"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 begin a stretch of five matches in 14 days this weekend with a visit to Seattle Sounders FC at 3:30 p.m. CT Sunday. The Western Conference clash at Lumen Field will be shown live nationally on FOX, FOX Deportes and Apple TV in addition to airing locally on ESPN 94.5 FM, 1510 AM and La Grande 1340 AM.
The game features a pair of teams on opposite ends of the table as Sporting looks to find its footing and turn the corner against a formidable Sounders side. We offer a statistical preview of Sunday's contest in our newest edition of By the Numbers, presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting have gone 9-5-3 in the last 17 regular season meetings against Seattle since 2015.
- Sporting have won five of the last eight meetings dating back to 2019 (5-3-0 record). Sporting’s five wins over Seattle since 2019 are second most in MLS behind Portland (seven).
- Sporting are 3-1-0 in their last four trips to Lumen Field, including a stretch of three straight wins from 2019-2021 before taking a 3-0 loss in their most recent visit last June.
- In 2021, Sporting became just the second MLS team to earn two regular season road wins at Seattle in the same year.
- Seattle won the most recent matchup by a 4-1 scoreline on March 25 at Children’s Mercy Park. Jordan Morris and Leo Chu set Seattle single-game club records with four goals and four assists, respectively. It was the second time a single player had scored four goals in a game against Sporting (Jeff Cunningham for Dallas in 2009).
- Morris has seven goals in eight regular season appearances against Sporting, including three goals in his last two home appearances against the club.
- Sporting captain Johnny Russell has six goals and one assist in 10 career regular season appearances against Seattle. His six goals against Seattle are tied for his most versus any MLS opponent.
- Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia has an 8-4-2 record, five shutouts and 1.21 goals against average in 14 regular season appearances against Seattle.
- Seattle leads the all-time regular season series with a 12-10-4 record, including a 6-5-2 mark at home.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2023 MLS record: 0-7-3, 3 points (14th in West | 3 GF, 15 GA)
- 2023 MLS away record: 0-4-2 (2 GF, 8 GA)
- Last 5 Matches: 0-4-1 (T-L-L-L-L)
- On Sunday, Sporting will begin a stretch of five matches in 14 days across all competitions, four of which are on the road and three of which are regular season away games against the top three teams in the Western Conference (Seattle on May 7, LAFC on May 17 and St. Louis City SC on May 20).
- Sporting rank third in MLS in key passes (98), third in corner kicks (59) and second in shooting accuracy (55.6%).
- Sporting rank second in MLS with 7.6 shots outside the box per game, accounting for 55% of their total shot attempts (highest in MLS and 10% more than any other team). Sporting’s average shot distance of 20.6 yards is the longest in MLS and the club’s 6.1 shots from inside the box per game are second-fewest in the league.
- Sporting rank second in MLS with 4.7 blocked shots per game. Over 34% of their total shot attempts have been blocked, the second-highest clip in MLS.
- Sporting have outshot opponents by an average of 13.7 to 11.4 this season.
- Sporting rank second in MLS in final third entries per game (66.2), third in successful passes in the final third per game (103.2) and seventh in penalty area entries per game (30.3).
- Sporting lead MLS in progressive carries (217) and rank third in progressive passes (447).
- Sporting rank third in MLS in open-play crosses attempted per game (16.8) and 26th in cross completion (15.5%).
- Sporting have opened the regular season winless in 10 matches for the first time in club history.
- Midfielder Gadi Kinda made his return to MLS action last Saturday, logging his first MLS appearance for Sporting since Nov. 28, 2021, after overcoming a long-term knee injury.
- Since the start of 2020, Sporting are 15-6-5 in the regular season when the trio of Alan Pulido, Gadi Kinda and Johnny Russell play in the same match (1.9 goals per game, 26 games). The team is 25-33-15 without at least one of them during that time (1.3 goals per game, 73 games).
- Midfielder Erik Thommy is tied for third in MLS in both shots (34) and shots on target (13). He also ranks fifth in progressive carries (37).
- Forward Daniel Salloi ranks second in MLS in progressive carries (42), third in successful crosses from open play (11), tied for third in shots on target (13) and ninth in key passes (19). He has scored or assisted on four of Sporting’s six goals this season in all competitions.
- Midfielder Remi Walter has started 52 consecutive regular season matches for Sporting since Sept. 29, 2021, the second-longest active streak among MLS field players behind Jakob Glesnes (82) and tied for the fifth-longest streak in club history. Walter is the only Sporting player to play all 900 minutes this season. Walter leads MLS field players this season with 97 recoveries.
- Defender Graham Zusi ranks second among MLS defenders with 58 progressive passes. He also ranks second in the league with 118 passes into the final third.
Seattle Sounders FC
- 2023 MLS record: 6-2-2, 20 points (1st in West | 17 GF, 7 GA)
- 2023 MLS home record: 4-0-1 (10 GF, 0 GA)
- Last 5 Matches: 3-1-1 (W-W-L-W-T)
- Seattle lead MLS with six shutouts through 10 matches and have yet to concede a goal in five home games at Lumen Field, where they have posted a 4-0-1 record and scored 10 goals of their own.
- Seattle are one of two teams (Houston) yet to concede a goal at home this season.
- Seattle enter the weekend atop the Western Conference with 20 points and tied for the league lead with six wins (6-2-2 record).
- Seattle rank second in MLS with a 0.70 goals against average.
- Seattle have conceded one first-half goal all season, coming in the 4-1 away win over Sporting on March 25.
- Seattle have four multi-goal wins this season, tied for the most in MLS.
- Seattle are one of two teams (St. Louis) yet to face a halftime deficit this season.
- Seattle missed the playoffs in 2022 after advancing to the postseason in each of their first 13 MLS campaigns The setback came in the same season that Seattle became the first MLS club to win the modern version of the Concacaf Champions League.
- Forward Jordan Morris leads MLS with eight goals, including four in Seattle’s 4-1 win over Sporting on March 25 at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Morris is one of four MLS players (Denis Bouanga, Thiago Almada and Mikael Uhre) with two multi-goal games this season.
- Midfielder Leo Chu, who assisted on all four goals in Seattle’s 4-1 win over Sporting on March 25, leads MLS with 0.74 assists per 90 minutes.
- Chu and midfielder Nico Lodeiro are tied for third in MLS with five assists apiece. Lodeiro is tied for sixth in MLS with 21 chances created and ranks third with 87 penalty area entries.
- Midfielder Joao Paulo is tied for the MLS lead with five yellow cards and will miss Sunday’s match due to caution accumulation.
- Goalkeeper Stefan Frei and defender Yeimar Gomez Andrade have played all 900 minutes for Seattle this season. Lodeiro and defender Jackson Ragen join Frei and Yeimar as players who have started all 10 matches. Ragen ranks fourth in MLS with 13 blocks and sixth with 48 clearances.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Defender Graham Zusi is one shy of his 350th regular season appearance for Sporting, which would tie Kyle Beckerman for third-most regular season appearances with one MLS club in league history (Beckerman 350 with Real Salt Lake, Rimando 369 with Real Salt Lake, Wondolowski 376 with San Jose).
- Forward Johnny Russell is one shy of his 50th regular season goal for the club. His 49 regular season goals and 54 goals in all competitions are both third most in club history.
- Midfielder Remi Walter has made 52 straight regular season starts for Sporting, the second-longest active streak among MLS field players behind Philadelphia defender Jakob Glesnes (82) entering this weekend. His 52-game streak is tied for the fifth longest in club history (Kevin Hartman 90, Jimmy Nielsen 90, Mark Chung 74, Tony Meola 55, Jimmy Conrad 52).
- Forward Daniel Salloi has 77 combined goals (50) and assists (27) for Sporting in all competitions, tied with Dom Dwyer for seventh most in club history.
- Midfielder Roger Espinoza is tied with Benny Feilhaber for fourth in club history with 43 regular season assists, two shy of tying Chris Klein for third.
- Forward Khiry Shelton is one shy of 100 starts in his MLS regular season career.
