"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 heartbreaking 3-1 extra-time defeat at LAFC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on Wednesday, Sporting Kansas City faces the formidable task of hitting the road again to face archrival St. Louis City SC on Saturday at CityPark. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Manager Peter Vermes' men gave a valiant effort against the Hollywood heavyweights at midweek, taking LAFC to extra time at BMO Stadium after Erik Thommy scored an excellent second-half equalizer. Sporting's rally fell short as the hosts struck twice in late stages, giving Kansas City its first cup final loss in 20 years after four consecutive wins in such matches.
Sporting enters the weekend on no rest whatsoever, having played 120 minutes on Wednesday, while St. Louis approaches the rivalry matchup with charged batteries and just one loss in their last six games. Sporting's war of attrition takes the team into hostile territory as the clubs write the next chapter of their budding midwestern rivalry.
We take a statistical look at the contest in our newest edition of By The Numbers, presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting has a 3-2-2 record in the overall series with St. Louis, including a pair of draws earlier this season at Children’s Mercy Park.
- The first meeting this season saw Sporting and St. Louis battle to a thrilling 3-3 draw at Children’s Mercy Park on April 20. Sporting had strikes from Alan Pulido and Erik Thommy while also benefiting from a St. Louis own goal. The visitors struck through Joao Klauss, Celio Pompeu and Tomas Totland.
- The second meeting this season produced a 1-1 draw at Children’s Mercy Park on July 20. Nokkvi Thorisson put St. Louis ahead before William Agada equalized for Sporting.
- Sporting is 1-2-2 in five regular season meetings against St. Louis, with the lone win coming on Sept. 2, 2023, in a 2-1 home victory at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Sporting last visited St. Louis on Oct. 29, 2023, cruising to a 4-1 win in Game 1 of the Round One Best of Three Series during the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. Logan Ndenbe, Remi Walter and Gadi Kinda scored first-half goals for Sporting before Daniel Salloi struck in the second half.
- The seven all-time meetings between the clubs have produced 28 total goals, an average of four goals per match. The seven games have produced just one shutout, when St. Louis prevailed 4-0 in the inaugural meeting on May 20, 2023.
- Sporting and St. Louis made the most of their inaugural year as archrivals by meeting five times across all competitions in 2023. Since Peter Vermes’ head coaching tenure began in 2009, Sporting has faced just four clubs five times in all competitions in a single season: Houston in 2013, Vancouver in 2016, Real Salt Lake in 2018 and St. Louis last year.
- Louis won two of the three regular season meetings in 2023 with convincing home wins at CityPark, a 4-0 result on May 20 and a 4-1 decision on Sept. 30.
- After St. Louis earned the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs, the expansion newcomers were humbled by Sporting in a two-game sweep of the Round One Best-of-3 Series. Kansas City cruised 4-1 at St. Louis in Game 1 on Oct. 29 and prevailed 2-1 at home on Nov. 5 to complete the series victory.
- The playoff series between the clubs last fall marked the second time that teams from Kansas City and St. Louis have met in the playoffs across the five major men’s professional sports leagues in the U.S. (MLS, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL), following the 1985 World Series in which the Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
- Sporting forward Alan Pulido has seven goal contributions (three goals and four assists) in seven MLS appearances against St. Louis, including a goal in the 3-3 draw on April 20 and an assist in the 1-1 draw on July 20.
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has six goal contributions (two goals and four assists) in seven MLS appearances against St. Louis, including one goal and one assist in each of the playoff meetings last fall.
- Sporting midfielder Erik Thommy has one goal and two assists in five regular season appearances against St. Louis.
- Sporting forward William Agada has a goal contribution in each of the last three regular season meetings between the clubs, including an assist on April 20 and a goal on July 20.
- Louis forward Joao Klauss has four goal contributions (three goals and one assist) in three regular season appearances against Sporting, including one goal and one assist on April 20.
- Louis midfielder Eduard Lowen has four goal contributions (one goal and three assists) in four regular season appearances against Sporting.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2024 MLS record: 8-16-7, 31 points (12th in West | 49 GF, 58 GA)
- 2024 MLS away record: 2-10-3 (16 GF, 29 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 2-2-1 (W-T-L-W-L)
- Sporting suffered a 3-1 extra-time loss to LAFC on Wednesday in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. It was Sporting’s first cup final defeat since losing the 2004 MLS Cup to D.C. United and dropped Kansas City’s record in cup finals to six wins and two losses.
- Sporting had won each of its previous four Open Cup finals prior to Wednesday, claiming the tournament title in 2004, 2012, 2015 and 2017.
- Sporting has gone to extra time three times this season—in a 2-1 road win at Union Omaha in the Open Cup Round of 32 on May 8, a 2-1 home win over FC Dallas in the Open Cup Quarterfinals on July 10, and Wednesday’s loss to LAFC in the Open Cup Final.
- Prior to Wednesday, the last Open Cup Final to go to extra time was in 2015 when Sporting won on penalties at the Philadelphia Union following a 1-1 draw.
- Sporting took a 1-0 home loss to Minnesota United FC last Saturday, snapping the club’s 17-match home scoring streak in the MLS regular season dating back to September 2023. Minnesota had lost each of its first nine regular season road matches at Sporting since entering MLS in 2017.
- Last Saturday’s loss to Minnesota eliminated Sporting from playoff contention. It is just the third time Sporting has missed the MLS Cup Playoffs in the last 14 seasons (2019, 2022).
- Sporting ranks eighth in MLS this season in non-penalty goals scored (49).
- Sporting’s 1.58 goals per match during the 2024 regular season are the club’s fourth most since the Peter Vermes era began in 2009 (Sporting had more goals per match in 2018, 2020 and 2021).
- Sporting has won each of its last seven matches in all competitions when scoring at least twice, dating back to June 29.
- Midfielder Erik Thommy scored a 60th-minute equalizer in Wednesday’s Open Cup Final against LAFC. Thommy has three goals in his last three matches across all competitions and is tied with Alan Pulido for second on the team with eight goals this season in all competitions.
- Thommy has 13 goal contributions (five assists) this season in all competitions, tied with Alan Pulido for third most on the team behind William Agada (15) and Johnny Russell (14).
- Forwards Johnny Russell and Daniel Salloi earned assists on Thommy’s equalizer. In doing so, both players reached 10 career goal contributions for Sporting in the Open Cup, tied for second most in club history behind only Benny Feilhaber (12).
- Russell leads Sporting with nine assists this season in all competitions. His 14 total goal contributions (five goals) are second most on the team behind William Agada (15).
- Russell’s five goals this season in all competitions are tied with forward Stephen Afrifa for fourth most on the team behind William Agada (nine), Alan Pulido (eight) and Erik Thommy (seven).
- Salloi has three assists in his last three matches across all competitions.
- Forward Alan Pulido is tied for second on the team with eight goals this season in all competitions. His 13 total goal contributions this season (five assists) are tied with Erik Thommy for third most on the team behind William Agada (15) and Johnny Russell (14).
- Pulido has five goal contributions in his last six MLS matches (three goals and two assists) since July 20.
- Forward William Agada leads Sporting with 11 goals this season in all competitions—nine in the MLS regular season, one in the Open Cup and one in Leagues Cup. He also has a team-leading 15 total goal contributions in all competitions, adding four assists.
- Ten of Agada’s 11 goals this season have come at home. He has scored 20 goals in 34 home appearances at Children’s Mercy Park (including 23 starts) since debuting for the club in July 2022.
- Agada leads MLS in expected goals per 90 minutes (0.79) and ranks second in non-penalty expected goals per 90 minutes (0.70). He also ranks fifth in shots per 90 minutes (4.58) and sixth in total expected goals (13.6).
- Midfielder Jake Davis has five goal contributions in his last five matches across all competitions (one goal, four assists). He has nine goal contributions on the season (three goals, six assists) and ranks fourth in MLS with 70 tackles.
St. Louis City SC
- 2024 MLS record: 6-11-13, 31 points (13th in West | 43 GF, 57 GA)
- 2024 MLS home record: 5-5-5 (17 GF, 20 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 2-1-2 (T-W-T-L-W)
- After a first-place finish in the Western Conference last year, St. Louis currently occupies 13th place in the West and is on the brink of elimination from playoff contention.
- Louis has 11 fewer wins and one fewer losses this season than it did last year. St. Louis finished its inaugural 2023 regular season with a 17-12-5 record.
- Louis has just one loss in its last six MLS matches since July 20, a 3-1 home defeat to Minnesota United FC on Sept. 14.
- Louis’ six regular season wins are the second fewest in MLS ahead of only San Jose, whom St. Louis has defeated twice this season.
- Louis has 13 regular season draws, second most in MLS behind the New York Red Bulls (14).
- Louis is one of two Western Conference teams alongside San Jose to have a negative goal differential at home (-3). St. Louis is 5-5-5 in 15 regular season home matches this year.
- Louis is looking to secure consecutive MLS wins for the first time this season after earning a 2-1 road victory at the San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday. St. Louis is 0-2-3 in MLS matches immediately following wins this year.
- Louis lost just once in its first 11 MLS matches this season, going 3-1-7 through May 11. The team went 1-9-5 in its next 15 games from May 15 to Aug. 24 to fall out of the playoff race.
- Louis leads MLS with 20 different goal scorers during the 2024 regular season.
- Louis leads MLS in shots per match (15.8) and fouls committed per match (14.7).
- Louis leads MLS with 11 goals scored in the first 15 minutes of matches this season. However, their six goals after the 75th minute are third fewest in MLS.
- Louis has averaged 1.13 goals per home match, tied for second fewest in MLS.
- Louis is 6-3-6 when scoring the first goal this season and 0-8-4 when conceding the first goal. St. Louis has failed to win in nine matches when scoring first, tied for the most in MLS.
- Louis is 5-2-3 when leading at halftime and 0-6-3 when trailing at halftime.
- Forward Joao Klauss leads St. Louis with five MLS goals this season, while midfielder Eduard Lowen, midfielder Cedric Teuchert and forward Nokkvi Thorisson are tied for second with four goals apiece.
- Teuchert has five goal contributions (four goals and one assist) in six MLS matches since joining St. Louis as a summer signing from Europe.
- Teuchert has scored inside the first 10 minutes of the match on three of his four goals.
- Midfielder Marcel Hartel has seven goal contributions—two goals and a team-leading five assists—in just five MLS matches since joining St. Louis as a summer signing from Europe. Lowen and midfielder Indiana Vassilev are tied for second on the team with four assists apiece.
- Midfielder Chris Durkin ranks second in MLS in both fouls committed (58) and yellow cards (10). Durkin leads St. Louis field players in appearances (28) and minutes played (2,261) this season.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Forward Johnny Russell is tied with Dom Dwyer for second in club history with 67 goals in all competitions, 14 behind leader and current Seattle assistant coach Preki.
- Forward Daniel Salloi is one shy of his 250th appearance for Sporting in all competitions.
