"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.
Sporting Kansas City will visit Lower.com Field for the first time on Saturday as Manager Peter Vermes' side travels to face reigning MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew at 6:30 p.m. CT. The interconference clash will be shown live on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV with local radio broadcasts on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Sporting fell narrowly short of a dramatic comeback result on Wednesday, falling 4-3 to Real Salt Lake in a high-scoring thriller at Children's Mercy Park. Vermes' side has lacked no punch going forward, ranking among the league leaders in goals scored, but preventing goals has been an altogether different problem. The task won't get any easier for Kansas City, as the Crew boasts a star-studded roster with plenty of firepower and title-winning pedigree to match.
We take a statistical look at the fixture in our newest edition of By The Numbers, presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting and Columbus are meeting for the first time since April 23, 2022, when the clubs played to a 0-0 draw at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Sporting is visiting Columbus for the first time since June 23, 2019—almost exactly five years to the day—when the visitors prevailed 1-0 behind a goal from Felipe Gutierrez.
- Saturday will mark Sporting’s first ever visit to Lower.com Field, which opened in 2021.
- Sporting is unbeaten in the last five meetings between the clubs since 2016, going 2-0-3 during that stretch.
- Sporting has posted clean sheets in each of its last three meetings against Columbus since 2018 and has a 315-minute shutout streak in the series. Columbus last scored against Sporting in a 1-1 home draw on Sept. 10, 2017.
- Columbus last beat Sporting on Aug. 22, 2015, earning a 3-2 home win in comeback fashion.
- Sporting has just one loss in the last 12 regular season meetings between the clubs since October 2012, going 7-1-4 against the Crew during that stretch.
- Sporting has a 26-22-9 record in the regular season series, scoring 86 goals (1.51 per game) and conceding 84 (1.47 per game).
- No current Sporting players have scored against Columbus as members of SKC. Similarly, no current Columbus players have scored against Sporting as members of the Crew.
- Two current Sporting players have scored one regular season goal against Columbus: midfielder Memo Rodriguez (in 2020 as a member of Houston Dynamo FC) and forward Khiry Shelton (in 2016 as a member of New York City FC).
- Columbus forward Christian Ramirez has one regular season goal against Sporting as a member of three different clubs—Minnesota United (2017), LAFC (2019) and Houston Dynamo FC (2020).
- Columbus winger Diego Rossi has four goal contributions (two goals, two assists) in six regular season appearances against Sporting, all as a member of LAFC from 2018-2021.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2024 MLS record: 3-11-5, 14 points (13th in West | 31 GF, 40 GA)
- 2024 MLS away record: 1-6-2 (11 GF, 17 GA)
- Last five matches: 1-4-0 (L-L-W-L-L)
- In Wednesday’s 4-3 home loss to Real Salt Lake, Sporting hit season-highs in shots (30), shots on goal (11) and expected goals (4.4 according to Sportec).
- Sporting ranks fifth in MLS with 1.63 non-penalty goals per game.
- Sporting ranks ninth in MLS with 1.63 goals per match, fourth most during the club’s 14-year Sporting KC era dating back to 2011.
- Sporting leads MLS with 10 goals from outside the box, three more than any other team, and has taken 48% of its shot attempts from outside the box, the highest percentage in MLS.
- Sporting has scored nine goals off set pieces this season, tied for the second most in MLS.
- Sporting has been shut out just twice during the 2024 regular season, tied for the second fewest in MLS behind only Colorado (one).
- Sporting has scored multiple goals in seven of 10 MLS home matches this season, and in eight of 11 home matches across all competitions.
- Sporting has conceded the first goal in 10 of its last 12 matches across all competitions after doing so just once in the first nine games of 2024.
- Sporting is in the midst of a stretch that will see the team play 10 matches in 36 days from June 15 to July 20, as well as seven matches in 22 days from.
- Forward Willy Agada bagged his second brace of the season in Wednesday’s 4-3 home loss to Real Salt Lake. Agada leads Sporting with five goals this season, all of which have come at home.
- Agada ranks second in MLS this season in shots per 90 minutes (5.26) and fifth in expected goals per 90 minutes (0.74).
- Forward Stephen Afrifa has scored goals in back-to-back MLS matches after scoring zero goals in his first 12 career regular season appearances. He has three goals in his last five appearances across all competitions since May 21.
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez assisted Agada’s final goal on Wednesday and leads Sporting with five assists this season.
- Defender Zorhan Bassong assisted Agada’s first goal on Wednesday for his first assist with Sporting and his second career MLS assist, his first coming as a member of CF Montreal on May 29, 2021.
Columbus Crew
- 2024 MLS record: 7-3-6, 27 points (6th in East | 25 GF, 17 GA)
- 2024 MLS home record: 3-1-3 (10 GF, 6 GA)
- Last five matches: 4-1-0 (W-W-W-W-L)
- Columbus won four straight MLS matches from May 15 to June 14—all away from home—before falling 2-1 at Inter Miami CF on Wednesday.
- Columbus will play an MLS home match on Saturday for the first time since May 11, a period of six weeks.
- Columbus opened the 2024 regular season 3-0-0 at home but has failed to win each of its last four MLS home games at Lower.com Field, going 0-3-1 during that stretch.
- Columbus won MLS Cup 2023—the club’s third MLS Cup title—to qualify for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup, where it finished as runners-up with a 3-0 loss at Pachuca in the final on June 1.
- Columbus has conceded 17 goals during the 2024 regular season, the fewest in MLS. The Crew have conceded six goals in seven MLS home games this season.
- Columbus has scored 72% of its goals in the second half this season (18 of 25). The Crew has outscored opponents 18-10 in the second half.
- Columbus has averaged more goals on the road (1.67 per game) than at home (1.43 per game) during the 2024 regular season.
- Columbus has faced 170 shots this season, the fewest in MLS (10.6 per match).
- In all competitions this season, Columbus is 8-0-3 when scoring first and 2-4-4 when conceding first.
- In all competitions this season, Columbus is 5-0-1 when leading at halftime and 1-2-3 when trailing at halftime.
- Forward Cucho Hernandez has scored in two straight matches. He leads Columbus with six MLS goals this season and has 54 goal contributions (36 goals, 18 assists) in 60 MLS appearances (including playoffs) since joining the Crew in 2022.
- Cucho leads MLS this season in shots per 90 minutes (5.32) while ranking seventh in shots on target per 90 minutes (1.71) and ninth in expected goals per 90 minutes (0.63).
- Winger Diego Rossi leads Columbus with nine goal contributions (four goals, five assists) during the 2024 regular season. Rossi has 92 goal contributions (58 goals, 34 assists) in 139 MLS appearances (including playoffs) since 2018. He spent 2018-2021 with LAFC before joining Columbus in August 2023.
- Rossi is tied for the team lead with five assists this season alongside midfielder Aidan Morris and winger Yaw Yeboah.
- Midfielder Aidan Morris ranks fourth in MLS in tackles (47), fifth in tackles won (31), seventh in passes into the final third (117), ninth in touches (1,278) and ninth in passing accuracy (91.7%).
- Winger Yaw Yeboah ranks 10th in MLS in primary assists per 90 minutes (0.41).
- Midfielder Darlington Nagbe leads MLS in passing accuracy at 95.8%). Nagbe has won four MLS Cup titles with three different clubs: Portland (2015), Atlanta (2018) and Columbus (2020, 2023).
- Defender Malte Amundsen ranks second in MLS in interceptions (33)
- Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte ranks third in MLS with a 1.07 goals against average.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Manager Peter Vermes is two 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).
- Goalkeeper Tim Melia is one shy of his 250th regular season appearance for Sporting.
- Forward Johnny Russell is one shy of 150 goals in his professional club career.
- Forward Alan Pulido is tied for ninth in Sporting history with 31 regular season goals alongside Benny Feilhaber, Mo Johnston and Graham Zusi.
- Forward Willy Agada is one shy of his 50th appearances for Sporting all competitions.
