"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 nearly 14,000 people have been injured in crashes involving drunk driving in Kansas since 2010? Visit the Drive to Zero Coalition for more information.
Second-place Sporting Kansas City (13-6-7, 46 points) will look to bounce back from Sunday's loss to Western Conference leaders Seattle Sounders FC on Wednesday when they hit the road to face FC Dallas (6-12-9, 27 points) at Toyota Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT with live coverage on Bally Sports Kansas City Plus, Bally Sports Midwest Plus, BallySports.com and the Bally Sports app as well as Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Manager Peter Vermes' men suffered a setback this weekend, relinquishing first place in the West, but an opportunity to bounce back will present itself in a compelling midweek fixture against an FC Dallas side that is staring down the barrel of a winless September.
With plenty at stake on Wednesday, we take a statistical look at the matchup in our newest edition of By the Numbers, presented by the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Head-to-Head
- Dallas are 5-1-1 in the last seven regular season meetings since 2019, but Sporting prevailed 2-0 when the clubs last met on Aug. 14 at Toyota Stadium.
- Sporting forwards Alan Pulido and Daniel Salloi both had a goal and an assist in Sporting's 2-0 road win over Dallas on Aug. 14.
- Since the start of 2018, Sporting are the only MLS club with multiple regular season road wins against Dallas. Sporting are 2-2-0 at Toyota Stadium over the last four seasons.
- Dallas holds a narrow edge in the regular season series, posting a 28-26-13 record through 67 meetings dating back to 1996.
- In the first of three head-to-head meetings this season, Dallas prevailed 2-1 on July 31 at Children's Mercy Park. Paxton Pomykal and Jesus Ferreira scored on both sides of halftime to nullify Johnny Russell's late header.
- Wednesday's match will feature the two top-scoring Homegrown Players in MLS this season: Salloi ranks third in MLS with 13 goals, while Dallas forward Ricardo Pepi is one behind with 12 goals.
- Russell has four goals and one assist in eight regular season appearances versus Dallas, while Salloi has three goals and two assists in 10 regular season games against the club.
- Dallas forward Jesus Ferreira has three goals in six regular season appearances against Sporting, his most goals versus any single opponent in MLS.
- Dallas forward Franco Jara has three goals in five regular season appearances against Sporting.
- Dallas goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer has a 3-1-0 regular season record against Sporting with 12 saves and a 1.12 goals against average.
Sporting Kansas City
- MLS record: 13-6-7, 46 points
- MLS standings: 2nd in West
- MLS away record: 6-4-2 (18 GF, 14 GA)
- Last five matches: 2-2-1, 7 points (W-L-W-T-L)
- Last match: Lost 1-2 vs. Seattle Sounders FC on Sept. 26
- Sporting went 4-0-2 in six road matches from July 4 to Aug. 21 before losing at LAFC on Sept. 3. The six-game run was the second-longest road unbeaten streak in Sporting's regular season history.
- Since Aug. 7, Sporting have posted shutouts in three of four road matches and in five of nine matches overall.
- Since the start of 2020, Sporting are 11-6-4 on the road with a plus-9 goal differential (32 scored, 23 conceded).
- Sporting lead the Western Conference with 44 goals scored at a clip of 1.69 per match.
- Sporting lead MLS in passing accuracy at 85.7% and rank second in average possession at 55.3%.
- Sporting lead MLS with 19 points gained from losing positions this season, including five wins and four draws.
- Sporting have scored two or more goals in each of their 13 wins this season and own a perfect 13-0-0 record when scoring twice in 2021. Conversely, Sporting are winless this year (0-6-7) when held to a goal or less.
- Sporting are 12-0-5 this season when tied or leading after the 75th minute.
- Sporting have outscored opponents 16-8 after the 60th minute this season.
- Forward Johnny Russell has tallied four goals and two assists in his last five appearances since Aug. 28.
- Forward Daniel Salloi is tied for third in MLS with 13 goals and tied for fourth with 19 total goal contributions (including six assists).
- Defender Andreu Fontas leads MLS by a wide margin in passes (2,142), successful passes (1,918) and touches (2,423) in addition to ranking first in goals added, an advanced analytic to measure a player’s on-ball contribution to both attack and defense.
- Defender Luis Martins is the only Sporting player who has appeared in all 26 regular season matches this season, starting in all but one.
- Goalkeeper Tim Melia has tied an MLS record by posting 10 wins for the seventh consecutive regular season. He owns an 11-4-6 record with seven clean sheets this year and ranks third in MLS with four road shutouts.
FC Dallas
- MLS record: 6-12-9, 27 points
- MLS standings: 11 in West
- MLS home record: 4-2-6 (19 GF, 12 GA)
- Last five matches: 0-3-2, 2 points (L-T-T-L-L)
- Last match: Lost 0-1 at Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Sept. 25.
- Dallas are 0-3-2 during the month of September after going 4-2-2 from July 24 to Aug. 29.
- Dallas have taken one point from their last three home matches, falling to Sporting and Seattle and drawing San Jose.
- Dallas are 31-5-20 at home in the regular season since the start of 2018. During that time, Sporting are the only opponent to win twice at Toyota Stadium.
- Dallas have conceded 16 goals in their last seven matches.
- Dallas have conceded three goals in four of their last six matches and haven't posted a shutout since defeating Austin by a 2-0 scoreline on Aug. 7.
- Dallas are 6-1-2 when scoring the first goal this season but 0-11-6 when conceding the first goal.
- Similarly, Dallas are 4-0-0 when leading at halftime and 0-7-4 when trailing at the break this season.
- Forward Ricardo Pepi, an 18-year-old U.S. international, is tied for fifth in MLS with 12 goals. His three multi-goal games this season are tied for second-most in the league.
- Forward Jader Obrian has four goals in his last three matches, including braces in a 3-3 draw at New York City FC on Sept. 14 and a 3-2 loss at Houston on Sept. 18. He is the only Dallas player to appear in all 27 regular season matches this year.
- Forward Jesus Ferreira has six goals in his last 12 games after scoring nine in his first eight this season.
- Ferreira and winger Szabolcs Schon are tied for the team lead with six assists.
- Defender Nkosi Burgess ranks third in MLS with 116 clearances.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Sporting forward Johnny Russell is one shy of his 100th start for the club in all competitions.
- Sporting midfielder Roger Espinoza is one shy of his 250th regular season start for the club.
