By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #COLvSKC

"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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A pair of MLS originals square off Saturday when first-place Sporting Kansas City (6-3-4, 22 points) travels to face the Colorado Rapids (2-8-1, 7 points) at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT with three hours of live television coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. on FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Midwest Plus. Local radio broadcasts will also air on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.

Sporting Kansas City and Colorado occupy opposite ends of the Western Conference table, and the hosts will be desperate to shrink the 15-point gap between the sides on their home turf. Manager Peter Vermes' men have found wins hard to come by at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, where the Rapids went unbeaten last year but have already fallen twice in 2017. We take a statistical look at the matchup in our By The Numbers preview...

Head-to-head

• The sides last met on April 9 at Children's Mercy Park when Sporting KC cruised to a 3-1 win, receiving goals from Seth Sinovic, Gerso and Dom Dwyer to snap a five-game losing streak against Colorado in the regular season.
• Colorado swept the 2016 series with three one-goal victories, scoring the game-winner after the 75th minute on each occasion.
• Sporting KC went 11 games unbeaten against Colorado in MLS between 2009-2015 (6-0-5 including playoffs) before losing five straight from 2015-2016.
• Sporting KC is 1-5-4 in 10 regular season visits to Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The lone win was a 3-2 result in March 2014, an instant classic that saw Graham Zusi, Benny Feilhaber and Dwyer score second-half goals.
• Sporting KC will meet Colorado for the 74th time in all competitions on Saturday, making the Rapids the most frequent opponent in Kansas City history. Sporting KC leads the series 30-27-16, including a 24-22-13 regular season mark.

Colorado Rapids

• 2017 MLS record: 2-8-1, 7 points (11th in West)
• 2017 MLS home record: 2-2-1 (7 GF, 5 GA)
• Last five games: 1-4-0, 3 points (L-L-W-L-L)
• Last MLS match: L 2-1 at Philadelphia Union on Saturday
• Colorado has lost seven of its last eight MLS matches since early April. The club lost just six times during the entire 2016 regular season.
• Colorado is tied for last in MLS with 0.82 goals per game.
• Colorado is last in MLS with 7.8 shots per game, more than three fewer than any other team. The Rapids' 2.3 shots on target per game are also the fewest in MLS.
• Colorado's 10.6 shots faced per game are the third fewest in MLS.
• Colorado endured a 360-minute scoreless streak from April 15 to May 13, the longest scoreless drought of an MLS team this season.
• Forward Dominique Badji leads Colorado in goals (three) and shots on target (eight).
• Midfielder Mohammed Saeid leads Colorado with nine chances created, while Kevin Doyle has created eight.
• Midfielder Micheal Azira ranks second in MLS with 36 interceptions, while defender Eric Miller ranks eighth with 37 crosses from open play.

 Sporting KC

• 2017 MLS record:6-3-4, 22 points (1st in West)
• 2017 MLS road record: 1-3-3 (3 GF, 7 GA)
• Last five games: 2-2-1, 7 points (W-L-T-W-L)
• Last MLS match: L 2-0 at Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday
• Sporting KC leads MLS with seven shoutouts and boasts a league-low 0.69 goals against average.
• Sporting KC's three away goals are tied for the second fewest in MLS.
• Sporting KC ranks third with 13.6 shots per game while allowing just 9.2 shots per game, the fewest in MLS.
• Sporting KC leads MLS with 129 chances created, including a league-best 114 chances created from open play.
• Goalkeeper Tim Melia leads MLS with an 82.0 save percentage, according to Opta.
• Midfielder Benny Feilhaber is tied for second in MLS with 31 chances created.
• Defender Graham Zusi is tied for the MLS lead with 22 chances created from open play.
• Forward Gerso ranks third in MLS in with 74 touches in the opponent's box.
• Midfielder Ilie is second in MLS with 953 passes and ranks fifth with 83 duels won.
• Sporting KC has allowed just five goals in the 11 matches defender Ike Opara has started.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Forward Dom Dwyer is one shy of his 125th regular season appearance for Sporting KC.
• Goalkeeper Tim Melia is one shy of equaling his single-season career-high of eight shutouts.

Team stats (2017 regular season)

MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)

Recent #COLvSKC regular season meetings

• Regular season record vs. Colorado: 24-22-13
• Regular season away record at Colorado: 5-17-8