"By The Numbers" is a season-long series sponsored by The Kansas Department of Transportation, giving a statistical preview of every Sporting KC match.
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10,497 The number of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities in the U.S. in 2016.
A pair of regional rivals square off Saturday when Sporting Kansas City (0-1-0, 0 points) travels to face the Chicago Fire (0-0-0, 0 points) at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois. The match will kick off at 5 p.m. CT, airing live on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, ESPN 94.5 FM (English) and ESPN Deportes 1480 AM (Spanish). The interconference clash will also stream live on FOX Sports GO, while the Sporting KC Uphoria app will provide live updates.
As one of the most improved teams in MLS last year, the Fire open their 2018 campaign against a Sporting KC outfit that lost to New York City FC in its season opener last Sunday. We take a statistical look at the matchup in our By The Numbers preview.
Head-to-Head
- Chicago holds a 26-15-11 edge in the regular season series. Sporting KC's 26 losses to the Fire are their most against any MLS team.
- Sporting KC is 4-18-2 all-time at Chicago with wins coming in 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2013.
- Chicago has won each of its last three home fixtures against Sporting KC by a one-goal margin.
- Sporting KC won the most recent meeting by a 3-2 scoreline last July, receiving a goal and an assist from Daniel Salloi.
- The sides last met at Toyota Park in July 2016 when Michael de Leeuw scored in the 19th minute of Chicago's 1-0 victory.
- Sporting KC defender Graham Zusi has four goals and two assists in 14 regular season appearances against Chicago.
Chicago Fire
- 2017 MLS record: 16-11-7 (3rd in East, +14 GD)
- 2017 MLS home record: 12-2-3 (41 GF, 14 GA)
- 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs result: Lost to New York Red Bulls in Knockout Round
- Last match: Season opener Saturday vs. Sporting KC
- Chicago's 24-point improvement from the 2016 regular season (31 points) to 2017 (55 points) was the best in MLS last year.
- Chicago ranked third in MLS last season with 1.79 goals scored per game.
- Chicago ranked second in MLS last season with 12 home wins, while their plus-27 home goal differential was the third-best in the league.
- Chicago ranked second in MLS last season in shooting accuracy (49.1%) and passing accuracy (82.4%), trailing only Sporting KC in the latter category.
- Chicago boasted a league-best four MLS All-Stars in 2017, including forward Nemanja Nikolic, defender Johan Kappelhof, and midfielders Dax McCarty and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
- Nikolic led MLS in 2017 with 24 regular-season goals, scoring 19 times in 17 games at Toyota Park.
- Schweinsteiger is Chicago's top returning chance creator from last season, having created 34 chances in his first MLS campaign.
- Kappelhof ranked second in MLS last season with 96 interceptions while also leading Chicago with 47 tackles won.
Sporting KC
- 2017 MLS record: 12-9-13, 49 points (5th in West)
- 2017 MLS away record: 2-8-7 (10 GF, 18 GA)
- Last match: L 0-2 vs. New York City FC on March 4
- SKC suffered a home-opening loss for just the third time in club history on Sunday, falling 2-0 to New York City FC.
- SKC conceded 18 goals away from home last season, the fewest in MLS.
- Midfielder Felipe Gutierrez led all MLS players in week one with 13 duels won and seven tackles won.
- Graham Zusi, who topped all MLS defenders in 2017 with 59 chances created, led Sporting KC in week one in interceptions (five), clearances (four) and touches (77).
- Winger Yohan Croizet led all players in Sunday's match against NYCFC with four chances created from open play.
- Winger Johnny Russell led Sporting KC players in week one with five shot attempts and 10 touches in the opponent's box.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Sporting KC defender Matt Besler is 79 minutes shy of 20,000 minutes played in his MLS regular season career. He would become the third player in Sporting KC history to log 20,000 regular season minutes for the club, joining current assistant coach Kerry Zavagnin and former defender Nick Garcia.
- Sporting KC will play its 350th regular season road match on Saturday.
Team stats (2017 regular season)
MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)
<strong>Category (per game)</strong> |
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<b>Chicago</b> |
Goals scored |
1.18 (18th) |
1.79 (3rd) |
Goals conceded |
0.85 (1st) |
1.38 (t-7th) |
Shots |
15.1 (2nd) |
12.3 (t-13th) |
Shots on goal |
5.0 (4th) |
4.9 (t-6th) |
Shooting accuracy |
44.1 (15th) |
49.1 (2nd) |
Passing accuracy |
83.3 (1st) |
82.4 (2nd) |
Possession |
57.6 (2nd) |
52.1 (7th) |
Duels won |
47.8 (12th) |
44.3 (21st) |
Tackles won |
11.2 (22nd) |
11.7 (20th) |
Interceptions |
11.6 (22nd) |
13.6 (6th) |
Fouls committed |
11.0 (18th) |
11.6 (16th) |
Fouls suffered |
12.1 (6th) |
11.4 (11th) |
Shots faced |
10.0 (1st) |
11.6 (4th) |
Recent #CHIvSKC meetings
- Regular season record vs. Chicago: 15-26-11 (62 GF, 88 GA)
- Regular season away record at Chicago: 4-18-2 (22 GF, 48 GA)
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Result</strong> |
<strong>Stadium</strong> |
<strong>Competition</strong> |
05/03/2015 |
W 1-0 |
Children's Mercy Park |
Graham Zusi assists Paulo Nagamura's late winner |
07/13/2016 |
L 0-1 |
Toyota Park |
Michael de Leeuw scores early winner |
07/29/2017 |
W 3-2 |
Children's Mercy Park |
Daniel Salloi scores and assists to pace home victory |
