"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.
On the heels of a 2-0 home win over Austin FC on Saturday, Sporting Kansas City will look to keep the momentum rolling as they visit the Colorado Rapids on Thursday. The Fourth of July showdown at Dick's Sporting Goods Park will kick off at 8:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Last weekend's comprehensive performance against Austin saw Sporting dominate from back to front, instilling newfound confidence as the club navigates a busy stretch of seven games in 22 days. The Rapids, meanwhile, are in the midst of an impressive turnaround campaign after finishing at the bottom of the West in 2023. We take a statistical look at the holiday fixture in our newest edition of By The Numbers, presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting and Colorado have drawn five of the last six meetings at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park dating back to 2018.
- Sporting has a 5-19-13 regular season road record at Colorado and hasn’t won at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park since March 29, 2014. Sporting has gone 0-5-5 at the stadium since 2015 and has won just three times at Colorado this millennium (2000, 2004, 2014).
- Sporting has failed to score in its last two visits to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, a 2-0 loss in March 2022 and a 0-0 draw in March 2023.
- Sporting failed to score in both meetings last season, drawing 0-0 at Colorado in March 2023 and falling 1-0 at home in April 2023.
- Sporting last beat Colorado on May 18, 2022, as Daniel Salloi scored twice to spark a 2-1 win at Children’s Mercy Park. Sporting has two draws and a loss in the three meetings since then.
- Sporting and Colorado have squared off 88 times in all competitions, making the Rapids the most frequent opponent in Kansas City history.
- Sporting holds a series advantage with 35 wins, 31 losses and 22 ties, including a 29-26-19 record in 74 regular season meetings.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has five goals and one assist in eight regular season appearances against Colorado but has played just once at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, starting in a 0-0 draw in March 2023.
- Forward Alan Pulido has two goals in seven regular season appearances against Colorado.
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez has one goal and three assists in 12 regular season appearances against Colorado.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2024 MLS record: 4-12-5, 17 points (13th in West | 33 GF, 44 GA)
- 2024 MLS away record: 1-7-2 (11 GF, 21 GA)
- Last five matches: 2-3-0 (W-L-L-L-W)
- Sporting earned a 2-0 home win over Austin FC on Saturday for the team’s first shutout since March 9. Sporting had gone a club-record 17 straight matches in a single regular season without a clean sheet.
- Sporting held Austin to zero shots on goal, marking the 15th time in regular season history that a Kansas City opponent has failed to record a shot on target (and the first time since Sept. 15, 2021).
- Sporting held Austin to two total shot attempts, the fewest by a Kansas City opponent in an MLS match since July 2016.
- Sporting is unbeaten in the club’s last eight regular season matches played on a Thursday dating back to 2008 (4-0-4).
- Sporting ranks seventh in MLS with 1.57 non-penalty goals per match.
- Sporting’s 1.57 goals per match during the 2024 regular season are the club’s fourth most since the Peter Vermes era began in 2009 (SKC had more goals per match in 2018, 2020 and 2021).
- Sporting leads MLS with 15 different goal scorers during the 2024 regular season.
- Sporting has fielded 15 different starting lineups in its last 15 matches across all competitions. Sporting has utilized 19 different starting lineups in 23 total matches this season.
- Sporting is in the middle of a stretch that will see the team play seven matches in 22 days from June 29 to July 20.
- Defender Tim Leibold scored Sporting’s opener in the 2-0 home win over Austin on Saturday, becoming the club’s 15th different goal scorer in 2024. It was his first MLS goal and his first professional goal since May 2021 when he played for Hamburg in the German second division.
- Defender Kayden Pierre assisted Leibold’s goal on Saturday for the second assist of his MLS career and his first since July 13, 2022.
- Forward Stephen Afrifa scored Sporting’s second goal in the win over Austin. He has goals in three of his last four MLS matches after scoring zero goals in the first 12 MLS appearances of his career.
- Afrifa is tied for second on the team with four goals this season in all competitions alongside forward Alan Pulido and midfielder Erik Thommy. All four of his goals have come since May 21.
- Forward Johnny Russell assisted Afrifa’s goal on Saturday and now has five goal contributions (three goals, two assists) in his last seven MLS starts dating back to May 18. His 38 regular season assists and 46 assists in all competitions are both sixth most in Sporting history.
- Forward Willy Agada leads Sporting with five goals this season, all of which have come at home.
- Agada ranks third in MLS in both expected goals per 90 minutes (0.73) and shots per 90 minutes (5.04).
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez leads Sporting with five assists this season.
- Midfielder Nemanja Radoja leads Sporting this year in regular season minutes (1,725) and starts (20) as well as minutes (1,913) and starts (22) across all competitions.
Colorado Rapids
- 2024 MLS record: 9-8-4, 31 points (4th in West | 23 GF, 28 GA)
- 2024 MLS home record: 5-2-2 (18 GF, 12 GA)
- Last five matches: 3-2-0 (L-W-W-W-L)
- Colorado has nine wins through 21 matches this season, four more than the Rapids totaled during the entire 2023 regular season when they finished last in the Western Conference with a 5-17-12 record.
- Colorado has 38 goals through 21 matches this season, 12 more than the Rapids scored during the entire 2023 regular season.
- Colorado ranks seventh in MLS in goals per match (1.81) and ranks third in expected goals per match (1.69).
- Colorado’s 20 away goals are tied for the most in MLS.
- Colorado has scored 10 goals off set pieces this season, second most in MLS behind only the Philadelphia Union (12).
- Colorado has scored six penalty kick goals this season, second most in MLS behind only Seattle Sounders FC (seven). The Rapids have been awarded nine penalties in 2024, most in MLS.
- Colorado opponents have committed three own goals, tied for the most in MLS. The Rapids have also conceded two own goals, tied for most in the league.
- Colorado has taken 77% of its shot attempts from the central channel, the highest percentage in MLS. The Rapids have also taken 11% of their shots from inside the six-yard area, the third highest percentage in MLS.
- Colorado is 7-0-1 when leading at halftime and 0-4-2 when trailing at halftime this season.
- Forward Rafael Navarro ranks eighth in MLS in goals (11), third in shots on target (29) and second in offsides (17).
- Goalkeeper Zack Steffen, defender Andreas Maxso and midfielder Cole Bassett have started all 21 regular season matches this season.
- Maxso has played every minute of all 21 MLS matches this season and ranks second in the league in interceptions (91).
- Bassett ranks third in MLS in passes into the final third (133), fourth in progressive passes (168), fifth in tackles (51), seventh in touches (1,513) and seventh in minutes (1,876).
- Midfielder Djordje Mihailovic has a team-leading 17 goals contributions this season (nine goals, eight assists). He ranks third in MLS in key passes (58), fourth in crosses (145) and sixth in passes into the penalty area (43).
Milestones and Miscellany
- Manager Peter Vermes is one shy of 200 regular season wins as a head coach. He would be the third head coach in MLS history to reach that milestone (Bruce Arena 262, Sigi Schmid 240).
- Forward Johnny Russell is one shy of 150 goals in his professional club career.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has 99 goal contributions (59 goals, 40 assists) for Sporting in all competitions, fourth most in club history.
- Forward Alan Pulido is tied for ninth in Sporting history with 31 regular season goals alongside Benny Feilhaber, Mo Johnston and Graham Zusi.
- Midfielder Nemanja Radoja is one shy of his 50th MLS start for Sporting (including playoffs).
