"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.
The 26th season of Major League Soccer will kick off in style this weekend as 13 matches unfold across the country. Among them is a compelling showdown between fellow MLS originals as Sporting Kansas City ventures east to face the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night at Red Bull Arena.
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT with three hours of live coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT on Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO. Listeners can also catch the action on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM, with The Final Whistle postgame show airing immediately afterward on 810 WHB.
As two perennial playoff teams prepare to trade their first punches of the long-awaited and highly anticipated 2021 campaign, we examine five compelling storylines surrounding the matchup in the space below.
1. Clash of Styles
Sporting defender Graham Zusi—who is still recovering from a long-term foot injury and will miss Saturday’s game—said it best during a discussion with Sports Radio 810 WHB earlier this week. This match will deliver a noticeable clash of styles, with Sporting’s possession-based and attack-minded approach matching up against a Red Bulls team known for its signature high press and counterattack—a formula that has seen New York lead MLS in duels won for six straight seasons.
“We like playing that attractive type of soccer where we have a lot of possession and we’re attack-oriented,” Zusi said. “Going into New York, that’s a team that traditionally loves to come out and high press like crazy. They fly at you as soon as you’ve got possession in your own half…but that’s something we can take advantage because we are so good with the ball and patient playing out of the back.”
2. Watch Party
In conjunction with Saturday's opener, Sporting fans are invited to attend an outdoor watch party at Children’s Mercy Park when the club hosts its Season Kickoff presented by Michelob Ultra. Supporters can secure their free ticket to the Season Kickoff at SeatGeek.com or the SeatGeek app, with stadium gates opening at 5:30 p.m. CT and select concessions and SportingStyle locations open to guests. The watch party will utilize distanced outdoor seating in the stadium bowl with the match shown on the north and south videoboards. Face coverings will be mandatory for all in attendance.
3. Strong Starters
Sporting owns 14 season-opening wins dating back to the inaugural 1996 MLS campaign, the most in the league. That includes a 14-7-4 record and four road wins over the last decade—D.C. United in 2012, the Philadelphia Union in 2013, Seattle Sounders FC in 2016 and Vancouver Whitecaps FC in 2020. Sporting also has a league-leading nine wins in road openers, posting a 9-12-4 record in such games.
On the flipside, no team in MLS has more home-opening wins than New York. The Red Bulls are 16-4-5 in their first home games of the season.
On a separate but similar note, it’s worth pointing out that Sporting was among the best road teams in MLS last season. Manager Peter Vermes’ side went 5-2-2 in nine regular season road matches in 2020, tied for the most away wins in the league.
4. Possible Debutants
Saturday could mark the MLS debuts of Frenchmen Nicolas Isimat-Mirin and Remi Walter, Sporting’s two highest-profile acquisitions of the offseason. Isimat-Mirin boasts a decade of center back experience in France, the Netherlands and Turkey, including a dominant stint with Dutch side PSV Eindhoven where he won three league titles. Walter, a central midfielder, has also competed in the top divisions of France and Turkey and figures to be an important contributor in the center of the pitch.
5. Pulskamp is the Man
Vermes announced in a press conference Thursday that 19-year-old Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp has been tabbed to start Saturday’s match. With Tim Melia, Kendall McIntosh and Brooks Thompson out injured, Pulskamp will become the youngest goalkeeper in Sporting history to play in an MLS match. In the last 10 MLS seasons, only one other teenage goalkeeper has played in a league match—when Real Salt Lake’s David Ochoa started in a 2-0 loss to Sporting on Decision Day last November.
