LONDON (AP) — The American presence in the English Premier League could be decimated this weekend: As many as nine of the 12 U.S. players in Europe's top league could find themselves on clubs relegated to a lower division.

Nicknamed "Fulhamerica" by some because it has five U.S. national team players, Fulham is at Portsmouth on Sunday, the season's final day. Fulham most likely will need a victory to avoid being dropped a level down to the League Championship.

"Getting out of trouble would be right up there with the highs," said Kasey Keller, who became Fulham's starting goalkeeper in March.

Keller is joined on Fulham by forwards Brian McBride, Clint Dempsey and Eddie Johnson and defender Carlos Bocanegra. All five played March 16 when McBride scored in a 1-0 win over Everton and goalkeeper Tim Howard — likely the first time six Americans appeared in a Premier League game.

Fulham (7-18-12) has won three of its last four games, moving up to 17th place when it defeated Birmingham last weekend. The bottom three clubs in the 20-team league get relegated, and Fulham moved out of the drop zone last weekend for the first time since December.

Reading (9-22-6), which has American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann and midfielder Bobby Convey, is 18th, followed by Birmingham (7-19-11) and last-place Derby (1-28-8), which has U.S. midfielders Benny Feilhaber and Eddie Lewis.

The only Americans on teams assured of remaining in the EPL are Howard, Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel and West Ham defender Jonathan Spector.

Defender Jay DeMerit could wind up on a team gaining promotion: He's on Watford, one of four League Championship clubs in playoffs for a Premier League berth.

"From the perspective of our coaching staff, the most important factor is that our national team players are in club situations where they are playing regularly and making important contributions to their teams," U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley said Friday. "The English Premier League is one of the most competitive environments in the world, and playing there presents a variety of challenges week in and week out that are beneficial to any player who is trying to reach the highest levels of the game."

McBride, Fulham's captain, scored the opening goal in last weekend's 2-0 home win over Birmingham on a diving header, his fourth goal of the season. That victory sparked celebrations at Craven Cottage stadium, along the River Thames. McBride, who has been at the club since January 2004, is still wary.

"As you can expect the atmosphere in the dressing room was very good after the game but we're not under any illusions that this is over," he said. "We still have a job to do, and it's going to be a tough one."

Portsmouth (16-12-9) is in eighth place and could be looking toward its matchup with Cardiff in the FA Cup final the following weekend.

"Our confidence has grown for sure and you can see that with our composure," said McBride, who returned in February after missing 5› months with a knee injury. "It's going to be a very difficult game on Sunday, and I don't think any team in this league looks past the next game."

The contracts of McBride and Bocanegra are expiring. McBride hopes to stay while Bocanegra, who played just twice since January, intends to leave.

Johnson signed a 3›-year contract in January, and Dempsey this week extended his deal through 2010 this week.

"We've been dead and buried for a long time, but it's nice now to at least we have a chance going into the final game," said Fulham coach Roy Hodgson, who replaced Lawrie Sanchez in December. "It's a tough task for us to beat Portsmouth at Fratton Park, but we've got to be happy that we still have that possibility. For a long time, it didn't look like were going to have that possibility."

Keller said the players never gave up hope.

"We always felt that we were capable of doing it," he said. "We knew that as long as there was a mathematical chance, if we put a run together, we could get ourselves out of trouble."