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Sporting Kansas City will host the Portland Timbers at Children's Mercy Park on Sunday for a regular season showdown on FS1. The match will begin at 6:30 p.m. CT as the two sides wrap up their 2022 series after Portland took the first match on May 14.
Sunday marks the 20th meeting in the MLS regular season between the two sides with Sporting holding the advantage in the series. Portland is in need of points as the season begins to wind down and they find themselves below the playoff line on the wins tiebreaker.
Here is a statical look at Sunday's Western Conference clash between Sporting Kansas City and the Portland Timbers.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting leads the all-time regular season series with a 7-6-6 record, including a 3-1-4 mark at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Sporting hasn’t beaten Portland since prevailing 3-0 on Aug. 18, 2018, at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Portland’s lone regular season win at children’s Mercy Park came by a 3-2 scoreline on April 27, 2013.
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has three goals and two assists in eight regular season appearances against Portland.
- Salloi has scored in each of the last three meetings between the clubs at Children’s Mercy Park (including the 2018 playoffs).
Sporting Kansas City
- 2022 MLS record: 6-15-5, 23 points (14th in Western Conference)
- 2022 MLS home record: 4-6-2, 14 points (12 GF, 15 GA)
- 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs: Lost to Real Salt Lake in Western Conference Semifinals
- All-time Honors: Two MLS Cups (2000, 2013), four Open Cups (2004, 2012, 2015, 2017), one Supporters' Shield (2000).
- Sporting have scored seven goals in their last two matches. Entering this weekend, no other MLS club has more goals in their two most recent MLS fixtures.
- Sporting have scored three first-half goals in consecutive regular season matches for the first time in club history, doing so in a 4-2 win over LA Galaxy on Aug. 6 and a 4-3 loss at Austin FC on Aug. 13.
- Sporting have averaged 15 shot attempts and eight shots on goal in their last two matches, well above their season averages of 10.7 shots and 3.5 shots on goal per game.
- Ten of Sporting’s 16 regular season assists have come from Sporting KC Academy products.
- Forward William Agada has bagged three goals in his last two appearances, becoming the first Sporting player to score three goals in a two-game stretch since Johnny Russell did so on Oct. 23 and 27, 2021.
- Forward Johnny Russell leads Sporting with nine goals in all competitions, while fellow winger Daniel Salloi ranks second with seven.
- Russell has become the first player in Sporting history to score six goals in five straight regular seasons.
- Midfielder Erik Thommy scored a goal in a 4-2 win over LA Galaxy on Aug. 6, then won a free kick and a penalty kick that both led to goals in last weekend’s 4-3 loss at Austin FC.
- Midfielder Felipe Hernandez leads Sporting with four assists in all competitions and has appeared in all 30 competitive matches this season. He also leads the team with 27 interceptions in the regular season.
- Midfielder Remi Walter ranks third in MLS in distance covered (174.9 miles), third among field players in recoveries (193) and leads Sporting with 27 chances created. His three goals are a career-high for a single league season dating back to 2013.
Portland Timbers
- 2022 MLS record: 7-7-12, 33 points (8th in Western Conference)
- 2022 MLS road record: 2-5-6, 9 points (20 GF, 25 GA)
- 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs: Lost to New York City FC in MLS Cup
- All-time Honors: One MLS Cup (2015), one MLS is Back Tournament (2020)
- Portland lead MLS in draws (12) and rank second in road draws with a 2-5-6 away record.
- Portland saw a 10-match unbeaten run snapped in a 3-1 loss at Toronto FC last Saturday.
- Portland leads MLS with 76 yellow cards (2.9 per match).
- Portland have scored 31 of their 42 goals in the second half, a clip of 73.8 percent.
- Portland’s 11 first-half goals are the fewest in MLS, while their 31 second-half goals are third-most in the league.
- Portland has faced 378 shots this season, the most in MLS and a clip of 14.5 per match.
- Winger Yimmi Chara is one off the MLS lead with five game-winning assists. He has assisted the winner in five of Portland’s seven regular season victories and is the only player to start in all 26 MLS matches this year.
- Goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic leads MLS with 87 saves
- Forward Jaroslaw Niezgoda leads Portland with nine goals this season.
- Defender Claudio Bravo leads MLS with 60 tackles won, nine more than any other player. He also leads the team in duels won (134) and interceptions (32).
Milestones and Miscellany
- Sporting will play their 500th home match in all competitions on Sunday against Portland.
- Sporting are one shy of their 100th regular season win at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Sporting are two goals shy of 1,200 regular season goals scored in club history.
- Midfielder Remi Walter is one shy of his 50th career regular season start for Sporting.
