"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 a busy week that saw Sporting collect seven points in seven days for the first time in club history, Sporting Kansas City will enter the heart of June by hosting Austin FC at 7:30 p.m. CT Saturday at Children's Mercy Park. Tickets for the Western Conference clash are available online at SeatGeek, including the Sporting U Pass featuring $15 Supporters' Stand tickets for college students and the Coca-Cola Friends & Family 4-Pack featuring four Domino's pizzas, four 20-ounce Coca-Cola products and four tickets for $100.
Saturday's game will be shown live on Apple TV in English and Spanish for MLS Season Pass subscribers (sign up for a one-month free trial). Local radio coverage will air on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM with streams in the Sporting KC app, and all of the action will be shown by pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network.
With two teams hovering near the playoff line set to square off, we take a statistical look at the matchup in our newest edition of By the Numbers, presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Austin have won each of the last three meetings and own a 3-1-1 record in the regular season series since joining MLS as an expansion side in 2021.
- Austin are unbeaten in the last four meetings after Sporting won the inaugural match between the clubs by a 2-1 scoreline on May 9, 2021, at Children’s Mercy Park.
- The most recent meeting saw Austin prevail in a 4-3 thriller at home on Aug. 13, 2022, erasing a 3-1 with three second-half goals. Sporting scored three times in the first half through Andreu Fontas, Willy Agada and Johnny Russell, all three of whom will miss Saturday’s match through injury. Austin received goals from Jon Gallagher, Julio Cascante, Sebastian Driussi and now-departed Danny Hoesen.
- The most recent meeting at Children’s Mercy Park saw Austin prevail 2-0 on July 30, 2022, as Alexander Ring scored just before halftime and Driussi scored just before full time.
- The five meetings between the clubs have produced just one total shutout, when Austin won 2-0 in Kansas City last July.
- Driussi has scored in each of the last three regular season meetings, including a goal 37 seconds into Austin’s 3-1 home win over Sporting on Nov. 3, 2021.
- Sporting has outshot Austin 95-56 across five meetings yet been outscored 11-7.
- Sporting midfielder Gadi Kinda has one goal and one assist in two regular season appearances against Austin, including the winning goal in Sporting’s lone victory in the series on May 9, 2021.
- Midfielder Diego Fagundez has three assists in five meetings against Sporting as a member of Austin FC.
- Austin FC forward Will Bruin has six goals and three assists in 22 career regular season appearances against Sporting.
- Austin FC forward Maxi Urruti has three goals and four assists in 17 career regular season appearances against Sporting.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2023 MLS record: 4-8-5, 17 points (12th in West | 16 GF, 24 GA)
- 2023 MLS home record: 3-3-1 (10 GF, 9 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 2-1-2 (T-L-W-W-T)
- Last week, Sporting earned seven points in seven days for the first time in club regular season history with a 4-1 win over Portland, a 2-1 victory versus Dallas and a 1-1 draw in Vancouver.
- Sporting continues its June slate after equaling its best May in club history, totaling 13 points throughout the month with a 4-1-1 record. Sporting’s 13 points in May 2023 were tied for the fourth most in a single month in club regular season history during the non-shootout era (since 2000).
- Sporting’s 12 goals and four regular season wins during the month of May were both tied for third most in MLS.
- Sporting are 5-0-0 when scoring multiple goals this season in all competitions and 0-9-5 when scoring one or fewer.
- Sporting have scored nine goals in their last three MLS home matches after scoring one in their first four.
- Sporting have scored four goals in four of the club’s last 13 regular season home games dating back to Aug. 6, 2022. Sporting own a 9-3-1 home record during that stretch.
- Sporting have scored four goals in the first 15 minutes of matches this season, tied for fourth most in MLS, but rank last in the league with six goals in the second half.
- Sporting have played 10 MLS away matches this season, the most in MLS. The club will host four of its next five league games, including home dates on each of the next four Saturdays between June 10 and July 1.
- Forward Daniel Salloi is one of three Western Conference players with seven goals and seven primary assists since the start of August 2022 alongside Cristian Espinoza (San Jose) and Carlos Vela (LAFC).
- Salloi has scored in Sporting’s last three home matches and his next regular season goal will tie Austin coaching duo Josh Wolff and Davy Arnaud for fourth most in club history (43).
- Salloi has scored or assisted on nine of Sporting’s 19 goals this season in all competitions with team-highs in both goals (five) and assists (four). He leads MLS in progressive carries (68) and progressive passes received (287) while ranking second in successful crosses from open play (17), fourth in shots on target (20), fourth in carries into the penalty area (25), sixth in expected assists (4.3) and seventh in chances created (36).
- Midfielder Erik Thommy is one of nine Western Conference players with five goals and five primary assists since the start of August 2022.
- Thommy has two goals and three assists in his last seven MLS appearances since the start of May. He ranks ninth in MLS in shots (44) and eighth in shots on target (18).
- Forward Alan Pulido has 26 total goal contributions (16 goals, 10 assists) in 36 career regular season starts. Sporting are 12-1-1 when Pulido scores in the regular season.
- Midfielder Remi Walter leads all MLS field players with 120 recoveries this season.
Austin FC
- 2023 MLS record: 5-7-4, 19 points (8th in West | 17 GF, 23 GA)
- 2023 MLS home record: 2-4-1 (7 GF, 13 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 3-2-0 (W-W-L-W-L)
- Austin have won three of their last five matches after going winless in eight league games from March 18 to May 13 (0-4-4).
- Last season, Austin finished second in the West (16-10-8, 56 points) and advanced to the Western Conference Final after finishing 12th in the division during their inaugural 2021 campaign (9-21-4, 31 points).
- Austin rank 25th in MLS this season with two points gained from losing positions after leading the Western Conference last year with 21 points gained from losing positions.
- Austin have conceded 13 of their 23 goals after the 60th minute this season.
- Austin have faced 14.6 shot attempts per game, the most in MLS. The club has been outshot by an average of 14.6 to 11.9 this season.
- Austin are 5-1-1 when scoring first and 0-6-2 when conceding first this season. Similarly, Austin are 2-0-1 when leading at halftime and 0-2-1 when trailing at halftime.
- All five of Austin’s regular season wins this year have come by a single goal. The club has a 5-4 record in one-goal games this season.
- Austin are one of four MLS clubs yet to win a penalty kick this season.
- Midfielder Jon Gallagher leads Austin with five goals. Sebastian Driussi and Gyasi Zardes (three each) are the only other Austin players with more than one league goal this season.
- Gallagher has scored five goals on only 15 shot attempts and his 0.33 goals per shot rank third in MLS (minimum 10 shots). According to Opta, Gallagher has outperformed his expected goals total by 3.01, third most in MLS.
- Driussi, who was second in MLS last year with 22 goals, has scored only three times this season.
- Midfielder Dani Pereira is the only field player to start in all 16 MLS matches for Austin, with goalkeeper Brad Stuver also starting in each league game.
- Stuver ranks third in MLS with 58 saves
- Defender Leo Vaisanen ranks eighth in MLS with 49 aerial duels won.
- Defender Nick Lima ranks ninth in MLS with 10 successful crosses into the box.
Milestones and Miscellany
- On Saturday, Sporting will play its 250th competitive home match at Children’s Mercy Park. The stadium is one shy of its 175th MLS sellout (regular season and playoffs).
- Midfielder Nemanja Radoja is one shy of his 300th senior professional club appearance.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has 42 regular season goals for Sporting, sixth most in club history and one shy of Davy Arnaud and Josh Wolff in fourth.
- Forward Alan Pulido is one shy of his 50th appearance for Sporting in all competitions.
- Midfielder Gadi Kinda is one shy of his 50th start for Sporting in all competitions.
- Defender Andreu Fontas is one shy of his 100th start for Sporting in all competitions.
- Forward Khiry Shelton is one shy of his 100th start in his MLS regular season career.
- Midfielder Roger Espinoza has made 285 regular season starts for Sporting, tied with Matt Besler for second most in club history.
