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Weekend kickoff

Weekend kickoff: Mixed performances in Europe, MLS youth shines, & busy weekend ahead

ASN's Brian Sciaretta gets your weekend rolling with a look back on the midweek games and a look ahead to the best games Saturday and Sunday has to offer
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
October 16, 2026
1:00 PM

WE HAVE FINALLY hit Friday and there is a full slate of games this weekend both in Europe and here in the states. To kickoff the weekend, here are some thoughts on the past week along with a look ahead.

Let’s start in Europe

 

Mixed results for Yanks in the Europa

 

In total, there are 11 American players currently on Europa League rosters (with Zavier Gozo left off for Crystal Palace). Ten of the players have participated with the USMNT at either of the last two World Cups. Bryan Reynolds is the only non-World Cup veteran of the bunch.

It was a mixed bag this past week, but there were a few important performances.

Malik Tillman’s minutes have been dwindling with Bayer Leverkusen, and his performances haven’t been up where he probably would want them to be. But the U.S. national team World Cup veteran delivered on Thursday with his first goal of the season in  4-0 victory win Poland’s Lech Pozna?. It was Bayer’s second win of the tournament.

This was a boost for Tillman to earn more minutes, and it could yield more Bundesliga minutes soon. But he needs to produce.

Tyler Adams played 69 minutes for AFC Bournemouth in a comfortable 3-0 win over Sturm Graz that helped the team forget about its 5-1 loss to Chelsea over the weekend. Adams did what he does when he is at the top of his game. He covered ground, won balls, and got the ball into the attack quickly.

 

Weston McKennie was similarly useful for Juventus in a full 90 shift for Juventus in a solid 2-1 away win over Celta Vigo in Spain. His passing range was particularly impressive as he helped Juventus stretch the game and not have to play on its heels away against a LaLiga opponent.

Christian Pulisic was sharp off the bench for AC Milan in a 4-0 away win over an overmatched Salzburg team in Austria. Milan was up 3-0 at the time and Pulisic helped the team continue to take advantage of space and keep up the attack. But Pulisic was overshadowed by Alphadjo Cissè, 19, who scored a hat trick. It remains to be seen if Cisse will continue to have Pulisic on the bench.

Yunus Musah, meanwhile, did not come off the bench as he seems to be a rotational player right now with uneven minutes.

Tim Weah played the full 90 for Marseille in a 1-0 loss at home to Greece’s Olympiacos. The good news is that Weah was arguably Marseille’s best player on the day. Perhaps this will serve as the confidence boost that Weah needs after a poor World Cup and a slow start to the season.

Chris Richards played 90 minutes for Crystal Palace in a 3-2 loss at Lyon in a game that was just full of bad news for American players. For Richards, it was arguably his worst game of the season and he was off. Meanwhile, Zavier Gozo was not part of Palace’s squad after also being left off last weekend, and not playing much for the U.S. team over the international window. Tanner Tessmann, only played 13 minutes for Lyon as he is still looking to get back into the starting lineup.

Auston Trusty struggled along with the rest of Celtic’s starting lineup in a 4-1 loss at Benfica while Cameron Carter-Vickers is still out with an injury.

Bryan Reynolds was named to the Ligue 1 Team of the Week for his two assist performance last weekend but he only played the last 14 minutes for Rennes in its 2-1 win over OFI Crete.

 

MLS Midweek

 

Once again, USYNT players continued to shine brightly as they have this MLS season.

New England defeated Cincinnati 3-2 as Peyton Miller, 18, assisted twice on goals scored by Dor Turgeman. Brookyln Raines, 21, was not part of any of New England’s goals but he helped the Revs win control of midfield during the game and hold onto position.

But the most important development for the New England Revolution was that Josh Wynder, 21, had his best game for the New England Revolution since joining in August on loan from Benfica. The central defender was instrumental in the first goal when his long diagonal ball from the back sent Miller up the right side. Then in the 43rd minute, Wynder scored his first MLS goal with a header off a corner delivered by Carles Gil.

 

If Wynder begins to play up to his potential, the Revs will be in excellent shape for the playoffs.

The Philadelphia Union won its eighth game in a row with a 3-1 away win over the Chicago Fire.

Cavan Sullivan, 17, assisted on Damiani’s 55th minute goal to move the Union ahead for good. In doing so, Sullivan set an MLS record for most goal contributions from a teenager and continues to show a remarkably high ceiling.

The Philadelphia Union continued their fantastic run that began when play resumed following the World Cup. The club has yet to lose in that span and its 3-1 win over Chicago on Wednesday was its eighth in a row. On Saturday, the Union defeated Real Salt Lake 2-1.

The top story with the Union the past three months has been the massive contributions from the team’s young players, who are among the best prospects in American soccer. While veterans Bruno Damiani and Milan Illoski have scored most of the goals, the team’s young players have been setting them up.

Milan Illsoki is making a strong case for a USMNT call-up this December with his 18th goal of the season.

Cavan Sullivan, 17, assisted on Damiani’s 55th minute goal to move the Union ahead for good. In doing so, Sullivan set an MLS record for most goal contributions from a teenager and continues to show a remarkably high ceiling.

 

As is the norm, Frankie Westfield, 20, and Neil Pierre, 18, both were solid in the backline and both should be expected to start for the Olympic team in 2028.

 

Oscar Avilez, 16, made his first MLS appearance for DC United and it came as a start as the 2010-born winger played 56 minutes in a 2-1 win over Red Bull New York on Wednesday night. Avilez showcased his skill at times and nearly scored a goal on one occasion. Understandably, however, he struggled with the physicality of the game and was bumped and shouldered off the ball by the Red Bull defenders.

Born in Honduras, Avilez grew up in the Washington, DC area and has represented U.S. youth national teams in the past. This is a promising development for not only Avilez, but for DC United as well which has struggled to put U.S. youth national team players on the field in recent years.

The biggest game of the midweek turned into a bit of a dud when St. Louis and Vancouver played to a 0-0 draw. The top two teams in the west keep their positions heading into the weekend with Vancouver holding a one-point lead over red-hot St. Louis.

Nashville remains almost unstoppable following a 4-0 win over Sporting Kansas City behind Hany Mukhtar, Sam Surridge, and Cristian Espinoza who make up one of the best attacking trios in the league. But from an American perspective, it is also important to see U.S. Olympic hopefuls Reed Baker-Whiting and Matthew Corcoran also contributing.

 

Looking ahead

 

Looking ahead to the weekend, here are some of the top games to watch.

On Saturday in the Championship at 7:30am EST, Aidan Morris, Sebastian Berhalter, and Max Arfsten will lead second-place Middlesbrough against Cardiff City in a game where Boro can move atop the table with a win and a Swansea City loss.

After that game at 10:00am EST, Derby County hosts Jack McGlynn, Luca Bombino, and Stoke City. Stoke now sits eighth in the table while Derby County is second from the bottom. McGlynn should start but Bombino might as well given his solid appearances off the bench the last few games. The good news for Derby County is that the club believes American forward Patrick Agyemang could return by December.

In La Liga, two in-form Americans will play on Saturday morning. Johnny Cardoso and second-place Atletico Madrid travel to Barcelona to visit Espanyol at 8:00am EST. Cardoso has had an excellent week with strong showings in a 2-1 win over Deportivo Alaves and then in a win over Manchester United in the Champions League.

Then at 10:15am EST, Alex Freeman will hope to return to Villarreal’s starting lineup when they host Elche. Freeman is also in good form as he was very solid in a loss to Real Madrid last weekend while he came off the bench in a 3-1 win over Napoli in the Champions League. The concern for Freeman is that Villarreal’s other right back, Santiago Mourino has also been playing well and was the MOTM against Napoli. The question will be whether Mourino and Freeman can somehow play together.

In France’s Ligue 1 at 11:15am EST, Strasbourg will host European champions Paris St. Germain with Gio Reyna looking to keep his starting job for Strasbourg. After a strong start, Strasbourg has not played well in consecutive losses. While PSG is rebounding off a slow start and has now won five in a row.

In MLS at 2:30pm EST, the surging Philadelphia Union will look for their ninth win in a row when they host Charlotte. Charlotte currently sits fifth in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Philadelphia and the Union can continue to climb up the table at least one spot with a win. The Union a full of great American storylines as interim head coach Ryan Richter has led the club on its fantastic run. He has gotten great output from the youthful trio of Cavan Sullivan, Neil Pierre, and Frankie Westfield who are all likely to be in the plans for either the Olympic team or the USMNT moving forward. Then there is Milan Illoski who has 18 goals and is one of the top scorers in the league.

At 7:30pm EST, the third-place New England Revolution vs. and the fourth-place Chicago Fire meet in Massachusetts. Recent U.S. U-20 and Olympic team coach Marko Mitrovic has built an entertaining Revolution team that typically starts either eight or nine American players including Olympic hopefuls Brooklyn Raines and Peyton Miller – who both played for the U.S. national team last window. Also, central defender Josh Wynder is shaking off the rust from a wave of injuries and looks to be back to being one of the top young American central defenders. Meanwhile, former U.S. national team coach Gregg Berhalter’s Chicago Fire is vastly improved and the addition of Robert Lewendowski has made the team more dangerous offensively.

Heading out west at 10:30pm EST, Bruce Arena and fourth-place San Jose will host a Nashville team that is leading the Eastern Conference and the Supporters Shield race with just three losses in 29 games. BJ Callaghan is surely to win the Coach of the Year and his attack led by Hany Mukhtar, Cristian Espinoza, and Sam Surridge is the best in the league. But Nashville has also received meaningful contributions from two U.S. Olympic hopefuls in fullback Reed Baker-Whiting and central midfielder Matthew Corcoran along with brand new U.S. national team goalkeeper Brian Schwake. Meanwhile, San Jose has had a nice season but struggles whenever American playmaker Nike Tsakiris is injured – which he is now.

On Sunday, American players will be busy in the Premier League. At 9:00am EST, Tyler Adams and AFC Bournemouth will look to get back on track against Sunderland. Bournemouth lost ugly last weekend to Chelsea with a 5-1 defeat. Midweek, however, things were improved with a 3-0 win over Strum Graz in the Europa League.

Also, at 9:00am EST, Crystal Palace will travel south to face Brighton & Hove Albion who are coached by Houston-born Fabian Hurzeler. After a solid 3-1 win last weekend against Nottingham Forest, Crystal Place struggled in a 3-2 loss to Lyon in the Europa League. Chris Richards has seen his performances mirror that of his team as he was solid last weekend in central defense but did not play well against Lyon. Meanwhile, Zavier Gozo will hope to return to Palace’s lineup after he was dropped from the squad last weekend.

Finally kicking off at 9:00am EST, Brenden Aaronson and Leeds United host a struggling and likely desperate Manchester United team that has just six points from six games to go along with an ugly loss midweek to Atletico in the Champions League. Leeds can climb to as high as fourth with a win.  

Malik Tillman has not had a good start to the season for Bayer Leverkusen but he scored his first goal in any competition on Thursday in a 3-0 win over Poland’s Lech Poznan in the Europa League. It will be a positive sign if he remains in the starting lineup on Sunday at 9:30 when Bayer hosts surprising league-leading Freiburg. Regardless of whether he starts or subs into the game, Tillman needs to play well.

AC Milan hosts Atalanta on Sunday at 12:00pm EST and both Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah will hope to start. Pulisic faces competition for minutes from teenage sensation Alphadjo Cisse who scored a hat trick in Thursday’s 4-0 win over Salzburg in the Europa League. Pulisic has shown glimpses of being a top player in 2026, but the production must improve as he is in a pivotal year for his contract.

Weston McKennie had an up and down week as he was pulled at halftime last weekend in a 1-1 draw to Cagliari but then was very good in a full 90 shift on Thursday in a 2-1 away win over Celta Vigo in the Europa League. At 2:45 pm EST, Juventus will host second-place Lazio in one of the better Serie A games this weekend. Overall, he has played well this season and should not be in jeopardy of losing his starting job.

 

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