"By The Numbers presented by Compass Minerals" is a season-long series that gives a statistical preview of every Sporting match. To visit the series archive, click here.
Hot off a historic 5-3 win at the San Jose Earthquakes last weekend, Sporting Kansas City will hit the road again by visiting Eastern Conference heavyweight FC Cincinnati on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. CT. The cross-conference clash will be available to watch on Apple TV via MLS Season Pass, while a radio broadcast will air locally on ESPN Kansas City 1510 AM and 94.5 FM.
Sporting enjoyed a breakout performance against San Jose, bagging five goals in an instant classic to generate momentum at the forefront of a daunting stretch that will see the team play seven of nine games away from home. FC Cincinnati, meanwhile, continues to be a results machine with four consecutive wins after winning the 2023 Supporters' Shield and finishing high in the table last season.
As anticipation builds toward Saturday afternoon, we take a statistical look at the fixture in our newest edition of By The Numbers presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting and Cincinnati will square off for the fourth time in all competitions and the third time in MLS regular season play. All four meetings, including Saturday’s fixture, have been hosted by Cincinnati.
- Sporting has a 1-0-2 record in the three previous meetings, including a 1-1 regular season draw on April 7, 2019, a 1-0 regular season win on Oct. 28, 2020, and a 3-3 draw in Leagues Cup 2023 that saw Cincinnati prevail 4-2 on penalties.
- The most recent meeting in Leagues Cup 2023 saw Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp and Cincinnati defender Nick Hagglund score own goals.
- Sporting forward Mason Toye has four goal contributions (three goals, one assist) in 188 regular season minutes (four appearances) against Cincinnati.
- Cincinnati forward Corey Baird has five goal contributions (four goals, one assist) in 12 regular season appearances against Sporting.
- Cincinnati midfielder Evander has three goal contributions (two goals, one assist) in four regular season appearances against Sporting.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2025 MLS record: 2-6-1, 7 points (13th in West | 15 GF, 19 GA)
- 2025 MLS away record: 1-3-0 (7 GF, 10 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 2-3-0, 6 points (L-L-W-L-W)
- Sporting earned a 5-3 road win over the San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday, scoring five goals in an MLS match for the first time since a 7-1 home victory over CF Montreal on March 30, 2019. It was the 13th time that Sporting had scored at least five goals in an MLS match and only the third time away from home, following a 5-0 win at Colorado in April 2000 and a 5-1 win at San Jose in September 2018.
- With goals in the 18th, 20th and 24th minutes last Saturday, Sporting scored three goals in a seven-minute span of a single half in an MLS match for only the second time in club history. The only previous instance came on June 20, 1999, in a 6-0 home win against the NY/NJ MetroStars.
- In last weekend’s win over San Jose, Sporting scored three first-half goals in an MLS away match for the first time since Aug. 13, 2022.
- Last Saturday marked the first time that Sporting had scored five goals in an MLS match with fewer than 10 shot attempts. Sporting had only eight shot attempts against San Jose, with all five shots on target resulting in goals.
- Sporting has scored nine goals in its last three matches since April 5, second most in MLS during that timeframe behind San Jose’s 10.
- Sporting is tied for seventh in MLS in goals scored (15) and tied for last in goals conceded (19).
- Sporting has won two of its last three matches since April 5 after a club-record 13-match winless streak across all competitions that began on Sept. 21, 2024.
- Forward Daniel Salloi was named MLS Player of the Matchday for Matchday 9 after tallying two goals and two assists in Sporting’s 5-3 win at San Jose last Saturday.
- Salloi became the third player in club history to record multiple goals and multiple assists in an MLS road match, a feat that has happened 18 times in league history.
- Salloi became the sixth Kansas City player to record four goal contributions in an MLS match, joining Preki (four times), Mark Chung, Chris Henderson, Josh Wolff and Gerso Fernandes.
- Salloi is one of only four MLS players with six or more goal contributions in each of the last five regular seasons from 2021-2025, joining the San Jose trio of Chicho Arango, Cristian Espinoza and Josef Martinez.
- Salloi recorded his fifth career multi-goal game in the regular season last Saturday, tied for seventh most in team history. He also eclipsed 50 regular season goals scored in his career by extending a club record with his 17th game-winning goal in regular season play.
- Salloi has six goal contributions (four goals, two assists) in Sporting’s last six matches since March 15—including goals in back-to-back road games—after totaling seven goal contributions (two goals, five assists) during the entire 2024 MLS season.
- Midfielder Erik Thommy came off the bench to record a goal and an assist in last Saturday’s win over San Jose. He recorded multiple goal contributions as a substitute for the second time in his MLS career, having scored two goals as a sub in Sporting’s 4-1 home win over Colorado on Sept. 18, 2024.
- Thommy had a goal and an assist in an MLS match for the fifth time in his career, most recently doing so in a 3-2 win at Real Salt Lake on Oct. 7, 2023.
- Midfielder Manu Garcia scored his first MLS goal and added two assists in last Saturday’s win over San Jose. He leads Sporting with four assists this season while ranking second in MLS in goal-creating actions (eight), third in progressive passes (71) and eighth in both successful passes into the final third (59) and successful passes into the penalty area (18).
- Defender Logan Ndenbe scored his first MLS regular season goal last Saturday against San Jose after scoring two goals in Sporting’s two-game sweep of St. Louis City SC in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs.
- Ndenbe ranks fourth in MLS in dribblers tackled (14), fourth in progressive carrying distance (1,270 yards), sixth in tackles won (16), seventh in progressive carries (36) and ninth in successful crosses into the penalty area (six).
- Forward Dejan Joveljic recorded his first assist for Sporting in last Saturday’s win against San Jose. He leads the team with five goals this season, all of which have come at home. Joveljic has 12 goals in his last 10 MLS home appearances dating back to last season with the LA Galaxy, including playoffs.
- Forward Shapi Suleymanov recorded his third assist of the season and the 50th assist of his professional career last Saturday against San Jose. He leads MLS in fouls suffered (24) while ranking second in progressive passes received (98) and fourth in dribbles into the penalty area (18).
- Goalkeeper John Pulskamp marked his 24th birthday last Saturday with the first assist of his professional career, setting up Daniel Salloi’s 20th-minute goal with a pinpoint long ball. Pulskamp became the sixth goalkeeper in club history to record an assist in an MLS regular season match and the first to do so since Bo Oshoniyi on April 2, 2005.
FC Cincinnati
- 2025 MLS record: 6-2-1, 19 points (2nd in East | 13 GF, 11 GA)
- 2025 MLS home record: 3-0-1 (6 GF, 2 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 4-1-0, 12 points (L-W-W-W-W)
- Cincinnati is tied for first place in the Eastern Conference (19 points, 6-2-1 record) and tied for the MLS lead in wins (six).
- Cincinnati has won four straight matches, the longest active winning streak in MLS.
- Cincinnati has a 3-0-1 home record at TQL Stadium, scoring six goals and conceding only two.
- Cincinnati has scored eight of its 13 goals after the 60th minute this season.
- Cincinnati has a perfect 5-0 record in one-goal games. Both of its losses have come by multiple goals.
- Cincinnati is 5-0-0 when scoring the first goal and 1-2-1 when conceding the first goal this season.
- Since the start of 2023, Cincinnati is 37-1-4 when scoring first in the regular season.
- Cincinnati finished last in the Supporters’ Shield standings in each of its first three MLS seasons from 2019-2021 prior to winning the Supporters’ Shield in 2023, the club’s second season under current head coach Pat Noonan.
- Pat Noonan has a 56-27-28 regular season record as Cincinnati’s head coach.
- Midfielder Evander is tied for second in MLS with six goals this season, including goals in each of his last three matches. He has a team-best eight goals in all competitions, having scored twice in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
- Evander has 21 goals and 20 assists in 35 regular season appearances since the start of 2024. He had 15 goals and 19 assists during the 2024 campaign with Portland.
- Forward Kevin Denkey is second on the team with four MLS goals and six goals in all competitions. Denkey led the Belgian Pro League with 27 goals during the 2023-24 campaign.
- Winger Luca Orellano has only one assist in seven appearances this season, but he ranks second in MLS in successful take-ons (22), sixth in shots on target per 90 minutes (1.97) and eighth in total shots on target (12).
- Goalkeeper Roman Celentano has four shutouts this season, one shy of the MLS lead.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Forward Daniel Salloi is tied for eighth in Sporting history with 218 regular season appearances for the club, one shy of passing Preki.
- Defender Khiry Shelton is one shy of his 100th start for Sporting in MLS competitions (regular season, playoffs and MLS is Back).
- Midfielder Jake Davis is 38 minutes shy of 5,000 regular season minutes played for Sporting.
- Defender Tim Leibold is one shy of his 50th regular season appearance for Sporting.
- Defender Robert Voloder is one shy of his 50th start for Sporting in all competitions.
