"By The Numbers" is a season-long series presented by the Kansas Department of Transportation that gives a statistical preview of every Sporting match. To visit the series archive, click here.
Traffic Safety By The Numbers: Did you know that 76 lives were lost due to drunk driving in Kansas in 2019? Visit the Drive to Zero Coalition for more information.
Occupying second place in the Western Conference entering the final week of the 2021 MLS regular season, Sporting Kansas City (17-8-7, 58 points) will look to bounce back into the win column Wednesday when they visit Q2 Stadium for the first time to face Austin FC (8-20-4, 28 points). The crucial clash will kick off at 8 p.m. CT with live coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT on Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Midwest, BallySports.com and the Bally Sports app.
Sporting have already locked up a top-three finish in the West and sit a point behind first-place Seattle Sounders FC with a game in hand. Manager Peter Vermes' men will now prepare to face expansion newcomers Austin FC with plenty at stake in the penultimate round of the regular season.
As excitement and anticipation builds for Wednesday, we offer a statistical preview of the matchup in our newest edition of By the Numbers, presented by the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting and Austin have previously met twice this season at Children's Mercy Park. Sporting struck late through Ilie Sanchez and Gadi Kinda to seal a 2-1 win on May 9 before Daniel Salloi struck in a 1-1 draw on June 12.
- Austin had 1-0 halftime leads in both previous meetings this season with goals from Jon Gallagher and Cecilio Dominguez.
- Sporting have outshot Austin 57-20 across the first two matches this season.
- Wednesday will mark Sporting's inaugural visit to Q2 Stadium in Austin.
Sporting Kansas City
- MLS record: 17-8-7, 58 points
- MLS standings: 2nd in West
- MLS away record: 8-6-2 (25 GF, 20 GA)
- Last five matches: 3-2-0, 9 points (W-L-W-W-L)
- Last match: Lost 2-1 at Minnesota United FC on Oct. 31
- With a win on Wednesday, Sporting can clinch a top-two finish in the West and a berth in the 2022 Concacaf Champions League.
- Sporting are a perfect 7-0-0 in matches immediately following losses this season.
- Sporting must win both remaining matches to set a new club record for most points in a 34-game regular season (63 points in 2012).
- Sporting’s eight road wins this year are tied for the most in club regular season history during the non-shootout era (8-6-2 record). Sporting lead MLS with 57 road wins over the last 10 regular seasons (57-66-37 record).
- Sporting are 17-0-0 this season when scoring two or more goals and 0-8-7 when scoring one or fewer.
- Sporting have won 12 matches by multiple goals this season, three more than any other team.
- Sporting rank second in MLS in goals (57), goals per match (1.78), road goals (25) and road goals per match (1.56).
- Sporting have outscored opponents 20-10 after the 75th minute this season.
- Sporting are 11-0-1 when leading at halftime and 13-0-1 when leading in the 75th minute this season.
- Captain and forward Johnny Russell has scored or assisted in nine consecutive regular season matches dating back to Sept. 11, the longest streak in team history and tied for the 10th-longest in MLS history.
- Russell’s 70 combined goals (39) and assists (31) in the regular season since the start of 2018 are tied for third-most in MLS behind only Carlos Vela (57 goals, 34 assists) and Josef Martinez (69 goals, 11 assists).
- Forward Daniel Salloi is tied for third in MLS with 24 combined goals (16) and assists (eight) this season.
- Russell and Salloi are two of six MLS players with 14 goals and eight assists this season (Gustavo Bou, Valentin Castellanos, Hany Mukhtar, Damir Kreilach).
- Center back Andreu Fontas leads MLS in goals added, an advanced metric that measure’s a player’s on-ball contribution in both attack and defense. He also leads the league in passes (2,626), successful passes (2,347) and touches (2,967).
- Center back Nicolas Isimat-Mirin has a 5-1-3 record as a starter this season.
- Goalkeeper Tim Melia ranks third in MLS with 14 wins (14-6-6 record).
- Left back Luis Martins is the only Sporting player to appear in all 32 regular season matches this season, including 31 starts.
Austin FC
- MLS record: 8-20-4, 28 points
- MLS standings: 13th in West
- MLS home record: 6-8-2 (24 GF, 24 GA)
- Last five matches: 2-3-0, 6 points (W-L-L-W-L)
- Last match: Lost 2-1 at FC Dallas on Oct. 30
- Austin rank last in MLS with 32 goals scored, a clip of 1.0 per match.
- Austin have been outscored 32-12 in the second half this season. They have played teams even in the first half with 20 goals scored and conceded.
- Austin's eight home losses (6-8-2 record) are tied for the second-most in MLS.
- Austin's 7-5-1 record when scoring the first goal is the second-worst in MLS. Similarly, their 1-15-0 record when allowing the first goal is the worst in MLS.
- Austin have suffered 11 losses by a single goal, tied for the most in MLS.
- Austin have gone 21 straight matches without a draw and have just four ties this season, the fewest in MLS.
- Austin average 1.5 goals per home match but only 0.5 goals per away match.
- Goalkeeper Brad Stuver ranks second in MLS with 128 saves. His 19 losses are six more than any other goalkeeper (8-19-4 record).
- Midfielder Cecilio Dominguez is the only Austin player to appear in all 32 matches this season. His seven goals are tied for the team lead alongside midfielder Diego Fagundez.
- Forward Sebastian Driussi has notched four goals and a team-leading five assists in 15 appearances since debuting for the club in early August.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Goalkeeper Tim Melia is one shy of his 100th win for Sporting in all competitions.
- Manager Peter Vermes has set an MLS record with 17 combined playoff appearances as a player (seven) or a coach (10). Bruce Arena and Kyle Beckerman both have 16—all as a coach and player, respectively.
