Sporting Kansas City returns home for a midweek clash with rivals Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night as the squad prepares to host the most in-form road team in all of MLS. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and will be streamed on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV in English and Spanish. The match will also be available on the radio locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish), while tickets are available via SeatGeek.com.
1. VITAL WEEK ON THE HORIZON
Sporting Kansas City are in the midst of a vital week in the club’s season, playing three games in seven days before the MLS regular season takes a break for the Leagues Cup. Sporting began the week with a frustrating 2-2 draw on the road at Houston Dynamo FC where the team surrendered the lead in the 98th minute of the match.
Now, Sporting will host the best road team in MLS with Real Salt Lake coming to down. RSL has gone 6-3-2 on the road this year and are unbeaten in their last seven road matches (5-0-2). Across all competitions, RSL are 8-0-2 in their last 10 road matches, including four consecutive wins in MLS play and three on the bounce in the U.S. Open Cup.
Sporting have been buoyed by the return to form of Designated Players Alan Pulido and Gadi Kinda of late, with Pulido tallying nine goals in seven games since the start of June - the most in MLS - while Kinda has tallied assists in back-to-back games and went the full 90 for the first time post-surgery on Saturday in Houston.
Sporting will take some confidence from the fact that Houston had only conceded three goals at home prior to Saturday’s match, with SKC almost doubling that in 90 minutes.
2. HOSTING LEAGUE’S BEST ROAD TEAM
Sporting Kansas City returns home midweek for another stern test of the club’s credentials as Peter Vermes’ side hosts Real Salt Lake, the league’s best road team in 2023. This, coming on the back of earning a 2-2 draw away at the Western Conference’s best home team in Houston Dynamo FC on Saturday night. RSL have gone 6-3-2 on the road this year and are unbeaten in their last seven road matches (5-0-2).
Sporting and RSL split the season series 1-1-0 last season with both teams claiming all three points at home. Sporting won the first contest 1-0 on March 26, 2022 at Children’s Mercy Park with Johnny Russell’s late goal enough to seal the victory.
The return fixture took place at Rio Tinto Stadium almost exactly one year ago on July 17, 2022 and RSL took control from the start with a 3-0 victory following goals from Sergio Cordova, Pablo Ruiz and Jefferson Savarino.
Sporting KC trails the all-time regular-season series 12-16-8 and has gone 7-5-5 at home against RSL. However, Sporting has won just four of their last 20 regular-season matches against the Utes, going 2-4-3 at home since the start of 2014.
3. PULIDO BREAKS INTO GOLDEN BOOT RACE
Sporting Kansas City forward and Designated Player Alan Pulido showed no signs of slowing down his stunning recent form, bagging another pair of goals in Saturday night’s 2-2 draw with Houston Dynamo FC at Shell Energy Stadium.
Pulido now has nine goals in the past seven games and leads all of MLS with nine goals since the start of June. Pulido also leads Sporting with 14 goal contributions in all competitions this season (11 goals, three assists).
Pulido’s two goals over the weekend give him 10 on the season in MLS play, tied for third in the Golden Boot race behind only Hany Mukhtar (13) and Denis Bouanga (12). With Saturday’s performance, Pulido is now Sporting’s leader in goals per game among players with at least 20 regular-season matches played.
SPORTING KC GOALS PER GAME LEADERS (MIN 20 GAMES PLAYED)
Player | Goals | Games | GPG |
Alan Pulido | 24 | 51 | 0.471 |
Willy Agada | 9 | 20 | 0.450 |
Dom Dwyer | 57 | 128 | 0.445 |
4. KINDA HEATIN’ UP
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Gadi Kinda continued to round into form as his minutes increase following knee surgery that forced him to miss all of 2022. Kinda put in his first 90-minute shift since returning during Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Houston Dynamo FC at Shell Energy Stadium.
Kinda tallied his fourth assist of the season and his second in as many games on Alan Pulido’s opening goal, sending a backheel flick through the legs of a defender to free the Mexican forward to dink a finish over the onrushing goalkeeper. Kinda was not credited with an assist on the second goal, but it was his driving run and piece of skill that forced Artur to commit a foul in the box that saw Pulido step up and convert his second of the night.
Kinda has been hugely productive for Sporting when available since joining the club as a Designated Player in 2020, tallying 13 goals and 16 assists in 56 MLS regular-season appearances.
5. FONTAS TALLIES FIRST ASSIST IN TWO YEARS
Sporting Kansas City center back Andreu Fontas sparked Sporting during Saturday night’s 2-2 draw with Houston Dynamo FC at Shell Energy Stadium, firing a pass into Gadi Kinda who in turn flicked the ball to Alan Pulido to open the scoring midway through the first half.
The secondary assist was Fontas’ first assist of any kind for Sporting since June 23, 2021, when he tallied his only other assist for the club in a 3-1 home win over the Colorado Rapids.
Fontas has struck up a solid partnership with fellow center back Dany Rosero in the heart of Sporting’s backline, with the team going 4-0-0 when the center back pairing start together at home this season, outscoring opponents 12-2 in those four matches.
Since the start of 2021, Fontas has completed more passes (5,227) than any other player in MLS has attempted passes (Ilie Sanchez at 4,696).
