"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.
Hot off a 3-1 away win at Toronto FC, Sporting Kansas City will begin a three-game homestand Sunday when the Portland Timbers visit world-class Children's Mercy Park. The Western Conference clash will kick off at 12:55 p.m. CT and tickets are available online at SeatGeek, including the Coca-Cola Friends & Family 4-Pack and the Wild West 5-Pack.
The Sunday matinee will be shown live on FOX, FOX Deportes and MLS Season Pass via Apple TV in addition to airing on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM. A national television audience will be treated to an intriguing contest as Sporting look to build off a rampant road performance in Toronto, facing a Portland side that has dropped three straight after opening the season in impressive fashion.
With plenty of excitement building toward Sunday, we take a statistical look at the fixture in our newest edition of By The Numbers presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting leads the all-time regular season series with a 9-7-6 record, including a 5-1-4 record at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Sporting are 4-0-4 in their last eight regular season home meetings against the Timbers, including 4-1 wins in each of Portland’s last two visits to Children’s Mercy Park.
- On Aug. 21, 2022, Sporting received a brace from Willy Agada and additional goals from Andreu Fontas and Erik Thommy.
- On May 28, 2023, Sporting erased an early deficit behind a Portland own goal and strikes from Erik Thommy, Daniel Salloi and Felipe Hernandez.
- Portland’s lone regular season win at Children’s Mercy Park came by a 3-2 scoreline on April 27, 2013.
- Portland are 5-2-3 in the last 10 meetings between the clubs, including both legs of the 2018 Western Conference finals as the Timbers prevailed 3-2 on aggregate to reach MLS Cup.
- Neither team has enjoyed a winning streak of longer than two matches in the head-to-head series (including playoffs).
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has six goal contributions (four goals, two assists) in 11 regular season appearances against Portland.
- Sporting midfielder Erik Thommy has scored in each of his two home appearances against Portland.
- Sporting midfielder Felipe Hernandez has three goal contributions (one goal, two assists) in six regular season appearances against Portland, his most against any MLS opponent.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2024 MLS record: 2-1-3, 9 points (6th in West | 9 GF, 7 GA)
- 2024 MLS home record: 1-1-1 (5 GF, 5 GA)
- Last five matches: 2-1-2 (T-T-W-L-W)
- Last Saturday’s win over Toronto was the eighth regular season match in Sporting history with multiple Kansas City goal scorers under the age of 23 (Jake Davis 22, Alenis Vargas 20). It was the first such time since Oct 17, 2018 when Daniel Salloi (age 22) and Gianluca Busio (age 16) scored in a 4-1 win at Vancouver.
- Last Saturday, Sporting scored three second-half goals in a regular season away match for the first time since the 4-1 at Vancouver on Oct. 17, 2018.
- Sporting have scored first in 22 of the club’s last 32 matches in all competitions dating back to 2023.
- Sporting have trailed for a total of 17 minutes this season, second fewest in MLS (six minutes for Montreal).
- Sporting have outscored opponents 8-1 through the 68th minute and been outscored 6-1 from the 69th minute onward this season.
- Sporting are one of five MLS teams that have yet to trail at halftime this season (Cincinnati, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver)
- Sporting rank third in MLS with 6.0 shots on target per match.
- In last Saturday’s win at Toronto, defender Jake Davis recorded his first career MLS goal and also added an assist. It marked just the sixth time since 2014 that a Sporting player under the age of 23 recorded one goal and one assist for the club in a regular season match.
- In last Saturday’s win, midfielder Remi Walter scored his ninth goal for Sporting in all competitions since joining the club in 2021. Four of those nine goals have come in his last 10 MLS appearances (including playoffs) dating back to Oct. 21, 2023.
- In last Saturday’s win, forward Alenis Vargas scored his first career MLS goal from off the bench. Vargas, who last month joined the Honduras Men’s National Team for the first time, scored six goals for Sporting KC II during the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro campaign.
- Forward Willy Agada has scored or assisted in each of Sporting’s last two matches.
- Agada has scored 10 goals in 10 career regular season starts at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has appeared in 58 straight regular season matches for Sporting since June 19, 2022, the fifth longest streak in club history (Chris Brown 80, Mark Chung 74, Davy Arnaud 67, Ilie Sanchez 64).
- Defender Dany Rosero has scored four of Sporting’s seven headed goals since the start of 2023, all coming off set pieces. The center back has scored all four of his goals for the club on headers.
- Defender Tim Leibold leads MLS with 13 dribblers tackled this season. He also ranks sixth in the league in total tackles (18).
- Goalkeeper Tim Melia is fourth in MLS with 22 saves.
Portland Timbers
- 2024 MLS record: 2-3-1, 7 points (8th in West | 11 GF, 11 GA)
- 2024 MLS away record: 1-2-0 (4 GF, 5 GA)
- Last five matches: 1-3-1 (T-W-L-L-L)
- Portland has lost three straight matches after opening the season with a 2-0-1 record. Only Dallas has a longer active MLS losing streak (four matches).
- Portland is looking to avoid its first four-match regular season losing skid since April 2019 when it lost five straight away from home.
- Portland has held a lead for a total of one minute in its last four matches after leading for 162 minutes across its first two matches.
- Portland has trailed at halftime in each of its last four matches since March 9.
- Portland’s six MLS matches have produced 22 total goals at a clip of 3.67 goals per match, tied for the most in MLS.
- Portland is one of two MLS teams (St. Louis) with at least 11 goals scored and 11 goals conceded this season.
- Portland is one of seven MLS teams without a clean sheet this season.
- Portland has gone 12 straight regular season matches without a clean sheet dating back to September 2023, the team’s longest such streak since 2019.
- Portland is fifth in MLS in goals per match (1.83) and ranks second in the league in assists (16).
- Portland leads MLS with 17 fouls suffered per match. The team’s +32 discrepancy in fouls suffered to fouls committed is the second largest in MLS.
- Portland ranks second in MLS with an aerial duel success rate of 59.6%.
- Forward Santiago Moreno has four assists this season, one shy of the MLS lead.
- Moreno is tied for fourth in MLS with 14 key passes, while midfielder Evander is one behind with 13. Portland is the only team to have two players (Moreno and Evander) with 13 key passes this season.
- Midfielder Diego Chara has been with Portland for all 14 MLS seasons in club history since 2011. Chara has made 373 regular season appearances for Portland, third most with one MLS club in league history (Chris Wondolowski 376 with San Jose, Nick Rimando 369 with Real Salt Lake).
- Defender Zac McGraw is sixth in MLS with 22 clearances.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Forward Johnny Russell has 56 regular season goals for Sporting, one shy of tying Dom Dwyer for second most in club history.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has 96 goal contributions (58 goals, 38 assists) for Sporting in all competitions, one shy of tying Chris Klein for fourth most in club history.
