"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.
One of Major League Soccer's most unlikable teams will visit Children's Mercy Park on Saturday as Sporting Kansas City hosts Seattle Sounders FC. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT with tickets available on SeatGeek.com and live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Sporting and Seattle have combined for 15 major trophies in as many years, yet neither team has met expectations during the first half of the 2024 campaign. With both sides looking to get back on track with a win, we take a statistical look at the fixture in our newest edition of By The Numbers, presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting has gone 10-5-3 in the last 18 regular season meetings against Seattle since 2015.
- Sporting has won six of the last nine meetings dating back to 2019 (6-3-0 record).
- Sporting won the most recent meeting by a 2-1 scoreline on May 7, 2023, in Seattle. It was Sporting’s fourth win in its last five trips to Lumen Field.
- The most recent meeting in May 2023 saw Erik Thommy and Alan Pulido score first-half goals for Sporting before Seattle grabbed one back through Nico Lodeiro in the second half.
- The most recent meeting at Children’s Mercy Park saw Seattle prevail 4-1 on March 25, 2023. Jordan Morris and Leo Chu set Seattle single-game club records with four goals and four assists, respectively. It was the second time a single player had scored four goals in a game against Sporting (Jeff Cunningham for Dallas in 2009).
- Morris has seven goals in nine regular season appearances against Sporting.
- Sporting captain Johnny Russell has six goals and one assist in 11 career regular season appearances against Seattle. His six goals against Seattle are tied for his most versus any MLS opponent (Dallas, LA Galaxy, Minnesota).
- Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia has a 9-4-2 record, five shutouts and 1.20 goals against average in 15 regular season appearances against Seattle.
- Seattle forward Danny Musovski has three goal contributions (two goals, one assist) in 202 regular season minutes against Sporting.
- Seattle leads the all-time regular season series with a 12-11-4 record, including a 6-5-2 record in Kansas City.
- Sporting has a 5-4-2 regular season record against Seattle at Children’s Mercy Park and notably beat the Sounders at the stadium in the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final.
- The last 11 regular season meetings between the clubs have produced 40 goals, a clip of 3.63 goals per match. The first 16 regular season meetings in the series from 2009-2017 produced just 29 goals, a clip of 1.81 per match.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2024 MLS record: 2-9-5, 11 points (14th in West | 24 GF, 31 GA)
- 2024 MLS home record: 1-4-3 (15 GF, 18 GA)
- Last five matches: 0-5-0 (L-L-L-L-L)
- Sporting has a 1-8-5 record in games decided by one goal or fewer. Eight of the team’s nine losses have come by a single goal.
- Sporting ranks 10th in MLS with 1.5 goals per match, fourth most during the club’s 14-year Sporting KC era dating back to 2011.
- Sporting ranks sixth in MLS with 1.50 non-penalty goals per game.
- Sporting has scored seven goals off set pieces this season, tied for the fourth most in MLS. The team has also conceded seven goals off set pieces, fifth most in MLS.
- Sporting leads MLS with eight goals from outside the box and has taken 51% of its shot attempts from outside the box, the highest percentage in MLS.
- Sporting has outperformed its expected goal total by 8.2 goals this season, the third most in MLS (24 goals scored, 15.8 expected goals).
- Sporting has fielded 10 different starting lineups in its last 10 matches across all competitions. Sporting has utilized 14 different starting lineups in 18 total matches this season.
- Sporting has advanced to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals for the fifth time since 2015, more than any other team.
- Forward Johnny Russell scored his 58th regular season goal for Sporting in last weekend’s 3-1 loss at Minnesota United FC, passing Dom Dwyer for second most in club history. Russell has goals in two of his last three starts since May 18.
- Forward Alenis Vargas has earned his first two MLS starts in each of Sporting’s last two matches. He has recorded the third-fastest top speed in MLS this season at 22.69 miles per hour.
- Forward Alan Pulido and midfielder Erik Thommy are tied for the Sporting lead with four goals this season in all competitions.
- Forward Willy Agada ranks eighth in MLS in expected goals per 90 minutes (0.64) and ninth in shot attempts per 90 minutes (4.33).
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez leads Sporting with four assists this season. He also ranks second in MLS in successful take-on percentage (77.8%).
- Midfielder Nemanja Radoja leads Sporting in regular season minutes played (1,321) and is tied with defender Jake Davis for the team lead in regular season starts (15).
- Defender Tim Leibold ranks eighth in MLS in dribblers tackled (22).
- Defender Dany Rosero has scored five of Sporting’s eight headed goals since the start of 2023, all coming off set pieces.
Seattle Sounders FC
- 2024 MLS record: 4-6-6, 18 points (10th in West | 19 GF, 19 GA)
- 2024 MLS away record: 3-5-1 (11 GF, 14 GA)
- Last five matches: 2-1-2 (W-L-T-W-T)
- Seattle has just one loss in its last nine matches across all competitions, going 4-1-4 since April 30.
- Seattle began the regular season with a 1-5-3 record through April 27, but the Sounders have gone 3-1-3 in MLS play since then.
- Each of Seattle’s last three MLS wins have come on the road. The Sounders are 3-1-0 in their last four away games after opening the season 0-4-1 on the road.
- Seattle is one of three MLS teams (Charlotte, Houston) with fewer than 20 goals scored and fewer than 20 goals allowed (19 each).
- Seattle is 2-0-2 when leading at halftime and 0-5-0 when trailing at halftime. Their record when trailing at halftime is the worst in MLS.
- Seattle has a league-high five red cards through 16 matches this season, their most in an MLS regular season since accumulating six in 2017.
- Forward Raul Ruidiaz ranks fourth in MLS in shot attempts (60) and eighth in shots on target (24). He has a team-high seven goals this year and 71 regular season goals since joining the Sounders in 2018.
- Ruidiaz has scored four of his seven goals this season from penalty kicks. His four penalty kick goals are most in MLS.
- Since scoring four goals in Seattle’s 4-1 road win over Sporting on March 25, 2023, forward Jordan Morris has scored seven goals in his last 37 regular season appearances.
- Midfielder Albert Rusnak has team-highs in assists (five) and key passes (25) this season. He has 50 goals and 50 assists in his regular season career since joining MLS in 2017.
- Midfielder Obed Vargas ranks eighth in MLS in total tackles (40) and 10th in tackles won (25).
Milestones and Miscellany
- Forward Johnny Russell has 58 regular season goals for Sporting, second most in club history and 13 shy of Preki for the all-time lead.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has appeared in 68 straight regular season matches since June 19, 2022, the third longest streak in club history (Chris Brown 80, Mark Chung 74).
- Forward Alan Pulido is tied for ninth in Sporting history with 31 regular season goals alongside Benny Feilhaber, Mo Johnston and Graham Zusi.
- Defender Jake Davis is one shy of his 50th start for Sporting in all competitions and one shy of his 50th MLS appearance for Sporting (including playoffs).
