"By The Numbers" is a season-long series sponsored by The Kansas Department of Transportation that gives a statistical preview of every Sporting match.
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945 The number of Kansas crashes involving motorcycles in 2017.
Sporting Kansas City (7-10-7, 28 points) hits the road this week for the club's final road match of August as an interconference showdown with Orlando City SC (8-11-6, 30 points) beckons Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. CT. Fans can catch the action live on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, FOX Sports GO, Sports Radio 810 WHB and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM.
A bitter 2-1 home loss to Real Salt Lake on Saturday has put Sporting behind the eight-ball once more. Manager Peter Vermes' side sits eight points below the playoff line and will now prepare to face an opponent that is similarly hopeful of climbing into postseason contention. We take a statistical look at Wednesday's contest in our latest edition of By The Numbers.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting are 2-1-1 against Orlando, taking one loss and one draw in their two visits to Central Florida.
- The sides most recently met on Sept. 8, 2018, when Felipe Gutierrez scored the lone goal in Sporting's 1-0 home win.
- Sporting last visited Exploria Stadium on May 13, 2017, battling to a 2-2 draw behind a brace from now-departed forward Latif Blessing.
- Forward Krisztian Nemeth scored in Sporting's 3-1 loss at Orlando in September 2015, the inaugural meeting between the sides.
- Sporting have outshot Orlando 73-30 across the last four regular season meetings.
Orlando City SC
- 2019 MLS record: 8-11-6 (30 points, 9th in Eastern Conference)
- 2019 MLS home record: 5-6-1 (18 GF, 18 GA)
- Last MLS match: D 1-1 at Toronto FC on Aug. 10
- Last 5 MLS matches: 1-2-2, 5 points (T-L-L-W-T)
- Orlando's six home losses (5-6-1) are tied for the second-most in MLS behind FC Cincinnati's seven.
- Orlando has scored just 11 goals in their last 10 league matches since June 26.
- Orlando has conceded just one penalty kick this season, two fewer than any other team.
- Orlando is 3-3-1 against Western Conference clubs this season, including a 3-1-0 mark at home.
- Orlando has scored 22 of its 33 goals this season in the second half of matches.
- Orlando has been outscored 9-2 in the opening 15 minutes of matches this season.
- Orlando is 4-0-2 when leading at halftime and 0-9-2 when trailing at halftime.
- Forward and Portuguese World Cup veteran Nani is tied for third in MLS with four game-winning goals. He is tied for the team lead with eight goals and has a team-best eight assists.
- Forward Tesho Akindele is tied for the team lead with eight goals.
- Forward Chris Mueller leads Orlando with 22 MLS appearances this season and has five goals with four assists.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2019 MLS record: 7-10-7, 28 points (10th in Western Conference)
- 2019 MLS away record: 3-5-4 (15 GF, 19 GA)
- Last MLS match: L 1-2 vs. Real Salt Lake on Aug. 10
- Last 5 MLS matches: 2-3-0, 6 points (W-L-L-W-L)
- Sporting sit eight points below the seventh and final Western Conference playoff spot with 10 matches still to play.
- Sporting's five road losses (3-5-4) are tied for the second-fewest in the Western Conference.
- Sporting are 4-3-4 against Eastern Conference clubs this year. Orlando will be Sporting's final interconference opponent of the regular season.
- Felipe Gutierrez has become the fourth midfielder in club history to hit double-digit goals in a single regular season. He leads the team with 10 league goals in 2019 and has three multi-goal games, tied for the fourth-most in MLS behind Josef Martinez (6), Carlos Vela (5) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (4).
- Forward Johnny Russell leads MLS with four goals from outside the box and is one of two MLS players, alongside D.C. United's Wayne Rooney, with two goals from direct free kicks.
- Forward Gerso Fernandes is tied for second in MLS with three penalty kicks won.
- In his first MLS start for Sporting on Sunday, forward Erik Hurtado scored the game-winner in a 3-2 victory at Seattle.
- Sporting have conceded 29 of their 43 goals in the second half of matches this season.
- Sporting are 0-8-3 this season when conceding the first goal of the match and 0-6-2 when trailing at halftime.
- Sporting's eight-year playoff streak is the third-longest active run in MLS behind Seattle (10 years) and the New York Red Bulls (nine years).
All-Time #ORLvSKC regular season meetings
- Regular season record vs. Orlando: 2-1-1 (7 GF, 6 GA)
- Regular season away record at Orlando: 0-1-1 (3 GF, 5 GA)
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Result</strong> |
<strong>H/A</strong> |
<strong>Details</strong> |
09/13/2015 |
L 1-3 |
Away |
Krisztian Nemeth scores, but Adrian Winter brace and Bryan Rochez strike propels Lions |
05/15/2016 |
W 2-1 |
Home |
Dom Dwyer and Jacob Peterson score late goals as hosts racks up a regular season club-record 34 shots |
05/13/2017 |
T 2-2 |
Away |
Latif Blessing bags brace while Orlando receives goals from Kaka and Cyle Larin |
09/08/2018 |
W 1-0 |
Home |
Felipe Gutierrez scores winner for Sporting in the 53rd minute |
Team stats (2019 regular season)
MLS rank in parenthesis
<strong>Category (per game)</strong> |
<strong>Sporting</strong> |
<strong>Orlando</strong> |
Goals scored |
1.54 (12th) |
1.32 (19th) |
Goals conceded |
1.79 (21st) |
1.36 (7th) |
Shots |
14.3 (7th) |
11.2 (21st) |
Shots on goal |
5.2 (5th) |
3.8 (21st) |
Shooting accuracy |
46.1% (9th) |
45.0% (12th) |
Shot conversion rate |
10.8% (17th) |
11.8% (10th) |
Passing accuracy |
83.2% (5th) |
79.9% (18th) |
Possession |
54.1% (6th) |
47.8% (16th) |
Chances created |
9.7 (13th) |
8.2 (21st) |
Duels won |
48.1 (21st) |
50.3 (17th) |
Tackles won |
9.2 (19th) |
10.5 (9th) |
Interceptions |
8.9 (23rd) |
10.3 (14th) |
Clearances |
16.0 (17th) |
21.3 (3rd) |
Fouls committed |
12.7 (4th) |
11.0 (20th) |
Fouls suffered |
11.6 (12th) |
9.8 (21st) |
Shots faced |
12.5 (8th) |
12.7 (9th) |