[AMERICANS ABROAD] Tim Howard (Everton) and Clint Dempsey (Fulham) were the only Americans to play on New Year's Day in the English Premier League, and their clubs both suffered shutout losses. On Sunday, struggling Aston Villa with Brad Friedel in goal earned a point at defending champion Chelsea with a 3-3 tie.

Everton's loss at Stoke left the Toffees in 13th place. Of those clubs with one or more Americans on their team, only Stuart Holden's Bolton Wanderers is positioned in the top 10. Holden (injured in the 1-0 loss at Chelsea on Wednesday) didn't play in the 2-1 loss at Liverpool on Saturday.

Aston Villa (Friedel and Eric Lichaj back on the bench against Chelsea after a nightmare game  at Manchester City) is 15th, West Ham (Jonathan Spector) is 16th, Fulham (Dempsey and reserve forward Eddie Johnson) is 18th and Wolves (backup keeper Marcus Hahnemann) 20th.

Americans Abroad:
English Premier League
Sunday:
Chelsea 3 Aston Villa 3
Brad Friedel-Aston Villa (90 minutes)

Saturday:
Stoke City 2 Everton 0
Tim Howard-Everton (90 minutes)

Tottenham 1 Fulham 0
Clint Dempsey-Fulham (90 minutes)

English League Championship
Saturday:
Hull City 0 Leicester City 1
Brad Guzan-Hull City (90 minutes)

Preston North End 1 Derby County 2
Conor Doyle-Derby County (90 minutes)

Norwich City 1 QPR 0
Zak Whitbread-Norwich City (90 minutes)