"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 kicks off a two-match road stand with a battle with the LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday at 7 p.m. CT. Coverage of the contest will be provided by 38 The Spot, beginning a half-hour before kick with the Sporting KC Pregame Show.
These two MLS originals met a little under a month ago on Aug. 6 at Children's Mercy Park as Sporting KC claimed victory over LA 4-2. Both Willy Agada and Erik Thommy netted their first Sporting KC goals and Daniel Salloi put a bow on the match in stoppage time. Now the two sides clash late in the season for their final regular season meeting of the 2022 campaign.
Below is a statistical preview of Sunday's matchup between Sporting Kansas City and the LA Galaxy.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting are 7-2-4 against LA in the last 13 regular season meetings since October 2015.
- Sporting have won each of the last three meetings, including a pair of 2-0 wins last season.
- Sporting are 3-1-1 in their last five regular season visits to Dignity Health Sports Park, including wins in 2017, 2018 and 2021.
- Sporting last visited Dignity Health Sports Park on July 4, 2021, emerging with a 2-0 victory behind late goals from Johnny Russell and Khiry Shelton.
- Sporting forward Johnny Russell has five goals in seven regular season appearances against LA, including three goals in two meetings last year.
- Sporting and LA have met 67 times in the regular season. The series is evenly split with 26 wins and 15 draws apiece.
- The 67 regular season meetings dating back to 1996 have produced just three scoreless draws.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2022 MLS record: 8-15-5, 29 points (13th in Western Conference)
- 2022 MLS road record: 2-9-3, 9 points (14 GF, 33 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 are 3-1-0 in their last four matches and enter the weekend with consecutive league victories for the first time this season.
- Sporting have scored 12 goals across their last four matches. Their 3.0 goals per game in August were second most in MLS behind only the Philadelphia Union (3.5).
- Sporting led MLS during the month of August with 8.3 shots on target per match.
- Last month, Sporting became the first team in MLS history to score three first-half goals in three consecutive regular season matches, doing so against the LA Galaxy (4-2 win on Aug. 6), Austin FC (4-3 loss on Aug. 13) and Portland Timbers (4-1 win on Aug. 21).
- Sporting have scored first in four straight regular season matches for the first time since October 2021.
- Ten of Sporting’s 22 regular season assists have come from Sporting KC Academy products.
- Midfielder Erik Thommy earned MLS Team of the Week honors on Monday after hitting the following match-highs in a 1-0 win over San Jose on Aug. 27: shots (6), chances created (4), passing accuracy 96.7%), duels won (9) and recoveries (8).
- Forward Daniel Salloi scored the lone goal in the 1-0 victory over Portland, tying the all-time club record with his 13th career game-winning goal in the regular season.
- Forward Johnny Russell leads Sporting with nine goals in all competitions, while Salloi ranks second with eight.
- Midfielder Felipe Hernandez leads Sporting with four assists in all competitions and has appeared in all 32 competitive matches this season. He also leads the team with 29 interceptions in the regular season.
- Midfielder Remi Walter is the only Sporting player to start in all 28 MLS matches this year and ranks ninth among MLS field players in minutes played (2,453).
LA Galaxy
- 2022 MLS record: 11-11-5 38 points (8th in Western Conference)
- 2022 MLS home record: 7-5-2 (28 GF, 21 GA)
- 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs: N/A
- All-time Honors: Five MLS Cups (2002, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2014), two Open Cups (2001, 2005), four Supporters' Shields (1998, 2002, 2010, 2011)
- LA currently occupies eighth place in the Western Conference, one point below the playoff line with two games in hand on seventh-place Portland.
- After losing five of six league matches from July 8 to Aug. 6, LA have gone 2-0-2 in their last four with 12 goals scored during that stretch.
- LA ranks third in MLS with 26 touches inside the opponent’s box per game.
- LA leads MLS with 17 goals scored after the 75th minute, accounting for 39% of the club’s total goals (44) during the regular season.
- LA is 10-1-3 when scoring first and 1-10-1 when conceding first this season.
- Similarly, LA is 7-0-2 when leading at halftime and 0-10-1 when trailing at halftime.
- Forward Chicharito Hernandez has five goals in his last five matches and leads LA with 12 goals on the season.
- Chicharito’s 26 non-penalty goals are the second most in MLS since the start of 2021, behind only Hany Mukhtar of Nashville SC (30).
- Forward Dejan Joveljic is second on the team with 10 goals this season, all of which have come at home at Dignity Health Sports Park.
- Defender Julian Araujo leads LA with seven assists, marking the second straight season he has assisted seven goals.
- Midfielder Riqui Puig opened his MLS scoring account with a brilliant long-range goal in LA’s 2-2 road draw at Toronto FC on Wednesday.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Manager Peter Vermes will participate in his 663rd MLS match as a player or a coach, passing Jason Kreis for the all-time league record. He is the longest-tenured head coach with one club in MLS history, having served at the helm since August 2009.
- Forward Johnny Russell is tied with Davy Arnaud for third in club history with 52 goals in all competitions.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has 13 career game-winning goals in the regular season, tied with Preki and Dom Dwyer for the most in club history.
