"Five Things" is a season-long series presented by the Children's Mercy Sports Medicine Center that highlights the top storylines and players to watch ahead of each match. To visit the series archive, click here.
After back-to-back road matches, Sporting Kansas City (1-3-0, 3 points) returns to Children’s Mercy Park for a grudge match against Western Conference combatants Real Salt Lake (3-0-1, 10 points). The match will begin at 6 p.m. CT and will be broadcast regionally on 38 The Spot and nationally in Spanish on TUDN with an English live stream available on Twitter.
Tickets for the match are on sale at SeatGeek.com as Saturday brings the first of two 2022 MLS regular season matchups between these two rivals. Sporting squared off with Salt Lake thrice last season, suffering defeats in all three matches.
Here are five storylines to keep an eye on as Sporting hosts Real Salt Lake at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday.
1. A rivalry renewed
Sporting Kansas City comes into Saturday’s match with revenge on the mind. After Sporting defeated Real Salt Lake in the 2013 MLS Cup finals in penalty kicks at Children’s Mercy Park a rivalry was born. Recently the teams have traded blows in the playoffs as Sporting knocked RSL out of the 2018 playoffs before Salt Lake returned the favor last year.
Now, Sporting is the one looking for retaliation. Last season, RSL got the better of Sporting KC at Rio Tinto Stadium, won a controversial Decision Day match after a missed handball in the box by Salt Lake and then knocked Sporting out of the Western Conference Semifinals. Sporting is 2-3 against Real Salt Lake in the last five regular season meetings and will look to find success this season as they did in the 2020 season when they toppled RSL twice.
2. Home sweet home
After two tough road tests, Sporting Kansas City comes home to the friendly confines of Children’s Mercy Park. Sporting slipped 2-0 to the Colorado Rapids and lost a rainy one in Chicago 3-1. Now, the club returns to the stadium where they have won 122 matches all-time. Sporting won their 2022 home opener, sending the Houston Dynamo packing after Remi Walter scored the lone goal of the match in the 60th minute. Sporting is also on the verge of history at Children’s Mercy Park as the next Sporting goal will be the club’s 400th at CMP in all competitions.
3. Red-hot Real
Real Salt Lake enters Saturday on top of the Western Conference, tied in points with first-place LAFC. They are in a three-way tie atop the Supporters’ Shield standings as well. RSL started 2022 off with a scoreless draw in Houston and followed that up with three consecutive one-goal victories. The Claret and Cobalt have won three straight matches for the first time since Aug. 2019.
Salt Lake has turned to forward Bobby Wood at the start of this season. Wood scored the game-winning goal against Sporting in stoppage time of the Western Conference Semifinals and has already fired home twice this season. Joining Wood atop the Salt Lake scorer’s sheet is fellow forward Tate Schmitt with two goals as well. With goalkeeper David Ochoa sidelined with an injury, RSL’s backstop has been Zac MacMath who enters week five ranked third overall with 16 saves.
4. Major milestones on the horizon
While Sporting is on the verge of club history, looking for their 400th goal at Children’s Mercy Park, a trio of players are also on the brink of some major milestones. Graham Zusi, who last Saturday set the Sporting KC all-time regular season minutes record is 57 minutes away from setting the record for minutes played in all competitions. Zusi will surpass former teammate Matt Besler's 30,396 minutes played in all competitions.
Midfielder Roger Espinoza also finds himself on the edge of history as he is one start shy of his 300th start for Sporting Kansas City in all competitions. Espinoza scored in Sporting’s match against the Fire and has started every match for Sporting this season. Goalkeeper Tim Melia is one start away from his 200th regular season start in Sporting blue. While that is a personal accolade, it is also club history as he will become the first keeper in Sporting history to appear in 200 matches.
5. Teamwork makes the dreamwork
Sporting loves to ping the ball around the field. They are in the top 10 in MLS in passes (1975), successful passes (1634) and passing accuracy (82.73). That sharing is caring mentality has shown up in Sporting’s goals as well as they lead MLS in passes per possession leading to a goal (16). Their 16 passes are nearly double second-ranked Charlotte FC’s 8.3 passes. Sporting’s specialist when it comes to the art of passing is defender Andreu Fontas who ranks second in MLS in passes (322), successful passes (289) and touches (371).
