"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 55% of traffic crash fatalities in Kansas in 2019 were unrestrained? Visit the Drive to Zero Coalition for more information.
Riding a wave of palpable momentum, second-place Sporting Kansas City (9-3-3, 30 points) will return to Children's Mercy Park on Saturday to host longtime rivals FC Dallas (3-7-5, 14 points) in the annual Sporting Salutes match presented by Hallmark.
Saturday's showdown is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT and tickets are available at SeatGeek.com, including Coca-Cola Family Four Packs that bundle four general admission tickets in the South Stand, four Coca-Cola products and four Domino's pizzas. At the forefront of Sporting Salutes, Sporting will recognize five military honorees in an on-field ceremony and SportingStyle locations inside the stadium will offer a variety of limited-edition camo merchandise.
Supporters can also catch the game live on Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Midwest Plus, BallySports.com and the Bally Sports app as well as Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Without further ado, 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 4-0-1 in the last five meetings since 2019, scoring 13 goals and conceding three.
- Dallas are 3-0-1 in their last four visits to Children's Mercy Park since 2018. Sporting's lone home result during that stretch was a 1-1 draw last September.
- Dallas went winless in 10 trips to Children’s Mercy Park across all competitions from 2012-2018 before starting their four-game unbeaten run at the stadium.
- Sporting are 8-3-3 in their last 14 home matches against FC Dallas in all competitions.
- Dallas forward Franco Jara scored three goals in three appearances against Sporting last season, including two in a 3-2 win at Children's Mercy Park on Sept. 19, 2020.
- Sporting captain Johnny Russell scored twice in Sporting's home loss to Dallas last September. Russell has three goals in six career appearances against Dallas.
- Sporting defender Graham Zusi has three goals and seven assists in 18 career appearances against Dallas.
- Dallas forward Jesus Ferreira has two goals and one assist in four career appearances against Sporting.
- Dallas holds a narrow edge in the regular season series, posting a 27-25-13 record through 65 meetings dating back to 1996.
Sporting Kansas City
- MLS record: 9-3-3, 30 points
- MLS standings: 2nd in West
- MLS home record: 5-0-3 (16 GF, 8 GA)
- Last five matches: 4-0-1, 13 points (W-W-W-T-W)
- Last match: Won 3-1 at Seattle Sounders FC on July 25
- Sporting rank second in MLS in goals (28) and goals per match (1.87). They have been shut out just once this season.
- Sporting are 7-1-2 in their last 10 matches since May 16 and 4-0-1 in their last five since June 23.
- Sporting are on pace for 68 points in the regular season, which would eclipse the club record of 63 set in 2012.
- Sporting's 30 points through 15 matches are their second most ever after 15 games (33 points in 2000).
- Sporting rank second in MLS in shots per match (16.2) and fourth in chances created per match (11.5).
- Sporting are unbeaten in their last 11 regular season home matches since October 2020, good for the third longest streak in club history (8-0-3 record).
- Sporting have scored in a club-record 22 straight regular season home matches dating back to August 2019.
- Sporting lead MLS with 17 points and five wins from losing positions this season. No other club has more than eight points and two wins from losing positions.
- Sporting have outscored opponents 13-4 in the final 30 minutes of matches this season. Their plus-9 goal differential during that interval is the best in MLS.
- Sporting leads MLS in passing accuracy at 85.5% and ranks third in possession at 54.4%.
- Sporting KC Academy products have scored or assisted in Sporting's last 10 matches.
- Forward Daniel Salloi leads MLS with 12 combined goals (nine) and primary assists (three). He also leads the league with five game-winning goals.
- Forward Khiry Shelton boasts a 27-9-11 regular season record as a Sporting starter dating back to 2018. Additionally, Sporting are 15-3-6 in the 24 regular season matches Shelton has started at center forward.
- Forward Johnny Russell has scored in two of his last three appearances. His four assists are tied with Shelton for the team lead.
- Midfielder Roger Espinoza has a 9-1-2 record as a starter this season and a 17-4-5 record as a starter since the beginning of 2020.
- Defender Andreu Fontas leads MLS by a wide margin in passes (1,181) and passes completed (1,060) while also ranking second in touches (1,347).
- Defender Luis Martins is the only Sporting player to start all 15 matches this season.
FC Dallas
- MLS record: 3-7-5, 14 points
- MLS standings: 10th in West
- MLS away record: 0-7-0 (2 GF, 15 GA)
- Last five matches: 1-3-1, 4 points (T-L-L-L-W)
- Last match: Won 4-0 vs. LA Galaxy on July 24
- Dallas have lost all seven road matches this season, scoring twice and conceding 15.
- Dallas' eight-game road losing streak in the regular season, dating back to Nov. 8, 2020, is the longest in team history.
- Dallas are 0-9-1 in their last 10 MLS road matches (including playoffs) and haven't won away from home since beating Nashville on Nov. 4, 2020.
- Dallas have failed to score in five of seven away matches this season.
- Five of Dallas' seven losses have come by two or more goals.
- Dallas has scored twice in seven road matches this season at a clip of 0.29 per game, the lowest in MLS.
- Dallas are 3-0-1 when scoring the first goal and 0-7-3 when conceding the first goal.
- At age 18, forward Ricardo Pepi ranks fifth in MLS with eight goals. He scored a hat trick in Dallas' 4-0 home win over the LA Galaxy on Saturday. Pepi has seven goals in his last eight games.
- Ryan Hollingshead and Jesus Ferreira are tied for the team lead with three assists apiece. Hollingshead is the only Dallas player to start all 15 matches this season.
- Forward Franco Jara leads Dallas with 36 shots but has managed just two goals this season.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Manager Peter Vermes is one shy of his 200th coaching win for Sporting in all competitions.
- Sporting will play their 400th regular season home match on Saturday.
