"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.
On the heels of a pulsating draw against Minnesota that saw Sporting Kansas City overcome a three-goal deficit for the first time in club history, Manager Peter Vermes' side will welcome another formidable opponent to Children's Mercy Park on Saturday as LAFC visits for a rematch of the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT with tickets available at SeatGeek.com and live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.
Sporting found its scoring touch last weekend with three goals in a torrid 12-minute stretch of the second half, clawing back from down 3-0 to secure a momentum-building home result versus Minnesota. The team will now turn its attention to a star-studded LAFC outfit that carries a rare three-game losing streak into the weekend.
With Sporting eager to bounce into the win column and LAFC looking to stem its recent backslide, 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 LAFC last met on Oct. 5, 2024, at Children’s Mercy Park. LAFC earned a 3-0 road win behind goals from David Martinez, Cristian Olivera and Aaron Long.
- Sporting is 0-6-2 in its last eight meetings against LAFC dating back to September 2021.
- Sporting last beat LAFC on Aug. 4, 2021, cruising to a 4-1 road win in a game that saw forward Daniel Salloi record one goal and one assist. The three-goal defeat stands as the second-largest home loss in LAFC history.
- Sporting and LAFC notably met in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final last September at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. After Olivier Giroud and Erik Thommy traded second-half goals near the hour mark, LAFC struck through Omar Campos in the 102nd minute and Kei Kamara in the 109th minute to secure a 3-1 extra-time victory and the club’s first Open Cup title.
- Sporting trails the all-time regular season series with a 4-7-2 record in 13 meetings, including a 0-5-2 record since Sept. 3, 2021.
- Sporting has a 2-4-0 home record in six regular season meetings against LAFC at Children’s Mercy Park. The wins came in 2018 and 2021, while the losses came in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
- LAFC has prevailed in each of its last three visits to Children’s Mercy Park since 2022.
- Sporting won the first two MLS meetings between the clubs in 2018 prior to losing seven of the last 11.
- In all competitions, LAFC has scored 20 of its 28 goals against Sporting after halftime, including 10 past the 75th minute.
- Sporting forward Dejan Joveljic has four goals in 10 regular season appearances against LAFC, all as a member of the LA Galaxy from 2021-2024.
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has three goals and two assists in 13 appearances against LAFC across all competitions, including an assist in the 2024 Open Cup Final last September.
- Sporting forward Mason Toye had a brace against LAFC in Minnesota’s 2-0 road win at BMO Stadium on Sept. 1, 2019.
- LAFC forward Jeremy Ebobisse has three goals in nine regular season appearances against Sporting, one as a member of Portland in 2019 and two as a member of San Jose in 2023.
- LAFC defender Aaron Long has 17 goal contributions in his regular season career (13 goals and four assists), four of which have come against Sporting at Children’s Mercy Park (two goals, two assists).
- Long has scored or assisted a goal in each of his last four regular season visits to Children’s Mercy Park since 2019, with one goal and one assist each for the New York Red Bulls (2019, 2022) and LAFC (2023, 2024).
Sporting Kansas City
- 2025 MLS record: 0-3-1, 0 points (13th in West | 5 GF, 8 GA)
- 2025 MLS home record: 0-1-1 (4 GF, 5 GA)
- First Four MLS Matches: L-L-L-T
- Sporting erased a three-goal deficit to secure a result for the first time in club history last Saturday, scoring three second-half goals to earn a 3-3 home draw against Minnesota.
- Last Saturday marked the 19th time in MLS regular season history that a team had come back from a three-goal deficit to secure a result.
- Last Saturday marked the fourth-latest comeback from a three-goal deficit in MLS regular season history. Sporting trailed 3-0 in the 68th minute before leveling the score. Three previous teams began their three-goal comebacks in the 72nd minute or later.
- Sporting scored three goals in a 12-minute span last Saturday. The last time Sporting scored three goals in a shorter span of a competitive match was Aug. 21, 2022, a 4-1 home win over Portland that yielded goals in the 31st, 40th and 42nd minutes. Sporting also scored three goals in 12 minutes in a memorable 4-1 playoff win at St. Louis on Oct. 29, 2023.
- Sporting has a 7-0-1 record in all competitions when scoring at least twice since June 29, 2024.
- Sporting leads MLS in average possession at 58%.
- Sporting ranks second in MLS with 27 dribbles into the penalty area.
- Forward Dejan Joveljic scored Sporting’s late equalizer in last Saturday’s 3-3 home draw against Minnesota. He has scored eight goals in his last eight MLS starts dating back to last season, including playoffs.
- Joveljic has recorded a goal contribution in each of his last seven MLS home appearances dating back to last season, including playoffs (nine goals, two assists).
- Forward Daniel Salloi kickstarted Sporting’s comeback last Saturday with the team’s first goal in the 68th minute. It was his first goal since Aug. 24, 2024, and gave him 85 career goal contributions for Sporting (48 goals, 37 assists) in the regular season, passing Christ Klein for fourth most in club history.
- Salloi’s strike was his first goal as a substitute in an MLS match since July 1, 2017, and only the second such goal of his MLS career.
- Midfielder Manu Garcia earned his first MLS assist last Saturday on Joveljic’s equalizer. Garcia ranks fourth in MLS in shot-creating actions (22), fifth in successful take-ons (10) and eighth in key passes (nine).
- Forward Shapi Suleymanov leads MLS in progressive passes received (60) while ranking third in carries into the penalty area (12), fifth in fouls suffered (12) and eighth in progressive carries (17).
- Defender Logan Ndenbe ranks third in MLS in progressive carrying distance (655 yards), fifth in progressive carries (18) and eighth in successful crosses into the penalty area from open play (three).
- According to Opta, midfielder Nemanja Radoja won a game-high 17 of 18 duels last Saturday against Minnesota, including all 13 ground duels and five of six aerial duels. He also won a game-high six tackles and led all players in fouls suffered (six) while committing zero fouls himself.
LAFC
- 2025 MLS record: 2-2-0, 6 points (8th in West | 4 GF, 6 GA)
- 2025 MLS away record: 0-1-0 (2 GF, 5 GA)
- First Four MLS Matches: W-W-L-L
- LAFC won three straight matches in all competitions from Feb. 22 to March 1 before losing each of its last three since March 8.
- With losses in back-to-back MLS matches, LAFC is looking to avoid its first three-game losing streak in the regular season since September 2023.
- LAFC has advanced to the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals by defeating the Colorado Rapids in Round One (2-2 on aggregate and advancing on away goals) and the Columbus Crew in the Round of 16 (4-2 on aggregate). LAFC finished as Champions Cup runners-up in 2020 and 2023.
- The 2024 season saw LAFC win the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title for the first time and earn a first-place finish in the Western Conference regular season standings.
- LAFC won the 2024 Open Cup after a run of losing four consecutive cup finals (2023 Campeones Cup, 2023 Concacaf Champions League Final, 2023 MLS Cup, 2024 Leagues Cup Final).
- LAFC has four major trophies since joining MLS in 2018: the 2022 MLS Cup, the 2024 Open Cup and Supporters’ Shield titles in 2019 and 2022.
- LAFC ranks second in MLS in completed passes into the final third (197) but only 26th in completed passes into the penalty area (24).
- LAFC leads MLS with 100 take-ons, 21 more than any other team (attempts to take on defenders while dribbling).
- LAFC has three yellow cards through four MLS matches, the fewest in the league.
- LAFC’s four regular season goals have come from four different players: Jeremy Ebobisse, Ryan Hollingshead, Nathan Ordaz and David Martinez.
- Forward Denis Bouanga scored three of LAFC’s four goals in a 4-2 aggregate victory over Columbus in the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 earlier this month.
- Bouanga has bagged 72 goals in 114 appearances for LAFC across all competitions since joining the club in 2022. He notably has 15 goal contributions (10 goals, five assists) in 12 Concacaf Champions Cup appearances.
- Bouanga leads MLS this season in progressive carries (21) and carries into the penalty area (16).
- Defender Aaron Long leads MLS in passing accuracy (95.8%) and ranks sixth in aerial duel success (84.6%).
- Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has conceded just one goal in three MLS appearances this season. He ranks second in MLS in save percentage at 87.5%.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Sporting is two goals shy of 400 regular season home goals scored at Children’s Mercy Park
- Midfielder Erik Thommy is one shy of his 100th appearance for Sporting in all competitions.
- Forward William Agada is one shy of his 200th professional club appearance.
- Midfielder Nemanja Radoja is one shy of his 50th regular season start for Sporting.
- Defender Dany Rosero is one shy of his 50th regular season start for Sporting.
- Defender Logan Ndenbe is one shy of his 50th start for Sporting in all competitions.
- Forward Daniel Salloi scored a goal in last Saturday’s 3-3 draw against Minnesota, taking sole possession of fourth place in club history with 85 career goal contributions in the regular season (48 goals, 37 assists).
- Manager Peter Vermes is set to reach 700 combined matches played and coached for Sporting in all competitions. He played 92 games for Kansas City from 2000-2002 and has coached 607 since becoming the club’s manager in 2009.
