Fulham defense stood up well to Brentford’s final surge.
Chris Richards — Crystal Palace
The former FC Dallas, Bayern Munich, and 1899 Hoffenheim center-back is slowly easing into Premier League life in 2022. After making his EPL debut in the final 11 minutes of Crystal Palace’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool, Richards came in one minute into stoppage time of his club’s 3-1 win over Aston Villa.
Despite not getting a ton of EPL minutes yet, the Alabama native did get the start in Palace’s Carabao Cup match against Oxford United.
Matt Turner — Arsenal
Matt Turner still hasn’t made his Premier League debut yet, sitting behind first-choice Arsenal keeper Aaron Ramsdale. However, with Mikel Arteta’s squad playing three games in eight days starting Saturday, August 27, American Gunners fans could see Turner sometime in the next week or so.
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