"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's defining stretch of September fixtures will continue Wednesday when the Colorado Rapids visit Children's Mercy Park for a 7:30 p.m. CT kickoff in the Soccer Capital of America. Tickets are available at SeatGeek.com with live broadcasts on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
The Colorado Rapids are in the midst of a breakout season under head coach Chris Armas, while Sporting is looking to find form ahead of next week's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final at LAFC. By virtue of their 2024 performances, both clubs have punched their respective tickets to the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup.
With plenty to play for on Wednesday and both teams navigating busy stretches of the schedule, we take a statistical look at the contest in our newest edition of By The Numbers, presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting and Colorado last met on July 4 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park as the Rapids prevailed with a late 2-1 home win. After Johnny Russell gave Sporting a 48th-minute lead, Djordje Mihailovic assisted Oliver Larraz’s 69th-minute equalizer and converted a penalty kick in the 94th minute to seal the victory for Colorado.
- Colorado has two wins and one draw in the last three meetings since the start of 2023.
- Sporting last beat Colorado on May 18, 2022, as Daniel Salloi scored twice to spark a 2-1 win at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Sporting and Colorado have met 89 times in all competitions, making the Rapids the most frequent opponent in Kansas City history.
- Sporting holds a series advantage with 35 wins, 32 losses and 22 ties, including a 29-27-19 record in 75 regular season meetings.
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has five goals and one assist in nine regular season appearances against Colorado.
- Sporting forward Johnny Russell has three goals and one assist in 13 regular season appearances against Colorado.
- Sporting forward Alan Pulido has two goals in eight regular season appearances against Colorado.
- Sporting midfielder Memo Rodriguez has one goal and three assists in 13 regular season appearances against Colorado.
- Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia has a 6-11-5 regular season record against Colorado. His 11 regular season losses to the Rapids are his most against any MLS opponent.
- Colorado midfielder Djordje Mihailovic has two goals and one assist in three regular season appearances against Sporting.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2024 MLS record: 7-15-7, 28 points (12th in West | 45 GF, 55 GA)
- 2024 MLS home record: 5-5-4 (29 GF, 26 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 1-2-2 (L-T-W-T-L)
- Sporting suffered a 2-0 road loss at Seattle Sounders FC on Sunday. It was just the fourth time Sporting has failed to score during the 2024 regular season, the fourth fewest in MLS.
- Sporting ranks seventh in MLS this season in non-penalty goals scored (45).
- Sporting’s 1.55 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 six matches in all competitions when scoring at least twice, dating back to June 29.
- Sporting has scored 14 goals from set pieces this season in all competitions (10 in MLS, three in the Open Cup and one in Leagues Cup). That accounts for 24% of the club’s goal scoring (14 of 58).
- Sporting leads MLS with 12 goals from outside the box during the 2024 regular season.
- Sporting has scored multiple goals in 10 of 14 MLS home matches this season and in 14 of 19 home games across all competitions.
- Sporting has scored in 16 straight regular season home matches dating back to Sept. 23, 2023, totaling 34 goals during that stretch (2.13 per match).
- Sporting is one of two MLS teams without a penalty kick goal during the 2024 regular season (New England Revolution).
- Sporting has fielded 28 different starting lineups in its last 28 matches across all competitions. Sporting has utilized 32 different starting lineups in 36 total matches this season.
- Sporting has reached the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final, where it will face two-time defending Western Conference champion LAFC next Wednesday, Sept. 25, at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
- Sporting has prevailed in each of its first four Open Cup final appearances (2004, 2012, 2015 and 2017) and will compete for a record-tying fifth Open Cup title against an LAFC side seeking its first Open Cup trophy.
- Goalkeeper Tim Melia saved an Albert Rusnak penalty kick in Sporting’s 2-0 road loss at Seattle Sounders FC on Sunday. His 17 penalty saves in the regular season since 2015 are the most in MLS during that time.
- Melia has a goals conceded percentage of .575 on penalty kicks (23 of 40), the lowest in MLS regular season history among keepers with at least 15 penalties faced.
- Melia has prevailed in 12 of his 13 career Open Cup appearances for Sporting with a 10-1-2 record, including penalty shootout wins in the 2015 final and the 2017 semifinal.
- 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 14 total goal contributions in all competitions (three assists).
- Ten of Agada’s 11 goals this season have come at home. He has scored 20 goals in 32 home appearances at Children’s Mercy Park (including 21 starts) since debuting for the club in July 2022.
- Agada ranks second in MLS in both expected goals per 90 minutes (0.76) and non-penalty expected goals per 90 minutes (0.70). He also ranks sixth in total shots per 90 minutes (4.53) and seventh in total expected goals (11.5).
- Forward Johnny Russell has five goals and a team-best eight assists this season in all competitions. His 13 total goal contributions are second most on the team behind William Agada (11 goals, three assists).
- Russell scored the opening goal in Sporting’s 2-0 Open Cup semifinal win over Indy Eleven on Aug. 27. It was his 67th career goal for Sporting in all competitions, tying Dom Dwyer for second most in club history.
- Russell’s five goals this season in all competitions are tied for third most on the team alongside Erik Thommy (five goals, five assists) and Stephen Afrifa (five goals, three assists).
- Thommy ranks eighth in MLS in both progressive carries (111) and fouls suffered (50).
- Forward Alan Pulido scored Sporting’s go-ahead goal in a 1-1 draw at the New York Red Bulls on Sept. 7, moving to ninth in club history with 36 goals in all competitions.
- Pulido has a goal contribution in three of his last four matches and ranks second on the team with six goals in all competitions, trailing only William Agada (11).
- Midfielder Jake Davis assisted Pulido’s goal on Sept. 7 and has five goal contributions in his last three matches across all competitions (one goal, four assists). He has nine goal contributions on the season (three goals, six assists) and is tied for second in MLS with 68 tackles.
- Davis will serve the second of a two-match suspension on Wednesday after receiving a red card and hitting caution accumulation on Sept. 7.
- Sporting has a 5-2-2 record in Khiry Shelton’s last nine starts across all competitions.
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez leads Sporting with six assists in MLS regular season play, while Pulido and Russell are tied for second with five apiece.
- Forward Daniel Salloi scored his second goal of the season in a 3-0 home win over Orlando City SC on Aug. 24. In doing so, he became the fourth player in Sporting history to eclipse 100 goal contributions for the club in all competitions (60 goals, 40 assists), trailing only Preki (181), Graham Zusi (125) and current teammate Johnny Russell (118).
- Defender Dany Rosero has scored in each of Sporting’s last two Open Cup matches—a 2-1 quarterfinal win over FC Dallas on July 10 and a 2-0 semifinal win over Indy Eleven on Aug. 27.
- Rosero has scored seven goals for Sporting in all competitions since joining the club in early 2023, all headers.
Colorado Rapids
- 2024 MLS record: 14-9-5, 47 points (3rd in West | 55 GF, 46 GA)
- 2024 MLS away record: 5-7-2 (25 GF, 28 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 3-1-1 (T-L-W-W-W)
- Colorado occupies third place in the Western Conference with a 14-9-5 record. The team has 14 wins this season after winning a league-low five matches during the 2023 campaign.
- Colorado has been shut out just twice during the 2024 regular season, tied with Inter Miami CF for the fewest in MLS.
- Colorado ranks fourth in MLS with 55 goals scored, more than double from last season when the Rapids managed just 26 goals in 34 matches.
- Colorado ranks third in MLS in expected goals per match (1.78).
- Colorado leads MLS with 15 goals scored after the 75th minute during the 2024 regular season.
- Colorado is tied for the Western Conference lead with 25 away goals, posting a 5-7-2 away record.
- Colorado qualified for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup last month by placing third in Leagues Cup 2024, falling to LAFC in the semifinals before defeating the Philadelphia Union on penalties in the third-place match.
- Colorado won three penalty shootouts in Leagues Cup 2024 against Club Leon, Club America and Philadelphia. The Rapids also secured knockout stage wins over Juarez and Toluca as Colorado collected four victories over LIGA MX opponents in the tournament.
- Colorado has won three straight MLS matches since July 20, coming from behind in two of them and scoring the winning goal after the 70th minute in all three.
- Colorado has not won four straight regular season matches since 2003, when it won five straight from July to August that year.
- Colorado has scored 14 goals off set pieces this season, second most in MLS behind only the Philadelphia Union (15).
- Colorado has scored eight penalty kick goals this season, the most in MLS.
- Colorado has been awarded 13 penalty kicks this season, five more than any other team.
- Colorado opponents have committed four goals, the most in MLS.
- Colorado has taken 76% of its shot attempts from the central channel, the highest percentage in MLS. The Rapids have also taken 11% of their shots from inside the six-yard area, the fourth highest percentage in MLS.
- Colorado is 9-0-1 when leading at halftime and 0-5-3 when trailing at halftime during the 2024 regular season.
- Colorado is 9-2-2 when scoring the first goal and 5-7-3 when allowing the first goal during the 2024 regular season. Their five wins when allowing the first goal are second most in MLS behind only Inter Miami CF (eight).
- Colorado’s 28 regular season matches have produced 3.61 goals per game, the third most in MLS.
- Goalkeeper Zack Steffen has played every minute of the 2024 regular season. He also won all three penalty kick shootouts during Leagues Cup 2024, helping the Rapids to a third-place finish in the tournament.
- Steffen is tied for third in MLS in goalkeeping wins (14), ninth in saves (92)
- Forward Rafael Navarro is tied for fifth in MLS in goals (14), fifth in shots on goal (40), ninth in fouls suffered (50) and second in offsides (23).
- Midfielder Djordje Mihailovic is second on the team with 10 goals and is tied for sixth in MLS with 12 assists. He is one of nine players to hit double-digit goals and assists this season.
- Mihailovic ranks second in MLS in shot-creating actions (148), fifth key passes (73), sixth in goal-creating actions (19) and sixth in crosses (165).
- Midfielder Cole Bassett is third in the team in goals (nine) and second on the team in assists (seven). He ranks fourth in MLS in both passes into the final third (177) and progressive passes (215) while ranking seventh in tackles (64).
- Defender Andreas Maxso has played every minute of the regular season for Colorado alongside Steffen. He ranks third in MLS in clearances (122).
Milestones and Miscellany
- Manager Peter Vermes coached his 500th regular season match on Sunday at Seattle Sounders FC, becoming the third head coach in MLS history to reach that milestone alongside Sigi Schmid (548) and Bruce Arena (545).
- 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.
- Defender Logan Ndenbe is one shy of his 100th professional club appearance.
- Defender Dany Rosero is 36 minutes shy of 5,000 minutes played for Sporting in all competitions.
