"By The Numbers" presented by Compass Minerals is a season-long series that gives a statistical preview of every Sporting match. To visit the series archive, click here.
With a regular season break for Leagues Cup on the immediate horizon, Sporting Kansas City will venture south for a showdown with Austin FC on Saturday in the club's final MLS fixture until late August. Kickoff at Q2 Stadium is slated for 8:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on Apple TV, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Sporting and Austin both experienced midweek frustration, with Manager Peter Vermes' side settling for a 2-2 home draw against Real Salt Lake and Josh Wolff's men falling 2-1 at Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Fighting to strengthen their playoff hopes, both teams will want to atone on the last MLS matchday before Leagues Cup takes center stage.
We take a statistical look at the pivotal matchup in our newest edition of By The Numbers, presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting won the most recent meeting by a 4-1 scoreline on June 10 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City. Sporting forward Alan Pulido struck twice to go with goals from defender Robert Castellanos and Austin native Khiry Shelton. Midfielder Sebastian Driussi scored for Austin.
- Prior to falling 4-1 at Sporting on June 10, Austin had won three consecutive meetings in the series.
- The most recent meeting at Q2 Stadium saw Austin prevail in a 4-3 thriller on Aug. 13, 2022, erasing a 3-1 halftime deficit with three second-half goals. Sporting scored three times in the first half through Andreu Fontas, Willy Agada and Johnny Russell. Austin received goals from Jon Gallagher, Julio Cascante, Sebastian Driussi and now-departed Danny Hoesen.
- Austin leads the all-time series with a 3-2-1 record. All six meetings have come in MLS regular season play.
- Sporting have lost both previous road matches against Austin at Q2 Stadium, conceding seven goals and scoring four.
- The six meetings between the clubs have produced just one total shutout, when Austin won 2-0 in Kansas City on July 30, 2022.
- Driussi has scored one goal in each of his four regular season appearances against Sporting dating back to Nov. 3, 2021.
- Sporting has outshot Austin 110-70 across six meetings yet been outscored 12-11.
- Sporting midfielder Gadi Kinda has one goal and one assist in two regular season appearances against Austin.
- Midfielder Diego Fagundez has three assists in six meetings against Sporting as a member of Austin FC.
- Austin FC forward Will Bruin has six goals and three assists in 23 career regular season appearances against Sporting.
- Austin FC forward Maxi Urruti has three goals and four assists in 18 career regular season appearances against Sporting.
- Austin are led by head coach Josh Wolff and Davy Arnaud, both of whom spent long portions of their MLS playing careers in Kansas City. Wolff and Arnaud are two of 12 members in the Sporting Legends hall of honor, which commemorates the club’s all-time greats.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2023 MLS record: 6-10-8, 26 points (11th in West | 30 GF, 34 GA)
- 2023 MLS away record: 1-5-6 (10 GF, 19 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 1-1-3 (T-L-W-T-T)
- Since the start of May, Sporting lead MLS with 27 goals scored (1.93 goals per match). The club scored just three goals in its first 10 matches through the end of April.
- Sporting are tied for the MLS lead with 12 goals scored in the first 30 minutes of matches this season.
- Sporting have dropped 17 points from winning positions this season, tied with Charlotte FC for the most in MLS.
- Sporting are 5-3-4 when scoring first this season, the second worst record in MLS ahead of only Colorado (2-3-1).
- In all competitions this season, Sporting are 7-0-3 when scoring multiple goals and 0-11-5 when scoring one or fewer.
- Sporting have conceded five penalty kicks this season, second most in MLS behind the San Jose Earthquakes (six).
- Sporting have committed 9.6 fouls per match, the second fewest in MLS. Conversely, Sporting lead the league with 3.1 fouls suffered in the attacking third.
- Since Aug. 14, 2021, Sporting are 5-1-4 in the regular season with all three Designated Players in the starting lineup. Alan Pulido, Johnny Russell and Gadi Kinda were DPs from 2021-2022. Pulido, Kinda and Erik Thommy are DPs in 2023.
- Johnny Russell’s goal in Wednesday’s 2-2 home draw against Real Salt Lake punctuated a 32-pass buildup sequence spanning 1 minute, 58 seconds in which all 11 Sporting players touched the ball.
- Forward Alan Pulido has a team-high 10 MLS goals and 11 goals in all competitions this season. His 10 league goals (tied for fifth most in MLS) and 11 goals in all competitions are his most for Sporting in a single season since joining the club in 2020.
- Pulido leads Sporting with 14 total goal contributions in all competitions this year (11 goals, three assists).
- Pulido is the third player in club history to score nine goals in a seven-game stretch of the regular season, having done so from June 3 to July 8. His nine goals since the start of June are the most in MLS during that time.
- Among players with at least 20 regular season matches played for Sporting, Pulido ranks first in club history with 0.46 goals per game (24 goals in 52 matches). Fellow forward and teammate Willy Agada ranks second in club history with 0.45 goals per game (nine goals in 20 matches).
- Pulido is the second player in Sporting history to score multiple goals in consecutive regular season road games (Digital Takawira in 1997). His five career multi-goal games in the regular season are tied for fifth most in club history.
- Among players with at least 600 minutes this season, midfielder Gadi Kinda leads MLS with 0.59 primary assists per 90 minutes (four primary assists in 612 minutes).
- Kinda has 29 goal contributions (13 goals, 16 assists) in 57 career regular season appearances. Kinda has assists in back-to-back matches. Sporting are 19-3-2 in the regular season when Kinda scores or assists.
- Since the start of 2020, Sporting are 22-10-9 when both Pulido and Kinda play in the regular season (1.83 points per game, 1.88 goals per game). The club is 14-20-12 in games without both (1.17 points per game, 1.22 goals per game).
- Since the start of 2021, defender Andreu Fontas has more completed passes (5,321) than any other MLS player has attempted passes (Ilie Sanchez 4,754) in the regular season.
- Sporting are 4-0-1 when the center back pairing of Fontas and Dany Rosero start together at home this season.
- Midfielder Erik Thommy has nine goal contributions (three goals and six assists) since the start of May, second most on the team behind Alan Pulido (12). His six assists during that time are tied for third most in MLS.
- Thommy leads Sporting with seven assists in all competitions while ranking ninth in MLS in shots (59). Sporting own a perfect 6-0-0 record when Thommy scores a goal dating back to his arrival in June 2022.
- Forward Daniel ranks third in MLS in progressive carries (92), third in successful crosses from open play (19), sixth in expected assists (5.3), sixth in shots on target (24) and 12th in chances created (43). He also ranks second on Sporting with 11 goal contributions this season in all competitions (six goals, five assists).
- Salloi is one of four Western Conference players with eight goals and eight assists since the start of August 2022 alongside Cristian Espinoza (San Jose), Carlos Vela (LAFC) and Ryan Gauld (Vancouver).
- Salloi is the only player in MLS to start 23 matches this season and leads MLS with 2,084 minutes played in 2023.
- Salloi and Thommy are the only MLS players to play in 24 matches this season.
- Midfielder Remi Walter ranks second among MLS field players with 172 recoveries this season.
- Defender Jake Davis and midfielder Nemanja Radoja both recorded their first career MLS assists in Wednesday’s 2-2 home draw against Real Salt Lake.
- Midfielder Felipe Gutierrez has recorded 28 goal contributions (19 goals and nine assists) in 63 appearances for Sporting in all competitions. He began his second stint with the club earlier this month and has not appeared for Sporting since Oct. 6, 2019.
Austin FC
- 2023 MLS record: 8-9-5, 29 points (6th in West | 30 GF, 31 GA)
- 2023 MLS home record: 5-3-3 (16 GF, 10 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 3-1-1 (W-W-T-W-L)
- Austin went 3-0-1 from June 21 to July 8, its best four-game stretch of the 2023 regular season, before suffering a 2-1 road loss at Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Wednesday.
- Each of Austin’s last three wins have come by a three-goal margin. The club’s first five wins of the regular season each came by a one-goal margin.
- Austin rank third-to-last in MLS this season with three points gained from losing positions. They led the Western Conference last year with 21 points gained from losing positions.
- Austin have conceded 16 of their 31 goals after the 60th minute this season. Their 10 goals allowed after the 75th minute are fewer than only New England and Chicago (11 each).
- Austin are 8-1-1 when scoring first and 0-8-3 when conceding first this season. Similarly, Austin are 5-0-1 when leading at halftime and 0-4-1 when trailing at halftime.
- Austin have faced 14.8 shot attempts per game, the second most in MLS. The club has been outshot by an average of 14.8 to 12.1 this season.
- Last season, Austin finished second in the West (16-10-8, 56 points) and advanced to the Western Conference Final after finishing 12th in the division during their inaugural 2021 campaign (9-21-4, 31 points).
- Midfielder Sebastian Driussi leads Austin with six league goals and eight goals in all competitions this season. He was a 2022 MLS MVP finalist after recording 22 goals and seven assists in the regular season and adding three more goals in the 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs.
- Defender Jon Gallagher leads MLS defenders with five goals this season.
- Gallagher, goalkeeper Brad Stuver, midfielder Ethan Finlay and forward Emiliano Rigoni have appeared in all 26 matches for Austin across all competitions this season.
- Stuver ranks third in MLS with 81 saves
- Defender Nick Lima is tied for sixth in MLS with 16 successful crosses into the box.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Sporting are three shy of 500 away goals in club regular season history.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has 43 regular season goals for Sporting, tied with Austin FC coaching duo Davy Arnaud and Josh Wolff for fourth most in club history.
- Midfielder Felipe Gutierrez is one shy of his 50th regular season start for Sporting.
