"By The Numbers" is a season-long series that gives a statistical preview of every Sporting match. To visit the series archive, click here.
Sporting Kansas City’s MLS regular season trudges on as they head west to face the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT.
The first Western Conference road match for Sporting KC will be broadcasted locally on 38 The Spot and will be available to stream in the Sporting KC Mobile app as well as at SportingKC.com/live. The match will also air live on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish).
Manager and sporting director Peter Vermes has the squad ready to go following a 1-0 home victory over the Houston Dynamo. Remi Walter scored the solo goal of the match and earned a spot on the MLS Team of the Week bench. Colorado soundly beat Atlanta United 3-0 with former Sporting KC striker Diego Rubio netting his first goal of 2022.
Below, we provide a statistical preview of Sporting vs Colorado in this version of By the Numbers.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting has played Colorado in 70 MLS regular season matches, the most against any team in the league. Sporting holds the advantage in the series with a 28-24-18 record against the Rapids.
- Sporting is 5-18-12 on the road against Colorado and has drawn their last four matches at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
- The last meeting between these two sides was a 1-1 draw on Aug. 28, 2021, at Children’s Mercy Park in which Johnny Russell and Jonathan Lewis scored.
- In the three regular season meetings last season, Sporting won the first 3-1 and drew the last two 0-0 and 1-1 respectively.
- In the last 10 meetings, Sporting has only lost one match, posting a 4-1-5 record against the Rapids since the start of the 2018 MLS season.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has three goals in five MLS regular season appearances against the Rapids, all coming at Children’s Mercy Park.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2022 MLS record: 1-1-0, 3 points (7th in Western Conference)
- 2022 MLS road record: 0-1-0 (1 GF, 3 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’s 1-0 win over Houston last Saturday was the club’s first 1-0 victory since Oct. 28, 2020. Sporting was previously 0-12-7 when scoring one goal or fewer.
- Sporting held the Dynamo to five shot attempts, the fewest in an MLS match this season.
- Sporting is tied for the league lead with 29 passing sequences of at least 10 passes
- Sporting ranks second in MLS through Week 2 with 15 possessions won in the attacking third
- Sporting has outscored opponents 43-21 from the 60th minute onward in regular season matches since the start of the 2020 season.
- Since July 2020, Sporting is 22-0-1 in the regular season when leading in the 75th minute
- Midfielder Remi Walter delivered a man-of-the-match performance in the win over Houston. He scored the match’s only goal and recorded match-highs in duels (15), aerial duels (six), recoveries (12) and distance covered (6.94 miles).
- Defender Andreu Fontas matched three MLS career-highs last Saturday by completing 109 of 118 passes and racking up 130 touches.
- Since the start of 2021, Daniel Salloi is tied for the MLS lead with 17 non-penalty goals in the regular season. His 15 goals from open play during the same time period rank second behind Chicharito’s 16.
- Defender Logan Ndenbe is tied for fourth in MLS with 12 possessions won in the defensive third.
- Since joining MLS in 2018, forward Russell ranks third in the league with 71 combined goals and assists (41 goals, 30 assists) in the regular season.
Colorado Rapids
- 2022 MLS record: 1-1-0, 3 points (6th in Western Conference)
- 2022 MLS road record: 0-1-0 (0 GF, 3 GA)
- 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs: Lost to the Portland Timbers in Western Conference Semifinals
- All-time Honors: One MLS Cups (2010)
- Colorado finished first in the West last season with a 17-7-10 record, including a 9-1-7 mark at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The Rapids haven’t lost a regular season match at home since April 24, 2021, going unbeaten in the last 17.
- Since head coach Robin Fraser took the helm, the Rapids have gone 31-16-14 in the regular season with 21 shutouts, tied for the second-most in MLS during that time.
- Colorado’s 16 shot attempts through Week 2 rank 25th in MLS.
- Colorado ranks fifth in MLS with a shot conversion rate of 18.8%.
- Colorado ranks third in MLS with 74 possessions won in the defensive third.
- Diego Rubio had a goal and an assist in Colorado’s win over Atlanta last Saturday while also leading the team with three chances created, 20 duels, four fouls suffered, 41 touches and three successful dribbles.
- Defender Lucas Esteves is tied for the MLS lead with 12 crosses from open play. Esteves ranks fourth in MLS with 784 meters covered sprinting through Week 2.
- Goalkeeper William Yarbrough is tied for fourth in MLS with eight saves this season.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Defender Andreu Fontas is one shy of his 50th regular season start for Sporting.
- Since signing with Sporting in 2015, goalkeeper Tim Melia has won 10 or more regular season games in the past seven seasons. No goalkeeper in MLS history has ever won 10 or more regular season games in eight straight seasons.
