"By The Numbers" is a season-long series that gives a statistical preview of every Sporting match. To visit the series archive, click here.
Sporting Kansas City concludes a two-match homestand with an MLS charter club clash at Children's Mercy Park against the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT. Coverage on the match kicks off 30-minutes prior to kickoff with the Sporting KC pregame show and tickets are available for purchase at SeatGeek.com.
These two sides met once in 2022, on May 22 at PayPal Park in San Jose, CA. Forward Johnny Russell fired Sporting KC out in front right on the cusp of halftime but had his score answered a minute into the second half by Jackson Yueill. A season ago, Sporting defeated San Jose 3-1 on the road before fighting to a 1-1 draw at Children's Mercy Park.
Here is a numerical preview of Saturday's Western matchup between Sporting Kansas City and the San Jose Earthquakes.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting are 7-1-5 against San Jose in the last 13 competitive meetings dating back to September 2016.
- Since August 2004, Sporting have gone 13-1-3 in 17 home matches against San Jose in all competitions (lone loss in August 2015). Two of those three draws account for shootout wins in the 2017 Open Cup semifinals and 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs.
- Both teams have scored at least once in each of the last nine meetings in all competitions. The last shutout from either team was a 0-0 draw between the clubs on June 17, 2017.
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has two goals and two assists in five regular season appearances against San Jose.
- Since August 2004, the home team in the fixture is 23-4-7 across all competitions.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2022 MLS record: 7-15-5, 26 points (14th in Western Conference)
- 2022 MLS home record: 5-6-2, 17 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 has scored 11 goals in their last three regular season matches, equaling a feat that has been accomplished just once previously in club history during the inaugural 1996 MLS campaign. Entering this weekend, no other MLS club has scored more goals in their last three regular season matches.
- Sporting leads MLS in goals per match (3.67), shots on goal per match (8.3) and fewest minutes per goal (24.5) during the month of August.
- Sporting has become the first team in MLS history to score three first-half goals in three consecutive regular season matches, doing so against the LA Galaxy (4-2 win on Aug. 6), Austin FC (4-3 loss on Aug. 13) and Portland Timbers (4-1 win on Aug. 21).
- Sporting have scored four goals in back-to-back regular season home matches for the first time since May 2015.
- Ten of Sporting’s 16 regular season assists have come from Sporting KC Academy products.
- Forward Willy Agada struck twice in the 4-1 win over Portland on Sunday, becoming the second player in Sporting history to score five goals in the span of three regular season appearances (Eddie Johnson back-to-back hat tricks in 2007) and the third Kansas City player to bag five goals in his first five MLS appearances for the club (Miklos Molnar in 2000, Felipe Gutierrez in 2018).
- Agada is tied for the MLS lead with five goals during the month of August and on Sunday became the fifth Sporting player since 2010 with two goals and three chances created in an MLS match.
- Defender Andreu Fontas scored Sporting’s second goal in the win over Portland and has bagged goals in consecutive league matches for the first time in his professional career. Fontas’ goal on Sunday was the 1,200th goal in Sporting’s regular season history.
- Midfielder Erik Thommy scored a long-range stunner on Sunday to make the score 3-0 just before halftime. Thommy led all players in the match with 10 duels won, 11 recoveries, 40 passes in the attacking half and 88 touches.
- Forward Johnny Russell leads Sporting with nine goals in all competitions, while fellow winger Daniel Salloi ranks second with seven.
- Midfielder Felipe Hernandez leads Sporting with four assists in all competitions and has appeared in all 31 competitive matches this season. He also leads the team with 27 interceptions in the regular season.
San Jose Earthquakes
- 2022 MLS record: 6-11-9, 27 points (12th in Western Conference)
- 2022 MLS road record: 1-8-4, 7 points (18 GF, 31 GA)
- 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs: N/A
- All-time Honors: Two MLS Cups (2001, 2003), two Supporters’ Shields (2005, 2012)
- San Jose snapped a six-game winless skid with their biggest win of the season last Saturday, topping Supporters’ Shield leaders LAFC 2-1 at home with goals from Benji Kikanovic and Cade Cowell.
- San Jose are 1-8-4 on the road this season. They have conceded a league-high 2.4 goals per road match (31 in 13 games).
- San Jose rank seventh in MLS with 1.62 goals per match but have conceded 2.08 goals per game, second most in MLS behind only D.C. United (2.12).
- San Jose are the only MLS club with at least 40 goals scored (42) and 50 goals conceded (54) this season. Games involving San Jose have averaged 3.69 goals per match, the highest average in MLS this season (league average is 2.95 goals per game).
- Each of San Jose’s six wins have come by a one-goal margin. They are the only MLS club without a multi-goal win this season.
- San Jose have scored 20 of their 42 regular season goals after the 60th minute. Their 20 goals during that timeframe are third most in MLS.
- San Jose have conceded 11 goals in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, the second most in MLS.
- Forward Jeremy Ebobisse ranks fifth in MLS with a team-leading 14 goals, good for his MLS career-high. He also ranks second in the league with 38 shots on target and is tied for the MLS lead with four multi-goal games this season.
- Winger Cristian Espinoza is tied for third in MLS with 11 assists.
- Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski is tied for third in MLS with 85 saves.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Sporting will play their 1,000th competitive match in club history on Saturday.
- Manager Peter Vermes will participate in his 662nd MLS match as a player or a coach, tying Jason Kreis for the all-time league record.
- Forward Johnny Russell ranks third in club history with 47 regular season goals. He is also tied with Davy Arnaud for third with 52 goals in all competitions.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has 12 career game-winning goals in the regular season, one shy of tying the club record held by Preki and Dom Dwyer.
