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Sporting Kansas City heads south for a match against Austin FC at Q2 Stadium on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT. Coverage of the match will be provided by 38 The Spot and will begin 30-minutes prior to first kick with the Sporting KC pregame show.
These two sides are quite familiar with each other after facing off two weeks prior on July 30 at Children's Mercy Park. Austin left Kansas City with three points after a 2-0 win. Sporting now trails Austin in the series, posting a 1-2-1 record in four tries against the Black and Verde. Saturday marks just the second visit to Q2 Stadium after suffering a 3-1 defeat there last season.
Here is a statical look at Saturday's matchup between Sporting Kansas City and Austin FC.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting and Austin met three times during the latter’s inaugural MLS season in 2021, splitting the series 1-1-1.
- Sporting has outshot Austin 81-42 across the previous four regular season meetings, including a 27-15 edge in shots on goal, but Austin has a 7-4 advantage in goals scored. Sporting’s
- Six of Austin’s seven goal against Sporting have come before the 60th minute, while each of Sporting’s four goals in the series have come after the 60th minute.
- Austin has scored the first goal in all four meetings between the clubs.
- Austin midfielder Alex Ring has two goals and two assists in his last four regular season appearances against Sporting.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2022 MLS record: 6-14-5, 23 points (14th in Western Conference)
- 2022 MLS road record: 2-8-3, 9 points (11 GF, 29 GA)
- 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs: Lost to Real Salt Lake in Western Conference Semifinals
- All-time Honors: Two MLS Cups (2000, 2013), four Open Cups (2004, 2012, 2015, 2017), one Supporters' Shield (2000).
- Sporting is the only club to reach the U.S. Open Cup semifinals, MLS conference semifinals or Concacaf Championship League semifinals in each of the last six seasons since 2017.
- Ten of Sporting’s 16 regular season assists have come from Sporting KC Academy products.
- Sporting snapped a five-match winless run in all competitions with a 4-2 victory over the LA Galaxy last Saturday at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Sporting scored three first-half goals for the first time since Sept. 15, 2021 in a 4-0 home win over Minnesota.
- Sporting bagged four total goals in a match for the first time since Oct. 3, 2021, in a 4-2 home win over Houston Dynamo FC.
- Willy Agada opened his MLS scoring account with two goals, earning a spot on the MLS Team of the Week bench. Agada also had match-highs in shots on target (three), attacking runs (27) and sprints (16) while completing 91.7% of his passes.
- Fellow newcomer Erik Thommy also scored his first MLS goal with a world-class strike to give Sporting an early 1-0 lead.
- Forward Daniel Salloi tallied a goal and two assists while also hitting match-highs in duels (13), penalty area entries (six) and distance covered (6.8 miles). His 46 goals in all competitions are tied with Josh Wolff for fifth most in club history.
- Forward Johnny Russell leads Sporting with eight goals in all competitions, while fellow winger Daniel Salloi ranks second with seven.
- Midfielder Remi Walter leads MLS in distance covered (167.9 miles), ranks third among field players in recoveries (189) and leads Sporting with 26 key passes. His three goals are a career-high for a single league season dating back to 2013.
- Walter is the only Sporting player to start in all 25 MLS matches this year and has been on the field for 97% of Sporting’s regular season (2,183 minutes).
Austin FC
- 2022 MLS record: 13-5-6, 45 points (2nd in Western Conference)
- 2022 MLS road record: 7-3-2, 23 points (20 GF, 16 GA)
- 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs: N/A
- All-time Honors: N/A
- Austin lead MLS in goals scored (50) and ranks second in goals per match (2.08).
- Austin are 5-2-4 at home but have won just three of their last nine home matches at Q2 Stadium (3-2-4 record) after winning their first two.
- Austin have conceded seven goals in their last two home matches, the 4-3 loss to New York and a 3-3 draw against San Jose last Saturday, and allowed 12 goals in their last five home matches since May 22 (1-1-3 record).
- Austin have outscored opponents 21-12 after the 60th minute and 11-5 after the 75th minute.
- Austin are tied for the MLS lead with 17 points gained from losing positions, consisting of four wins and five draws.
- Forward Sebastian Driussi leads MLS with 16 goals, while fellow attacker Maxi Urruti leads the league with five game-winning goals.
- Driussi leads MLS with 23 goal contributions (16 goals, seven assists) and has scored or assisted in each of his last seven appearances since July 4. He has five goals in his last three games.
- Midfielder Diego Fagundez is tied for fourth in MLS with a career-high 10 assists.
- Midfielder Alex Ring is the only Austin player to start in all 24 regular season matches this year. He has equaled career-highs this season in both goals (four) and assists (five)
- Goalkeeper Brad Stuver has a 12-2-6 record as a starter this season with seven shutouts and a 1.19 goals against average.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Manager Peter Vermes is the longest-tenured head coach with one club in MLS history, having served at the helm since August 2009, and will hit 600 matches played or coached for Sporting on Saturday in Austin.
- Forward Johnny Russell has 51 goals for Sporting in all competitions, one shy of tying Austin assistant coach Davy Arnaud for third on the club’s all-time chart.
- Daniel Salloi has 46 goals for Sporting in all competitions, one shy of passing Austin head coach Josh Wolff for sole possession of fifth on the club’s all-time chart.
- Midfielder Felipe Hernandez is one shy of his 50th career regular season appearance.
