Sporting Kansas City vs Real Salt Lake
2022 MLS Regular Season | Match 5
Saturday, March 25 | 6 p.m. CT (6:08 kickoff)
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, KS
English TV | 38 The Spot
Spanish TV | TUDN
Streaming | Twitter
English Radio | ESPN 94.5 FM
Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM
Sporting Kansas City (1-3-0, 3 points) will host unbeaten Real Salt Lake (3-0-1, 10 points) at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday at Children's Mercy Park. Tickets are available online from match sponsor SeatGeek, including recently released Standing Room Only tickets, as the teams meet for the first time since last November when the sides went head-to-head on Decision Day and the Western Conference Semifinals.
Saturday's showdown will be locally televised on 38 The Spot with three hours of coverage beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT in addition to a national television audience on TUDN, as well as a live stream on Twitter. Local radio coverage will be available on ESPN 94.5 FM and La Grande 1340 AM.
After playing three of the team's first four matches on the road, Sporting Kansas City returns home to the friendly confines of Children's Mercy Park where the club defeated longtime postseason nemesis Houston Dynamo FC in the club's home opener earlier this month. Now, Sporting will welcome Real Salt Lake in a rematch of the 2013 MLS Cup for the latest chapter in a momentous rivalry between the Western Conference foes.
The all-time series between Sporting and RSL is deadlocked with 16 wins for each side across all competitions after Real Salt Lake swept all three meetings in 2021, including a 1-0 win on Decision Day with a 95th minute goal from Damir Kreilach and a 2-1 victory in the Western Conference Semifinals on a 91st minute goal from Bobby Wood three weeks later.
Wood is off to a strong start this season and has already matched his offensive output from a year ago with two goals and an assist in 2022, including a goal just 90 seconds into Real Salt Lake's 2-1 win over Nashville SC last weekend as he headed home a corner from Justin Meram. Homegrown forward Tate Schmitt provided the game-winning goal in the second half and has now scored in back-to-back matches after his dramatic 93rd minute strike a week earlier capped a thrilling 3-2 comeback win on the road at reigning Supporters' Shield holders New England.
Real Salt Lake, currently tied with LAFC and Philadelphia atop the Supporters' Shield standings, enters Saturday's match riding a three-game winning streak and in pursuit of the club's first four-match winning streak since 2013. Led by head coach Pablo Mastroeni in his first full season at the helm, Real Salt Lake is off to the team's best start to a season in over a decade despite the loss of two key attackers from a year ago with the departures of Albert Rusnak and Anderson Julio.
Hampered by injuries to key contributors, Sporting Kansas City is coming off back-to-back road defeats in Colorado and Chicago. Veteran midfielder Roger Espinoza scored in last week's loss and now the 2008 MLS SuperDraft selection will look to make his 300th career start for Sporting in all competitions on Saturday.
Two longtime teammates of Espinoza are also on the cusp of major milestones, while Sporting Kansas City's next goal at Children's Mercy Park will be the team's 400th inside the stadium. Right back Graham Zusi is 57 minutes shy of passing Matt Besler for the most minutes played for the club across all competitions and Tim Melia's next appearance will see him become the first goalkeeper in Sporting KC history to play in 200 regular season matches for the team.
Zusi leads all MLS players in touches this season (374), followed closely by Sporting KC centerback Andreu Fontas (371), and midfielder Remi Walter leads the league with 45 recoveries. Walter, who scored the lone goal in Sporting's last home match, also ranks fourth in MLS with 28.4 miles covered through four matches.
Both teams will be shorthanded on Saturday as Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake each have five players out, with an additional four players apiece listed as questionable. Manager Peter Vermes remains without Designated Players Alan Pulido (knee) and Gadi Kinda (knee) due to injury, while Marinos Tzionis (Cyprus) and Logan Ndenbe (Belgium U21s) are currently on international duty.
Three players who started for Real Salt Lake in last year's Western Conference Final -- Nick Besler (nose), Justen Glad (hamstring) and David Ochoa (quad) - are sidelined with injuries and an additional three starters from that match are listed as questionable, including Kreilach - the team's top scorer in 2021 with 16 goals and nine assists who has missed RSL's last three matches. In addition, Meram has joined the Iraq men's national team for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying.
Fans in attendance on Saturday will have their first opportunity to purchase Charlie Hustle's new limited edition Victory Project Kit Tee at SportingStyle stores throughout Children's Mercy Park. Part of Charlie Hustle's Communi-TEES line, proceeds from the shirt sale will go directly to The Victory Project to support its mission of helping children through all of life's challenges.
