"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 the minimum fine for a first-offense DUI is $750 in Kansas? Visit the Drive to Zero Coalition for more information.
Sporting Kansas City's pursuit of first place in the Western Conference will continue Wednesday night when regional rivals Minnesota United FC visit Children's Mercy Park. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and tickets for the match are available at SeatGeek.com.
Wednesday's pivotal showdown will air live on Bally Sports Kansas City Plus and Bally Sports Midwest Plus with three hours of live coverage beginning at 7 p.m. CT. The match will also stream live on BallySports.com and the new Bally Sports app while airing locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Sporting (12-5-7, 43 points) are within two points of first place in the West and can jump to the summit with a win against the Loons (8-7-7, 31 points), who sit a single point above the playoff line. With plenty at stake on Wednesday, we provide a statistical look at the fixture in our newest edition of By the Numbers, presented by the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting are 7-5-3 against Minnesota in all competitions since the Loons joined MLS in 2017.
- Sporting lead the all-time regular season series against Minnesota with a 6-3-3 record.
- Sporting own a perfect 5-0-0 regular season home record against Minnesota, scoring 11 goals and conceding only one.
- The clubs first met this season on Aug. 21, scrapping to a scoreless draw at Allianz Field in a game that saw Sporting midfielder Remi Walter receive a first-half red card.
- Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia has a 6-2-2 regular season record against Minnesota, posting five shutouts and a 0.61 goals against average.
- Minnesota won the lone playoff meeting between the clubs by a 3-0 scoreline last December at Children’s Mercy Park, with Loons midfielder Emanuel Reynoso assisting all three goals.
Sporting Kansas City
- MLS record: 12-5-7, 43 points
- MLS standings: 2nd in West
- MLS home record: 6-1-5 (21 GF, 12 GA)
- Last five matches: 2-1-2, 8 points (W-T-T-L-W)
- Last match: Won 2-0 vs. Chicago Fire FC on Sept. 11
- Sporting are two points out of first place in the Western Conference and are seeking their third first-place finish in the West over the last four seasons (2018, 2020).
- Sporting have scored in a club-record 27 straight regular season home matches dating back to Aug. 10, 2019, the longest active streak in MLS.
- Sporting rank second in MLS with 39 goals scored.
- Sporting lead MLS with 19 points and five wins from losing positions this season.
- Sporting are 11-0-5 this season when tied or leading after the 75th minute.
- Sporting have outscored opponents 16-8 after the 60th minute this season.
- Sporting lead MLS with eight wins by a multi-goal margin.
- Sporting's 3-3-2 record when trailing at halftime is the best in MLS. Sporting are also 6-0-1 when leading at intermission.
- In Saturday's 2-0 win over Chicago, goalkeeper Tim Melia tied an MLS record by posting 10 wins for the seventh straight regular season. His 58 regular season shutouts since 2015 are most in MLS.
- In Saturday's win over Chicago, midfielder Jose Mauri became the fourth Sporting player to score in his Children's Mercy Park regular season debut (Soony Saad in 2011, Gadi Kinda and Alan Pulido in 2020).
- With a goal in Saturday's win over Chicago, forward Johnny Russell became the third MLS player to hit 30 goals and 30 assists in the regular season and playoffs since 2018. He has scored in back-to-back home appearances.
- Forward Daniel Salloi is tied for second in MLS with 18 combined goals (12) and assists (6).
- Salloi has become the third player in Sporting history to record 12 goals and six assists in a single MLS season for the club (Preki in 1996, 1997 and 2003; Eddie Johnson in 2007).
- Defender Andreu Fontas leads MLS by a wide margin in passes (1,945), passes completed (1,737) and touches (2,210).
- Defender Luis Martins is the only Sporting player to appear in all 24 regular season matches this season.
Minnesota United FC
- MLS record: 8-7-7, 31 points
- MLS standings: 6th in West
- MLS away record: 2-4-5 (12 GF, 18 GA)
- Last five matches: 1-2-2, 5 points (L-T-T-W-L)
- Last match: Lost 0-1 at Seattle Sounders FC on Sept. 11
- Minnesota began the season 0-4-0 but have gone 8-3-7 since then to climb from 13th to sixth in the West.
- Minnesota's 24 goals scored are the second-fewest in the Western Conference.
- Six of Minnesota's eight wins have come by a single goal.
- Minnesota rank third in MLS in both shots per match (15.5) and chances created per match (11.4).
- Minnesota's shot conversion rate of 7.1% is the second-lowest in MLS. Similarly, their 39.2% shooting accuracy ranks 25th of 27 MLS clubs.
- Goalkeeper Tyler Miller ranks second in MLS with a 0.83 goals against average. He has an 8-3-7 record and places fourth with seven shutouts.
- Midfielder Emanuel Reynoso ranks second in MLS with 66 chances created and has a team-leading six assists. He also places fourth in MLS with 89 fouls suffered.
- Reynoso ranks seventh in MLS with 62 shot attempts but has scored just twice this season.
- Reynoso ranks third in MLS with 175 duels won, while midfielder Hassani Dotson ranks fifth with 155.
- Dotson is the only Minnesota player to appear in all 22 matches this season.
- Midfielder Robin Lod ranks fifth in MLS with four game-winning goals, one behind Daniel Salloi's five.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Sporting Manager Peter Vermes has coached in exactly half of Sporting's 334 regular season wins all-time, posting a 167-126-100 record since taking the helm in 2009.
