"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.
Riding a three-game winning streak in the regular season and sitting atop the Western Conference table, Sporting Kansas City (5-1-0, 15 points) will resume their unprecedented 2020 campaign on Tuesday against rivals Houston Dynamo (0-2-4, 4 points) in the club's first home match at world-class Children's Mercy Park since March 7.
Tuesday's long-awaited battle will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT with three hours of live coverage beginning at 7 p.m. CT on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO. The contest will also air locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM, with The Final Whistle postgame show immediately following on 810 WHB.
Following detailed safety protocols developed in conjunction with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, Sporting’s next three home matches at Children's Mercy Park will be held at a reduced capacity of approximately 14% with extensive safety protocols in place. Tickets for these games will be available exclusively to Sporting Kansas City Season Ticket Members via lotteries and no single-game tickets will be sold by the club on SeatGeek.com or at the stadium box office. For more information, Season Ticket Members can contact their Membership Service Executives.
With confidence and high and momentum flowing in Sporting's favor, let's visit five major storylines surrounding the showdown.
1. Home Sweet Home
By the time Sporting and Houston take the field on Tuesday, 171 days will have elapsed since the rivals last met at Children's Mercy Park. That was Sporting's final home game before league play was suspended for four months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Amazingly enough, Manager Peter Vermes' men have played just once at home over the previous 11 months.
The 2020 home opener was one to remember for Sporting fans. Alan Pulido, Roger Espinoza, Gadi Kinda and Khiry Shelton all found the back of the net in a 4-0 victory, while goalkeeper Tim Melia set a club record with his 46th career regular season shutout. Pulido and Kinda both landed MLS Team of the Week honors for their scintillating Children's Mercy Park debuts as Sporting improved to 4-0-2 in their last six regular season meetings against the Dynamo.
2. Leading the Pack
With 15 points and a 5-1-0 record, Sporting currently owns a four-point lead at the summit of the Western Conference. This stands as the third-best six-game start to a regular season in club history behind the 2000 and 2012 campaigns. Vermes' side is one point shy of Columbus Crew SC in the Supporters' Shield race and tied for the league lead with 15 goals scored, an impressive clip of 2.5 goals per game.
At the opposite end of the table, 12th-place Houston is still seeking its first win of 2020 after a 0-2-4 start. The club is led by first-year head coach Tab Ramos, a longtime club and U.S. international teammate of Vermes, who spent 2011-2019 as the United States U-20 head coach. The Dynamo settled for a scoreless draw with FC Dallas on Friday but were unfortunate not to take all three points, having dominated for large portions of the match.
3. Game-changing Newcomers
Five MLS players have at least three goals and two assists this season. Two of them ply their trade for Sporting, having arrived in Kansas City ahead of the 2020 campaign. Pulido, a 29-year-old Mexican striker who joined on a club-record transfer fee, has three goals and four assists in six appearances. Kinda, a 26-year-old Israeli-Ethiopian midfielder, has chipped in three goals and two assists of his own, including a long-range strike in the 2-1 win over Minnesota on Friday. Pulido and Kinda put Houston to the sword on March 7 and will look to replicate that success this time around.
4. The Youth Movement
The Sporting Kansas City Academy continues to bear fruit for the first team. On Friday, 20-year-old Jaylin Lindsey logged 90 minutes at left back and assisted Kinda’s go-ahead goal in the 12th minute. Gianluca Busio, 18, thrived in the holding midfield spot despite the fact that he had never played in that position at the professional level. Vermes also called upon a pair of Homegrown substitutes to help Sporting see out the result, as 19-year-old Cameron Duke earned his regular season debut and 22-year-old Felipe Hernandez also entered the contest. This marked the first time ever that Sporting finished a competitive game with four Homegrowns on the field.
“With the young guys, getting the experience of being out on the field and feeling what that’s like and being part of and having an impact to a result, builds confidence,” Vermes said after the match. “Those guys did a tremendous job in the game today. I think they really, really helped us late in the game. Because we needed what they were able to bring and that’s a big step forward for them and for the club. It says a lot about what we’re trying to do with our pro player pathway. It’s not just a marketing stunt. It’s real. We want those kids to keep getting opportunities."
5. Backline Depth
If the first six games of the regular season are any indication, Sporting has plenty of options along the backline. Friday's center back partnership featured MLS debutant and English Premier League veteran Winston Reid alongside Graham Smith. Reid had a game-high seven clearances and completed 36 of 40 passes, while Smith made a handful of brilliant defensive plays to keep the Loons at bay. Center backs Matt Besler and Roberto Puncec remain in the fold as well, and while Lindsey got the nod at left back on Friday, Luis Martins and Amadou Dia have also featured in that position. Melia and Graham Zusi have held steady at goalkeeper and right back, respectively.
