"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 conclude a busy month of May by hosting Vancouver Whitecaps FC at 7:30 p.m. CT Wednesday at Children's Mercy Park. Tickets for the Western Conference clash are available online via SeatGeek, including the Coca-Cola Friends & Family 4-Pack featuring four Price Chopper South Stand tickets, four chicken tender meals and four 20-ounce Coca-Cola products for only $100. Fans can also catch the action on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Two teams looking to regain their form are on a collision course Wednesday, with Sporting and Vancouver both eager to scale up the standings as spring turns into summer. 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 a 12-6-5 regular season record against Vancouver, scoring 44 goals and allowing 24.
- Sporting has a 7-2-2 regular season home record against Vancouver, scoring 24 goals and allowing nine.
- Vancouver is 3-1-1 in the last five regular season meetings, including a pair of 1-0 victories in 2022, but suffered a 3-0 road loss in the most recent meeting on July 1, 2023. Remi Walter, Alan Pulido and Erik Thommy scored goals in the dominant home win at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Sporting has gone 7-3-3 in the last 13 meetings with Vancouver across all competitions since 2018, scoring 28 goals and conceding nine.
- Sporting forward Alan Pulido has five career goals versus Vancouver. He has scored in each of his four regular season appearances against the club, including a brace in a 3-0 home win on May 16, 2021.
- Sporting forward Johnny Russell has four goals and two assists in nine regular season appearances against Vancouver.
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has three goals and two assists in nine regular season appearances against Vancouver.
- Sporting midfielder Memo Rodriguez has three goals and one assist in 266 regular season minutes against Vancouver, all as a member of Houston Dynamo FC.
- Vancouver forward Fafa Picault has two goals and three assists in 11 regular season appearances against Sporting, including goals in two of his last three appearances at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Vancouver forward Brian White has a goal and two assists in five regular season appearances against Sporting.
- Vancouver midfielder Ryan Gauld has two goals in four regular season appearances against Sporting.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2024 MLS record: 2-7-5, 11 points (14th in West | 22 GF, 26 GA)
- 2024 MLS home record: 1-3-3 (14 GF, 16 GA)
- Last five matches: 0-5-0 (L-L-L-L-L)
- Sporting set a season-high by scoring four goals in a 4-0 home win over FC Tulsa in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 on May 21 at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Sporting has prevailed in 27 Open Cup matches since 2012, more than any other team.
- Sporting owns an 18-5-4 all-time record against non-MLS opponents in the Open Cup.
- Sporting owns a 26-7-3 home record in the Open Cup and hasn’t lost at home in the competition since falling in the Round of 16 to the Portland Timbers on June 24, 2014.
- Sporting has prevailed in 14 straight Open Cup home matches, posting a 13-0-1 record since 2015. The lone draw accounts for a shootout win following a 1-1 stalemate against the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2017 semifinals.
- Sporting’s five Open Cup quarterfinal appearances since 2015 are the most of any team.
- Sporting ranks seventh in MLS with 1.57 non-penalty goals per game.
- Sporting ranks third in MLS with 0.86 first-half goals per game.
- Sporting leads MLS with seven goals from outside the box and has taken 51% of its shot attempts from outside the box, the highest percentage in MLS.
- Sporting has scored seven goals off set pieces this season, tied for the third most in MLS.
- Sporting has outperformed its expected goal total by 7.7 goals this season, the third most in MLS (22 goals scored, 14.3 expected goals).
- Each of Sporting’s seven MLS losses this season have come by a single goal.
- Memo Rodriguez scored his first goal for Sporting in Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Portland on Saturday.
- Rodriguez leads Sporting with four assists this season and will miss Wednesday’s match against Vancouver due to caution accumulation.
- Forward Alan Pulido and midfielder Erik Thommy are tied for the Sporting lead with four goals this season in all competitions.
- Pulido has recorded assists in back-to-back MLS matches. He has assisted goals in consecutive league games for the fourth time, having done so once each in 2020, 2021 and 2023.
- Thommy ranks ninth in MLS with 55 progressive carries, dribbles that advance the ball either into the penalty area or 10 yards closer to goal.
- Defender Dany Rosero has scored five of Sporting’s eight headed goals since the start of 2023, all coming off set pieces.
- Defender Tim Leibold ranks 10th in MLS with 24 tackles won this season.
- Forward Willy Agada is third on the team with three goals this season, ranking sixth in MLS in expected goals per 90 minutes (0.71), ninth shots on target per 90 minutes (1.59) and ninth in total shots per 90 minutes (4.33).
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
- 2024 MLS record: 5-5-4, 19 points (7th in West | 20 GF, 17 GA)
- 2024 MLS home record: 3-2-2 (9 GF, 7 GA)
- Last five matches: 0-3-2 (T-L-L-T-L)
- Vancouver is winless in six MLS matches (0-3-3 record) since opening the season 5-2-1.
- Vancouver has not held a lead in an MLS match since April 27, going five straight games without a lead.
- Vancouver is 3-2-2 away from home this season, boasting the third best road record in the Western Conference.
- Vancouver has conceded seven goals in seven away matches this season, the third fewest in MLS behind Atlanta and Austin (six each).
- Vancouver went 435 minutes without scoring a league goal from April 27 to May 18, the longest drought by an MLS team this season.
- Four of Vancouver’s five MLS wins this season have come by multiple goals.
- Vancouver is 5-1-1 when scoring the first goal and 0-4-2 when conceding the first goal this season.
- Vancouver ranks third in MLS in passing accuracy at 87%.
- Vancouver leads MLS with 15.2 clearances per match.
- Vancouver has conceded four goals on counter attacks this season, tied for third most in MLS.
- Vancouver has an average shot distance of 16.3 yards this season, the shortest in MLS.
- Vancouver leads MLS with 45 crosses into the penalty area.
- Vancouver ranks fourth in MLS with an aerial duel success rate of 53.4%.
- Midfielder Ryan Gauld and forward Brian White are tied for the team lead in both goals (five) and goal contributions (seven) this season.
- Gauld ranks fourth in MLS with 40 key passes this season but has just two assists.
- Defender Ranko Veselinovic leads MLS with 61 clearances this season.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Forward Johnny Russell has 57 regular season goals for Sporting, one shy of passing Dom Dwyer for second 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.
- Forward Daniel Salloi is one shy of 100 career goal contributions for Sporting in all competitions (59 goals and 40 assists). Three players in club history have eclipsed 100 career goal contributions in all competitions: Preki (185), Graham Zusi (125) and Johnny Russell (107).
