"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 busy stretch of action will continue Sunday when FC Dallas visits Children's Mercy Park in the first of back-to-back meetings between the clubs. The Western Conference battle will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT with tickets available at SeatGeek.com and live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Sunday's contest will serve as a compelling precursor to an all-important U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal clash three days later at the same stadium. Sporting are looking to bounce back from a late 2-1 loss in Colorado on the Fourth of July, while FC Dallas celebrated Independence Day with a 3-2 home triumph over Portland.
We take a statistical look at the fixture in our newest edition of By The Numbers, presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting and Dallas last met on May 31, 2023, at Children’s Mercy Park. Goals from Gadi Kinda and Daniel Salloi propelled the hosts to a 2-1 victory, snapping Kansas City’s six-game regular season home winless drought against Dallas (0-4-2 record) that spanned from 2018-2021.
- The last three meetings have resulted in 2-1 scorelines, with Dallas prevailing at home in October 2022 and March 2023 and SKC prevailing at home in May 2023.
- The home team in the series is unbeaten in the last five meetings across all competitions since the start of 2022.
- Sporting is 3-7-2 in its last 12 regular season meetings against Dallas since 2019.
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has eight goals and two assists in 15 regular season appearances against Dallas, including goals in each of the last two meetings. His eight regular season goals versus Dallas are his most against any MLS opponent and the most by any Sporting player in the all-time series.
- Sporting forward Johnny Russell has six goals and one assist in 11 regular season appearances against Dallas.
- Dallas forward Jesus Ferreira has six goals and two assists in 11 regular season appearances against Sporting, including goals in each of the last two meetings and a goal contribution in each of the last four meetings.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2024 MLS record: 4-13-5, 17 points (13th in West | 34 GF, 46 GA)
- 2024 MLS home record: 3-5-3 (22 GF, 23 GA)
- Last five matches: 1-4-0 (L-L-L-W-L)
- Sporting has scored multiple goals in eight of 11 MLS home matches this season and in nine of 12 home games across all competitions.
- Sporting ranks ninth in MLS with 1.55 non-penalty goals per match.
- 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 (SKC had more goals per match in 2018, 2020 and 2021).
- Sporting has gone 15 straight matches without a draw in all competitions, tied for the third longest streak in club history. Sporting’s most recent draw was a 3-3 home result against St. Louis City SC on April 20.
- Sporting leads MLS with 15 different goal scorers during the 2024 regular season.
- Sporting has fielded 16 different starting lineups in its last 16 matches across all competitions. Sporting has utilized 20 different starting lineups in 24 total matches this season.
- Sporting will host FC Dallas in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals on July 10. With a win, Sporting would also have hosting rights for the semifinal against either Atlanta United FC or USL Championship side Indy Eleven.
- Forward Johnny Russell scored Sporting’s go-ahead goal in Thursday’s 2-1 loss at Colorado. He now has six goal contributions (four goals, two assists) in his last eight MLS starts since May 18. Russell’s 60 regular season goals are second most in club history, while his 66 goals in all competitions are third most in club history and one behind Dom Dwyer.
- Defender Tim Leibold assisted Russell’s goal and now has a goal contribution in consecutive matches, having opened his MLS scoring account in a 2-0 home win over Austin on June 29.
- Forward Stephen Afrifa has scored three goals in his last five MLS matches. He is tied for second on the team with four goals this season in all competitions alongside forward Alan Pulido and midfielder Erik Thommy.
- Forward Willy Agada leads Sporting with five goals this season, all of which have come at home. Agada ranks fifth in MLS in both expected goals per 90 minutes (0.70) and shots per 90 minutes (4.81).
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez leads Sporting with five assists this season.
- Midfielder Nemanja Radoja leads Sporting this year in regular season minutes (1,815) and starts (21) as well as minutes (2,003) and starts (23) across all competitions.
FC Dallas
- 2024 MLS record: 6-10-5, 23 points (11th in West | 30 GF, 34 GA)
- 2024 MLS away record: 0-7-3 (9 GF, 18 GA)
- Last five matches: 3-2-0 (W-W-L-L-W)
- Dallas is winless in 10 regular season road matches this season with a 0-7-3 away record. Dallas last won an MLS match away from home on Decision Day in 2023, prevailing 4-1 against the LA Galaxy.
- Dallas has one win in 11 away matches this season in all competitions, a 2-1 victory at the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16.
- Dallas has won three of its last five MLS matches after winning just three of its first 16 league fixtures.
- Seven of Dallas’ 10 MLS losses this season have come by a single goal.
- Dallas is 3-0-1 when leading at halftime and 1-4-1 when trailing at halftime this season. Eleven of the team’s 21 MSL matches this season have been tied at halftime.
- Dallas is tied for third in MLS with nine goals from set pieces.
- Dallas has attempted 46% of its shot attempts from outside the box, second most in MLS behind Sporting.
- Goalkeeper Maarten Paes leads MLS in saves (90) and ranks fifth in save percentage (75.8%).
- Forward Petar Musa leads Dallas with 10 goals during the regular season. No other Dallas player has more than four. He also ranks fourth in MLS in aerial duels won (60).
- Midfielder Asier Illarramendi ranks seventh in MLS in successful take-on percentage (69.2%).
- Midfielder Sebastian Lletget leads Dallas with five assists this season, while midfielder Paul Arriola leads the team with 22 key passes.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Manager Peter Vermes is one 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).
- Forward Johnny Russell ranks third in club history with 66 goals in all competitions, one shy of tying Dom Dwyer for second on the all-time chart.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has 99 goal contributions (59 goals, 40 assists) for Sporting in all competitions, fourth most in club history.
- Forward Alan Pulido is tied for ninth in Sporting history with 31 regular season goals alongside Benny Feilhaber, Mo Johnston and Graham Zusi.
- Defender Zorhan Bassong is one shy of 100 appearances in his professional club career.
