"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 host Austin FC in a Western Conference clash at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at Children's Mercy Park. Tickets are available online at SeatGeek with a fireworks show following the match in celebration of the Fourth of July. Saturday's showdown will be available to watch on Apple TV for MLS Season Pass subscribers and radio coverage will air locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB in English and La Grande 1340 AM in Spanish with live audio streams available in the Sporting KC App.
Sporting is set to begin a pivotal stretch of seven games in 22 days between June 29 and July 20, including an Open Cup quarterfinal on July 10. Bouncing back into the win column could go a long way for Manager Peter Vermes' men, who will face an Austin FC side that has won five of the last six meetings between the clubs.
We take a statistical look at the fixture in our newest edition of By The Numbers, presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Austin has won five of the last six meetings in the series, including the most recent matchup by a 3-2 scoreline on May 18 at Q2 Stadium. Austin received a Jader Obrian first-half brace and a second-half winner from Sebastian Driussi, while Sporting bookended the scoring with goals from Johnny Russell and Jake Davis.
- Sporting’s lone win in the last six meetings against Austin was a 4-1 victory at Children’s Mercy Park on June 10, 2023. Forward Alan Pulido had a brace to go with goals from defender Robert Castellanos and Austin native Khiry Shelton. Driussi scored for Austin.
- Austin leads the all-time series with a 5-2-1 record. All eight meetings have come in the regular season.
- Sporting is 2-1-1 against Austin in four home meetings at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Sporting has lost all four road meetings against Austin, conceding 12 goals and scoring seven.
- The eight meetings between the clubs have produced just one total shutout, when Austin won 2-0 in Kansas City on July 30, 2022.
- Across eight meetings, Sporting has outshot Austin 137-92 yet been outscored 17-14.
- Driussi has scored a goal in five of his six regular season appearances against Sporting dating back to Nov. 3, 2021. His five goals in the series are the most of any player.
- Sporting forward Johnny Russell has five goal contributions (three goals, two assists) in seven regular season appearances against Austin.
- Sporting forward Alan Pulido has four goal contributions (two goals, two assists) in four regular season appearances against Austin.
- Austin forward Diego Rubio, who played for Sporting from 2016-2018, has four goals in 11 regular season appearances against his former club.
- Austin forward Gyasi Zardes has five goal contributions (one goal, four assists) in 11 regular season appearances against Sporting.
- Austin midfielder Alex Ring has four goal contributions (two goals, two assists) in eight regular season appearances against Sporting.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2024 MLS record: 3-12-5, 14 points (13th in West | 31 GF, 44 GA)
- 2024 MLS home record: 2-5-3 (20 GF, 23 GA)
- Last five matches: 1-4-0 (L-W-L-L-L)
- Sporting ranks eighth in MLS with 1.55 non-penalty goals per game.
- Sporting leads MLS with 10 goals from outside the box, two 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 third most in MLS. The team has also conceded nine goals off set pieces, fourth most in MLS.
- Sporting has outperformed its expected goal total by 8.8 goals this season, the second most in MLS (31 goals scored, 22.2 expected goals).
- 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 leads MLS with 14 different goal scorers during the 2024 regular season.
- Sporting has fielded 14 different starting lineups in its last 14 matches across all competitions. Sporting has utilized 18 different starting lineups in 22 total matches this season.
- Sporting has conceded the first goal in 11 of its last 13 matches across all competitions after doing so just once in the first nine games of 2024.
- Forward Willy Agada bagged his second brace of the season in a 4-3 home loss to Real Salt Lake on June 19. Agada leads Sporting with five goals this season, all of which have come at home.
- Agada has scored 14 goals in 15 regular season home starts at Children’s Mercy Park since debuting for Sporting in July 2022.
- Agada ranks second in MLS this season in shots per 90 minutes (5.1) and fourth in expected goals per 90 minutes (0.74).
- Forward Stephen Afrifa has scored goals in two of his last three MLS matches after scoring zero goals in his first 12 career regular season appearances. He has three goals in his last six appearances across all competitions since May 21.
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez leads Sporting with five assists this season.
- Forward forward Johnny Russell has four goal contributions (three goals, one assist) in his last six starts dating back to May 18.
- Forward Alan Pulido and midfielder Erik Thommy are tied for second on the team with four goals this season in all competitions.
- Midfielder Nemanja Radoja leads Sporting this year in regular season minutes (1,635) and starts (19) as well as minutes (1,823) and starts (21) across all competitions.
Austin FC
- 2024 MLS record: 7-7-6, 27 points (8th in West | 23 GF, 28 GA)
- 2024 MLS away record: 2-5-3 (5 GF, 13 GA)
- Last five matches: 1-3-1 (L-L-L-T-W)
- Austin earned a 1-0 road win at Minnesota last Saturday to snap a five-match unbeaten run (0-3-2) that began after the club’s 3-2 home victory over Sporting on May 18.
- Austin has scored 18 of its 23 goals at home this season. The team is averaging 1.8 goals per home game and 0.5 goals per away game.
- Austin’s five road goals this season are the fewest in MLS.
- Austin has scored 15 of its 23 goals in the second half this season, a clip of 65.2%.
- Fifteen of Austin’s 20 matches this season have been decided by one or fewer goals. The team has six wins and three losses in one-goal games.
- Austin has faced the most shots (328) and attempted the fewest shots (175) in MLS this season.
- Austin ranks last in MLS in shot attempts per game (8.6) and shots on target per game (2.5). Their 15.9 shots faced per game are most in MLS.
- Austin is 4-0-2 this season when scoring the first goal and 3-7-2 when conceding the first goal this season. The team’s three wins when falling behind 1-0 are tied for second most in MLS.
- Goalkeeper Brad Stuver is tied for the MLS lead in saves (86) while ranking third in shutouts (six). He has played every minute in all 20 MLS matches this season.
- Defender Julio Cascante has received seven yellow cards this season, tied for third most in MLS.
- Winger Jader Obrian and midfielder Sebastian Driussi are tied for the team lead in both goals (five) and total goal contributions (seven).
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.
- Defender Dany Rosero is one shy of his 50th appearance and start for Sporting in all competitions.
