"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 2,091 car crashes were caused by distracted driving in Kansas in 2019? Visit the Drive to Zero Coalition for more information.
On the heels of an impressive 2-0 road win over FC Dallas on Saturday, Western Conference leaders Sporting Kansas City (11-4-4, 37 points) will continue their busy stretch of seven matches in 22 days by taking the field Wednesday night against the Portland Timbers (7-9-2, 23 points) at Children's Mercy Park.
Tickets for the Western Conference clash are available at SeatGeek.com and the first 5,000 fans through the stadium gates will receive a commemorative felt pennant courtesy of match sponsor Academy Sports + Outdoors. Bally Sports Kansas City Plus, Bally Sports Midwest Plus, BallySports.com and the Bally Sports app will show three hours of live coverage starting at 7 p.m. CT, while the Sporting KC app will provide additional in-game updates and exclusive offers. Listeners can also catch the action live locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM, with The Final Whistle postgame show immediately following on 810 WHB.
As both clubs prepare for the midweek matchup, we take 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 lead the all-time regular season series with a 7-5-5 record, including a 3-1-3 mark at Children's Mercy Park.
- The sides most recently met on June 19 when Portland earned a 2-1 home win, receiving goals from Dairon Asprilla and Marvin Loria to overcome a first-half goal from Jaylin Lindsey.
- Portland's lone regular season win at Children's Mercy Park came in April 2013.
- Sporting have shut out Portland in eight of the last 13 regular season meetings.
- Across all competitions, the home team in the series has won just five of the last 18 meetings.
- In 10 regular season appearances against Portland, Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia has five shutouts, a 0.7 goals against average and a 5-2-3 record.
- The sides last met at Children's Mercy Park on Sept. 29, 2019, settling for a 2-2 draw. Sporting struck through Daniel Salloi and Krisztian Nemeth, while Asprilla and Sebastian Blanco scored for Portland.
- Six of Portland's 16 regular season goals against Sporting have come after the 75th minute.
- The sides notably met in the 2015 Western Conference Knockout Round and the 2018 Western Conference Championship, with Portland prevailing on both occasions.
Sporting Kansas City
- MLS record: 11-4-4, 37 points
- MLS standings: 1st in West
- MLS home record: 5-1-3 (17 GF, 10 GA)
- Last five matches: 3-1-1, 10 points (W-L-W-T-W)
- Last match: Won 2-0 at FC Dallas on Aug. 14
- Sporting rank second in MLS in goals (35) and goals per match (1.84). They have been shut out just twice this season.
- Sporting have scored in a club-record 24 straight regular season home matches dating back to Aug. 10, 2019, good for the longest active streak in MLS.
- Sporting rank second in MLS with a plus-15 goal differential (35 scored, 20 conceded).
- Sporting are 9-2-3 in their last 14 matches since May 16.
- Sporting are on pace for 66 points in the regular season, which would eclipse the club record of 63 set in 2012.
- Sporting rank third in MLS in shots per match (15.2) and chances created per match (11.2).
- Sporting lead MLS with 17 points and five wins from losing positions this season. No other club has more than 12 points and three wins from losing positions.
- Sporting rank second in MLS in passing accuracy (85.3%) and third in possession (53.6%).
- Sporting KC Academy products have accounted for 17 of 35 goals and 12 of 33 assists this season.
- Forward Daniel Salloi is tied for the MLS lead with 17 combined goals (11) and primary assists (six). He is also tied for the league lead with five game-winning goals and tied for second with three game-winning assists.
- Salloi has scored or assisted in five straight MLS matches and in 10 of his last 13 league appearances since May 16.
- Forward Alan Pulido leads MLS with 0.97 combined goals and assists per 90 minutes since the start of 2020 (regular season).
- Forward Johnny Russell has scored or assisted in four of his last five appearances.
- Midfielder Remi Walter has started Sporting's last seven matches since July 21. During that time, he has completed 94.9% of his passes (241 of 254) while winning 64.3% of his duels (27 of 42) and 68.8% of his tackles (11 of 16).
- Defender Andreu Fontas leads MLS by a wide margin in passes (1,500) and passes completed (1,345) while also ranking second in touches (1,716).
- Midfielder Roger Espinoza and defender Luis Martins are the only Sporting players to feature in all 19 MLS matches this season.
- Goalkeeper Tim Melia has posted two straight shutouts and owns a 188-minute shutout streak since Aug. 4.
Portland Timbers
- MLS record: 7-9-2, 23 points
- MLS standings: 7th in West
- MLS away record: 1-6-1 (8 GF, 20 GA)
- Last five matches: 1-3-1, 4 points (L-L-T-W-L)
- Last match: Lost 6-2 vs. Seattle Sounders FC on Aug. 15
- Portland have just one win in eight road matches this season, posting a 1-6-1 record.
- Portland's 20 road goals conceded are the most in the Western Conference.
- Portland's 35 goals conceded overall are the most in the West and second most in MLS.
- Portland have conceded 13 goals in their last four matches.
- Portland have allowed four or more goals four times this season, the most in MLS.
- Portland have three shutouts this season, tied for third fewest in MLS.
- Portland are 6-1-0 when scoring the first goal and 1-7-2 when allowing the first goal this season.
- Forward Felipe Mora leads Portland with six goals this season. He also ranks second on the team with three assists.
- Midfielder Marvin Loria leads Portland with four assists this season.
- Portland has started a league-high five different goalkeepers this season (Steve Clark 8 starts, Aljaz Ivacic 4 starts, Logan Ketterer 3 starts, Jeff Attinella 2 starts, Hunter Sulte 1 start).
- Defender Claudio Bravo leads MLS with 36 tackles won. He also ranks seventh with 35 interceptions.
- Defender Josecarlos Van Rankin, midfielder Diego Valeri and forward Dairon Asprilla have appeared in all 18 matches for Portland this season.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Defender Graham Zusi has 306 regular season appearances for Sporting, tied with Cobi Jones for the most in MLS history with one club. He would move into sole possession of first place with an appearance on Wednesday.
- Forward Johnny Russell is one shy of tying Graham Zusi for ninth place on Sporting's all-time regular season goals chart with 29.
