"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 continue its MLS regular season campaign on Saturday against Orlando City SC with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. CT at Children's Mercy Park. Tickets are available via SeatGeek as the club celebrates Retro Night and inducts Benny Feilhaber into the Sporting Legends hall of honor. The cross-conference clash will be shown on Apple TV for MLS Season Pass subscribers and radio coverage will air on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM with live audio streams in the Sporting KC App.
The end of August marks a pivotal time for Manager Peter Vermes' men, who will meet Indy Eleven in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals just three days after hosting an Orlando side that appears to have found its form. As a crucial juncture in the season awaits, we take a statistical look at Saturday's contest in our newest edition of By The Numbers, presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting has a 2-3-2 record in seven all-time meetings against Orlando, including a 2-1-1 record in four matches at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Sporting and Orlando last met on April 23, 2021, playing to a 1-1 draw at Children’s Mercy Park as Gianluca Busio and Nani traded goals on either side of halftime.
- Orlando lost in its first two visits to Children’s Mercy Park in 2016 and 2018 before emerging with results in each of the last two, a 2-1 win in September 2020 and a 1-1 draw in April 2021.
- Orlando is 2-0-1 in the last three meetings since 2019, including a 1-0 win the last time Sporting visited Orlando in August 2019.
- Forward Johnny Russell is the only player on the current Sporting roster to score against Orlando, having done so in a 2-1 home loss on Sept. 23, 2020.
- Orlando midfielder Nico Lodeiro has two goals and five assists in 10 regular season appearances against Sporting, all as a member of Seattle Sounders FC.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2024 MLS record: 6-14-6, 24 points (12th in West | 41 GF, 52 GA)
- 2024 MLS home record: 4-5-4 (26 GF, 26 GA)
- Last five matches: 2-2-1 (L-W-W-L-T)
- Sporting ranks seventh in MLS in non-penalty goals scored (41).
- Sporting’s 1.58 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 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 26.9% of the club’s goal scoring (14 of 52).
- Sporting leads MLS with 11 goals from outside the box during the 2024 regular season.
- Sporting has scored multiple goals in nine of 13 MLS home matches this season and in 12 of 17 home games across all competitions.
- Sporting has scored in 15 straight regular season home matches dating back to Sept. 23, 2023, totaling 31 goals during that stretch (2.07 per match).
- Sporting is tied for the MLS lead with 15 different goal scorers during the 2024 regular season.
- Sporting has fielded 24 different starting lineups in its last 24 matches across all competitions. Sporting has utilized 28 different starting lineups in 32 total matches this season.
- 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.
- Ten of Agada’s 11 goals this season have come at home. He has scored 20 goals in 30 home appearances at Children’s Mercy Park (including 20 starts) since debuting for the club in July 2022.
- Forward Stephen Afrifa is tied for the team lead with five goals this season in all competitions.
- Forward Johnny Russell leads Sporting with seven assists this season in all competitions. He also ranks second on the team with 11 goal contributions in all competitions, behind only William Agada (14).
- Midfielder Erik Thommy is tied for second on the team with five goals this season in all competitions, each coming in the regular season. He ranks seventh in MLS with 100 progressive carries (dribbles that advance the ball 10 or more yards closer to the opponent’s goal or into the penalty box).
- Forward Alan Pulido is tied for second on the team in goals (five) and third on the team in assists (four) across all competitions.
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez leads Sporting with six assists in MLS regular season play.
- Defender Dany Rosero has scored six goals for Sporting in all competitions since joining the club in early 2023, all headers from set pieces.
- Defender Robert Castellanos ranks eighth in MLS with 71.9% of his aerial duels won.
Orlando City SC
- 2024 MLS record: 9-9-7, 34 points (7th in East | 39 GF, 38 GA)
- 2024 MLS away record: 6-4-3 (22 GF, 23 GA)
- Last five matches: 1-4-0 (W-W-W-W-T)
- Orlando has a 4-0-1 record in its last five regular season matches. Orlando’s 13 points since the start of July are the most in MLS.
- Orlando is 3-5-4 at home and 6-4-3 on the road during the regular season. Orlando is the only MLS team two or more games below .500 at home and two or more games above .500 on the road.
- Orlando’s six regular season road wins are tied for third most in MLS.
- Orlando has scored 1.42 goals per home match (22nd in MLS) and 1.69 goals per away match (fifth in MLS) during the regular season.
- Orlando has been outscored 10-3 in the first 15 minutes of matches this season while outscoring opponents 36-28 after the 15th minute.
- Orlando has faced 287 total shots and 11.5 shots per match during the regular season, both the third fewest in MLS.
- Orlando is 5-2-2 when scoring the first goal and 4-7-3 when conceding the first goal during the regular season. Their four wins when conceding the first goal are tied for second most in MLS.
- Orlando is 6-1-1 when leading at halftime and 1-8-2 when trailing at halftime during the regular season.
- Orlando leads MLS in both attempted crosses per match (21.3) and completed passes into the penalty area per match (10.1).
- Orlando ranks second in MLS with 72 tackles in the attacking third.
- Orlando ranks last in MLS with an aerial duel success rate of 39.9%, more than 5% lower than any other team.
- Midfielder Facundo Torres leads Orlando with eight goals and 13 total goal contributions during the regular season. He ranks sixth in MLS in successful crosses into the penalty area (16) and fifth in progressive passes received (239).
- Winger Ivan Angulo ranks fifth in MLS in carries into the penalty area (41) and eighth in progressive passes received (216). He is tied for second on the team in assists (seven) and goal contributions (10).
- Midfielder Cesar Araujo ranks seventh in MLS in fouls suffered (49), seventh in yellow cards (eight) and eighth in dribblers tackled (31).
- Midfielder Nico Lodeiro leads Orlando with nine assists. He ranks seventh in MLS in progressive passes (178) while ranking 10th in both successful through balls (10) and expected assists per 90 minutes (0.30).
- Midfielder Martin Ojeda ranks sixth in MLS in crosses (149) and is tied for second on the team in assists (seven) and goal contributions (10).
Milestones and Miscellany
- Goalkeeper Tim Melia has made 291 appearances for Sporting in all competitions, one shy of passing current assistant coach Kerry Zavagnin for sole possession of fourth most in club history.
- 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 has 35 goals for Sporting in all competitions, tied with Benny Feilhaber and Graham Zusi for ninth in club history and six behind Kei Kamara in eighth.
- Forward William Agada is tied with teammate Alan Pulido for fifth in club history with six multi-goal games in the regular season, one shy of a tie for third.
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez is one shy of his 250th professional club appearance.
- Defender Robert Voloder is one shy of his 50th appearance for Sporting in all competitions.
- Defender Jake Davis is 64 minutes shy of 5,000 minutes played for Sporting in all competitions.
- Longtime Sporting midfielder and 2013 MLS Cup champion Benny Feilhaber will be inducted into the Sporting Legends hall of honor at halftime of Saturday’s match. He had 35 goals and 58 assists in 198 matches for Sporting in all competitions (2013-2017, 2019) and will be the 13th person inducted into Sporting Legends since its conception in 2013.
