"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.
After claiming a convincing 1-0 win over Mexican powerhouse Chivas Guadalajara on Monday, Sporting Kansas City has its sights set on a Leagues Cup Round of 32 showdown against Deportivo Toluca FC on Friday night at Children's Mercy Park.
The win-or-go-home clash will kick off at 8 p.m. CT, offering a rematch of the memorable 2019 Concacaf Champions League matchup in which Sporting prevailed 5-0 on aggregate. Sporting and Toluca are aiming to take another step toward the Leagues Cup glory, with the top three finishers in the tournament cementing their place in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup.
Tickets for Friday's battle against Toluca are available online SeatGeek.com. The action will be shown live on Apple TV in English and Spanish via MLS Season Pass while airing locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM with radio streams within the Sporting KC app.
With a spot in the Round of 16 up for grabs on Friday, we take a statistical look at the contest in our newest edition of By The Numbers, presented by Compass Minerals.
Bracket Outlook
- The winner of Friday’s match between Sporting and Toluca will travel to face either Columbus Crew or Minnesota United FC in the Leagues Cup Round of 16.
- If Friday’s match between Sporting and Toluca is tied after 90 minutes, a penalty shootout will decide the winner (as is the case with all Leagues Cup matches). No extra time will be played.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting and Toluca are poised to square off for the third time in a competitive match. The first two meetings came in the 2019 Concacaf Champions League Round of 16 as Sporting claimed an emphatic 5-0 aggregate victory, winning 3-0 at home in the first leg and 2-0 on the road in the second leg.
- Sporting’s 5-0 aggregate win over Toluca remains the largest by an MLS team over a Liga MX club in a two-legged Concacaf series.
- With the 3-0 home win over Toluca on Feb. 21, 2019, Sporting are one of five American teams in Concacaf Champions Cup/League history to defeat a Mexican side by three or more goals (LA Galaxy in 1997, LAFC in 2020, New England and Seattle in 2022).
- Sporting’s 2-0 win at Toluca on Feb. 28, 2019, remains the club’s only competitive win on Mexican soil. Sporting are 1-5-0 all-time in Mexico.
- Sporting’s five goals in the series were all scored by players no longer with the club (Krisztian Nemeth 2, Gerso Fernandes 2, Ilie Sanchez).
- Roger Espinoza tabbed the winning assist in Sporting’s 2-0 second-leg victory at Toluca.
- Sporting are 9-6-6 at home in international competitions, including a 7-3-2 record at Children's Mercy Park.
- Sporting are 3-2-0 in competitive matches against Mexican opposition at Children’s Mercy Park. This record includes shutout wins over Cruz Azul (2013-14 CCL quarterfinals), Toluca (2019 CCL round of 16) and Chivas (Leagues Cup 2023 group stage) as well as multi-goal defeats to Monterrey (2019 CCL semifinals) and Club Leon (2021 Leagues Cup quarterfinals).
Sporting Kansas City
- 2023 MLS record: 6-11-8, 26 points (11th in West | 31 GF, 36 GA)
- 2023 home record (all competitions): 7-5-2 (24 GF, 15 GA)
- Leagues Cup 2023 Group Stage: 1-0-1, 4 points (4 GF, 3 GA)
- Sporting have won six of nine penalty kick shootouts since Manager Peter Vermes began his head coaching tenure in 2009, including shootout victories in the 2013 MLS Cup and the 2012 and 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Finals.
- Sporting won six of seven shootouts from 2012-2020 before losing their last two (2022 Open Cup Semifinals at Sacramento Republic FC and Leagues Cup 2023 group stage at FC Cincinnati on July 23).
- Sporting have won all four penalty kick shootouts at Children’s Mercy Park, prevailing in the 2012 Open Cup Final, 2013 MLS Cup, 2017 Open Cup Semifinals and 2020 Western Conference First Round.
- Sporting’s 1-0 win over Chivas Guadalajara on Monday was the team’s first 1-0 victory of the season. In all competitions this year, Sporting are 7-0-4 when scoring multiple goals and 1-12-5 when scoring one or fewer.
- Sporting held Chivas to one shot on target in Monday’s 1-0 group stage win, tied for the fewest by a Kansas City opponent in 29 competitive matches this season.
- Sporting rank second in MLS with 12 goals scored in the first 30 minutes of matches this season. Three of their four goals in Leagues Cup have also come in the opening 30 minutes.
- Forward Johnny Russell has scored in each of his last two home appearances at Children’s Mercy Park, including his decisive goal in a 1-0 win over Chivas Guadalajara on Monday.
- Among players with at least 600 minutes this season, midfielder Gadi Kinda ranks second in MLS with 0.56 primary assists per 90 minutes (four primary assists in 645 minutes). In Leagues Cup, he had a goal and an assist in Sporting’s 3-3 draw at FC Cincinnati on July 23 and led the team with three key passes in a 1-0 win over Chivas Guadalajara on Monday.
- Kinda has 31 goal contributions (14 goals, 17 assists) in 69 career appearances across all competitions. Sporting are 19-3-3 in all competitions when Kinda scores or assists.
- Since the start of 2021, defender Andreu Fontas has more completed passes (5,404) than any other MLS player has attempted passes (Ilie Sanchez 4,803) in the regular season.
- Defender Dany Rosero has scored headers off set pieces in two of Sporting’s last three matches. He has accounted for three of Sporting’s five headed goals this season in all competitions, all off set pieces.
- Sporting are 5-0-1 when the center back pairing of Andreu Fontas and Dany Rosero start together at home this season (all competitions).
- Sporting are unbeaten in six matches across all competitions with the starting back four of Jake Davis, Dany Rosero, Andreu Fontas and Tim Leibold (2-0-4).
- Midfielder Erik Thommy has 10 goal contributions (three goals and seven assists) in all competitions since the start of May, second most on the team behind Alan Pulido (12). His six MLS assists during that time are tied for fourth most in the league.
- Thommy leads Sporting with eight assists in all competitions, including the winning assist in Monday’s 1-0 win over Chivas, while ranking eighth in MLS in shots (62).
- Sporting own a perfect 6-0-0 record when Thommy scores a goal dating back to his arrival in June 2022. The team is also 7-0-3 this season when he scores or assists (all competitions).
Deportivo Toluca FC
- 2023 Liga MX Apertura record: 1-1-1, 4 points (9th Place | 4 GF, 4 GA)
- 2023-24 away record (all competitions): 3-0-0 (10 GF, 4 GA)
- Leagues Cup 2023 Group Stage: 2-0-0, 6 points (8 GF, 4 GA)
- Toluca are competing in an international competition for the first time since 2019, when they fell 5-0 on aggregate to Sporting in the Concacaf Champions League Round of 16.
- No team scored more goals during the Leagues Cup 2023 group stage than Toluca (eight).
- Toluca were the only team to score four goals in each of their Leagues Cup group stage matches, winning 4-3 at Nashville SC on July 27 and 4-1 at Colorado Rapids on Monday.
- Toluca lead Leagues Cup 2023 in expected goals (6.52) and total shots on target (15).
- Toluca averaged 61.7% possession through their first two Leagues Cup matches, eclipsing 61% possession in each game.
- Before beating Nashville and Colorado in Leagues Cup 2023, Toluca had been winless (0-2-2) in its previous four competitive matches against MLS opponents since 2014.
- Toluca’s four-goal game against Nashville equaled a record for most goals scored by a visiting team against Nashville since Geodis Park opened in 2022.
- Toluca’s eight goals in Leagues Cup have come from seven different players. Midfielder Marcel Ruiz, who had a brace against Nashville, is the only Toluca player with two goals in the tournament.
- Toluca have scored two or more goals in four of five matches this season across all competitions, averaging 2.4 goals per match.
- Each of Toluca’s three wins this season in all competitions have come away from home (3-1-1 overall record, 3-0-0 away from home). The team has scored 10 goals in three matches on the road.
- Toluca have earned penalty kicks in four of their five matches this season in all competitions. They have conceded one penalty kick of their own, coming in the 4-1 win over Colorado on Monday.
- Goalkeeper Tiago Volpi has scored seven goals in 46 appearances for Toluca across all competitions, each from the penalty spot. Volpi has converted all seven penalty kicks he has taken for the club, including one in Toluca’s 4-3 win at Nashville on July 27.
- Volpi leads Toluca with three goals this season in all competitions, all from the penalty spot.
- Not including penalty kick shootouts, Volpi has saved 22 of the 60 penalties he has faced in his professional career (36.7% save percentage).
- Toluca are playing for their third major championship in an international competition, having won the Concacaf Champions Cup in 1968 and 2003.
- Toluca are playing for their first major title of any kind since winning the Liga MX Clausura in May 2010.
- Toluca manager Ignacio Ambriz is trying to win his fourth major trophy as a coach with his fourth different club. He won the 2015-16 Concacaf Champions League with Club America, the 2018 Clausura Copa MX with Necaxa and the 2020 Liga MX Apertura with Club Leon.
