Sporting Kansas City vs. St. Louis CITY SC
2023 MLS Regular Season | Match 27
Saturday, September 2 | 7:30 p.m. CT (7:39 kickoff)
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kan.
Broadcast Schedule:
Apple TV | MLS Season Pass
English Radio | Sports Radio 810 WHB
Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM
Tickets | 5 Things | By the Numbers | Tune In on Apple TV | Pub Partners | SKC App | MatchCenter | @SKCMatchday
Sporting Kansas City will host St. Louis CITY SC for the first time on Saturday at Children's Mercy Park as the expansion side travels cross-state for the highly-anticipated Labor Day weekend match-up in Major League Soccer's newest rivalry.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT and standing-room only tickets are available online at SeatGeek. Ticket holders can pre-order the SKCvSTL Spark the Flames collection - featuring two scarves and a glow in the dark tee - at SportingStyle.com for pick-up on Saturday night at Children's Mercy Park.
Fans are encouraged to arrive early on Saturday with the Soccer Capital of America Tailgate, sponsored by Bud Light, starting at 3:30 p.m. in Blue Lot 2. Free beverages will be available and supporters are also invited to attend the KC Cauldron and South Stand SC tailgates in the White Lot nearby.
With eight matches remaining in the regular season, Sporting Kansas CIty will kick off a decisive six-game slate in the month of September that begins and ends with match-ups against St. Louis. Sporting KC sits four points outside playoff position and will have a point to prove after a 4-0 loss at St. Louis in the inaugural meeting in May.
Sporting KC enters Saturday's showdown coming off an emphatic 3-0 win over San Jose last weekend as Daniel Salloi, Johnny Russell and Erik Thommy each scored goals to power SKC past the Earthquakes . After being sidelined for more than three months with an injury, goalkeeper Tim Melia marked his returned in net with a 91st-minute penalty save to preserve the clean sheet.
St. Louis conceded a 91st-minute penalty last Saturday to fall 2-1 in Orlando before bouncing back with a 2-1 home win over FC Dallas on Wednesday. Playing with a man advantage after a FC Dallas red card in the 12th minute, St. Louis broke through late with goals in the 82nd and 85th minutes courtesy of summer signings Anthony Markanich and Nökkvi Thórisson.
The newcomers continued a trend that has seen substitutes score each of the last six goals - a new MLS record - for a St. Louis side that leads Major League Soccer with 52 goals this season and sits atop the Western Conference table with 47 points, the most ever by an MLS expansion team through 26 matches.
Led by manager Bradley Carnell in his first full-time stint as a head coach, St. Louis CITY SC's roster features the Designated Player duo of Brazilian forward Joao Klauss and German midfielder Eduard Löwen along with Swiss goalkeeper Roman Burki, the highest paid goalkeeper in Major League Soccer. Klauss scored five goals in his first five MLS appearances before missing four months due to injury while Löwen has contributed a team-best 10 assists and KC native Niko Gioachinni leads St. Louis with 10 goals.
Sporting KC is unbeaten at home against expansion sides over the past decade (4-0-2) and will look to keep that streak alive with two-time MLS Referee of the Year Allen Chapman entrusted with referee responsibilities for Saturday's meeting between a pair of clubs separated by 250 miles on Interstate 70.
The Western Conference clash will be broadcast live on Apple TV in English and Spanish for MLS Season Pass subscribers (sign up for a one-month free trial). A subscription to MLS Season Pass is included for Sporting KC Season Ticket Members and up to six family members can share a subscription. Fans can subscribe to MLS Season Pass for $29 for the remainder of the year or $14.99 per month and Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up at a special price of $25 for the remainder of the year or $12.99 per month.
Local radio coverage will also air on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM with streams in the Sporting KC app. In addition, all of the action will be shown by pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network including Jefferson's (14944 W. 87th St.) in Lenexa with a matchday special of $0.85 wings (minimum of 10 wing order) as part of Blue Hell Week.
