"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.
Sporting Kansas City will host bitter rivals St. Louis City SC on Saturday at Children's Mercy Park, ushering in a new era of leadership with interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin at the helm. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT with tickets available online at SeatGeek and live broadcasts on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, ESPN 94.5 FM and La Grande 1340 AM.​​​​​​
After an extraordinary 15-year stint as Sporting's manager, Peter Vermes ended his tenure at the club on Monday. With Zavagnin now in charge, Sporting will look to bounce into the win column against a stingy St. Louis side—led by first-year head coach Olof Mellberg—that has conceded just two goals through six games this season.
With loads of excitement and anticipation building up to Saturday, we take a statistical look at the fixture in our newest edition of By The Numbers presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- The rivalry series between Sporting and St. Louis is split with three wins and two draws apiece across all competitions.
- The eight all-time meetings between the clubs have produced 32 goals, an average of four goals per match. The eight games have also produced just one shutout, when St. Louis prevailed 4-0 in the inaugural meeting on May 20, 2023.
- Louis has a 3-1-2 record in the regular season series, while Sporting has won both playoff meetings between the clubs.
- Sporting is 2-0-2 in four home meetings against St. Louis, including a 1-0-2 mark in the regular season with two draws last season as well as a 2-1 playoff win in 2023.
- Sporting’s lone win in six regular season meetings against St. Louis came by a 2-1 scoreline on Sept. 2, 2023, at Children’s Mercy Park.
- The teams met three times in 2024, playing to a pair of draws at Children’s Mercy Park before St. Louis earned a 3-1 home win in the most recent meeting last September.
- After St. Louis earned the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs, the expansion newcomers were humbled by Sporting in a two-game sweep in the Round One Best-of-3 Series. Kansas City cruised 4-1 at St. Louis in Game 1 on Oct. 29 and prevailed 2-1 at home on Nov. 5 to complete the series victory.
- The 2023 playoff series between the clubs marked the second time that teams from Kansas City and St. Louis have met in the playoffs across the five major men’s professional sports leagues in the U.S. (MLS, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL), following the 1985 World Series in which the Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has six goal contributions (two goals and four assists) in eight MLS appearances against St. Louis, including two goals and two assists in the 2023 playoffs.
- Sporting defender Logan Ndenbe scored a goal in both matches of Sporting’s two-game sweep against St. Louis in the 2023 playoffs. They remain his only two goals in 57 MLS appearances since joining Kansas City in 2022.
- Sporting forward William Agada has two goals and one assist in four regular season appearances against St. Louis.
- Sporting midfielder Erik Thommy has one goal and two assists in five regular season appearances against St. Louis.
- Sporting midfielder Jake Davis has two assists in five regular season appearances against St. Louis.
- Louis forward Joao Klauss has three goals and one assist in four regular season appearances against Sporting.
- Louis forward Cedric Teuchert has one goal and two assists in two regular season appearances against Sporting.
- Louis midfielder Celio Pompeu has two goals in three MLS appearances against Sporting, including one goal at Children’s Mercy Park in the 2023 playoffs.
- Louis defender Akil Watts has two assists in two regular season appearances against Sporting.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2025 MLS record: 0-5-1, 1 point (15th in West | 6 GF, 12 GA)
- 2025 MLS home record: 0-2-1 (4 GF, 7 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 0-4-1, 1 point (L-L-T-L-L)
- Sporting ranks third in MLS in average possession (57.7%).
- Sporting leads MLS in dribbles into the final third (94) while ranking third in dribbles into the penalty box (38).
- Sporting ranks third in MLS in successful crosses into the penalty area (16).
- Sporting ranks fourth in MLS in touches in the attacking penalty area per game (26.7).
- Sporting has a 7-0-1 record in all competitions when scoring at least twice since June 29, 2024.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has two goals in his last three appearances, including the go-ahead goal in Sporting’s 2-1 loss at FC Dallas last Saturday. His two goals this season are tied for the team lead and he is one shy of 50 goals in his MLS regular season career.
- Forward Shapi Suleymanov leads MLS with 86 progressive passes received, 22 more than any other player. He also ranks third in the league in fouls suffered (18), third in dribbles into the penalty area (17) and sixth in progressive carries (24).
- Suleymanov assisted Salloi’s goal last Saturday and leads Sporting with two assists on the season.
- Forward Dejan Joveljic is tied for the team lead with two goals this season, both of which have come at Children’s Mercy Park. He has nine goals in his last eight MLS home appearances dating back to last October with the LA Galaxy (including playoffs).
- Midfielder Manu Garcia ranks fourth in MLS in successful take-ons (13), sixth in progressive passes (48), sixth in shot-creating actions (29) and ninth in successful passes into the penalty area (13).
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez ranks eighth in MLS in expected assists per 90 minutes (0.41).
- Defender Logan Ndenbe ranks second in MLS in progressive carries (31) and third in successful crosses into the penalty area from open play (five).
- Jake Davis started at right back in each of Sporting’s first seven matches this season across all competitions before moving into the midfield last Saturday at Dallas. He is tied for third in MLS in tackles (19) while ranking 10th in tackles won (11).
- Davis and goalkeeper John Pulskamp are the only players who have started in all eight Sporting matches this season across all competitions.
St. Louis City SC
- 2025 MLS record: 2-2-2, 8 points (9th in West | 4 GF, 2 GA)
- 2025 MLS away record: 1-1-1 (3 GF, 1 GA)
- First Five MLS Matches: 2-2-1, 7 points (T-W-W-L-L)
- Led by first-year head coach Olof Mellberg, St. Louis has lost two straight matches by a 1-0 scoreline after opening the season with a 2-0-2 record.
- Louis opened the 2025 campaign with four consecutive shutouts, marking the first four-game shutout streak in club history. Their four clean sheets this season are the most in MLS.
- Louis opened the season with a 368-minute shutout streak, the longest such streak of any MLS team this season.
- Louis has conceded just two goals through six matches, the fewest in MLS.
- Louis is the only MLS team that has not allowed a second-half goal this season.
- Louis has scored four goals through six matches, tied for the fewest in the Western Conference. The team’s four goals have come from four different players: Simon Becher, Marcel Hartel, Eduard Lowen and Cedric Teuchert.
- Louis is currently on a 255-minute goalless drought, the longest active drought in MLS and the fourth longest in the league this season.
- Louis matches have produced six total goals this season, the fewest of any team in MLS (four goals scored, two goals conceded).
- Louis has allowed just one goal in three away matches this season, posting a 1-1-1 record on the road.
- Louis is 2-0-0 when scoring first and 0-2-0 when conceding first this season. Similarly, the team is 2-0-0 when leading at halftime and 0-2-0 when trailing at halftime this season.
- Louis entered MLS in 2023 and finished atop the Western Conference standings in the club’s inaugural season. The team was less successful in 2024, finishing 12th in the West and missing the playoffs.
- Louis ranks 28th in MLS in average possession (44.3%).
- Midfielder Marcel Hartel ranks sixth in MLS in key passes (16), ninth in shot-creating actions (28) and ninth in crosses (36).
- Defender Henry Kessler ranks third in MLS in passing accuracy (94.8%), fifth in blocks (12) and seventh in clearances (46). He is the only St. Louis player to play in all 540 minutes of the regular season.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Sporting will play the club’s 1,100th match in club history on Saturday.
- Sporting has a 5-0-1 record in regular season matches played on April 5.
- Sporting is two goals shy of 400 regular season home goals scored at Children’s Mercy Park. The stadium opened on June 9, 2011.
- Goalkeeper John Pulskamp is one shy of his 50th start for Sporting in all competitions.
- Defender Robert Voloder is one shy of his 50th start for Sporting in all competitions.
- Defender Tim Leibold is one shy of his 50th MLS appearance for Sporting (regular season and playoffs combined).
- Forward Daniel Salloi is one shy of 50 career goals in the MLS regular season.
