By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #RSLvSKC | July 4, 2018

"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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145   Alcohol-related crashes in Kansas during the Independence Day holiday from 2012-2016.

Sporting Kansas City (9-3-5, 32 points) will look to bounce back from Saturday's loss in Montreal when they travel to face rivals Real Salt Lake (7-8-2, 23 points) in an Independence Day showdown at 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday. FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO will air three hours of live coverage from Rio Tinto Stadium beginning at 8:30 p.m. CT, while listeners can catch the action on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM (Spanish).

Tied for first place in the Western Conference, Sporting KC are seeking a second road win over RSL in the space of four weeks, having earned a 2-0 victory in the U.S. Open Cup Fourth Round on June 6. We take a statistical look at Wednesday's matchup in our newest installment of By The Numbers.

Head-to-Head

• Sporting KC defeated Real Salt Lake 2-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium on June 6 in the U.S. Open Cup fourth round, receiving a goal and an assist from both Johnny Russell and Kharlton Belmar.
• Sporting KC is 1-5-3 in its last nine regular season meetings with RSL.
• Sporting KC has a 3-7-3 road record in the regular-season series, including a five-game winless run at Rio Tinto Stadium in MLS play (0-3-2).
• Outside of regular season play, Sporting KC has defeated Real Salt Lake in each of the last three meetings. Sporting KC beat RSL in the 2013 MLS Cup, 2015 Open Cup semifinals and 2018 Open Cup fourth round.

Real Salt Lake

• 2018 MLS record: 7-8-2, 23 points (5th in West)
• 2018 MLS home record: 6-1-1 (15 GF, 10 GA)
• Last MLS match: L 1-2 at Columbus Crew SC on June 30
• Last five MLS matches: 2-2-1, 7 points (W-W-L-T-L)
• RSL are 6-0-1 in their last seven regular-season home games at Rio Tinto Stadium.
• RSL has conceded 18 of its 32 regular-season goals this season after the 60th minute.
• RSL is 5-1-0 in one-goal games this season. Seven of their eight defeats have come by two or more goals.
• Forward Corey Baird is tied for the RSL lead with four goals this season, while playmaking midfielder Albert Rusnak has added four goals and three assists. Rusnak ranks fourth in MLS with 49 chances created.
• Defender Justen Glad ranks second in MLS with 52 interceptions and sixth with 76 clearances.
• Veteran midfielder Kyle Beckerman ranks sixth in MLS with 29 fouls committed. He is the all-time MLS leader among field players with 448 regular season appearances during his 19-year MLS career.
• Similarly, goalkeeper Nick Rimando's 469 regular season appearances rank first in MLS history.

 Sporting KC

• 2018 MLS record: 9-3-5, 32 points (1st in West)
• 2018 MLS away record: 3-2-3 (11 GF, 9 GA)
• Last MLS match: L 0-2 at Montreal Impact on June 30
• Last five MLS matches: 2-1-2, 8 points (T-W-T-W-L)
• Sporting KC has occupied first place in the West for 15 straight weeks, their second-longest uninterrupted run at the top of the conference in club history (21 weeks in 2000).
• Sporting KC has received eight MLS goals from substitutes, an all-time regular season club record.
• Sporting KC has outscored opponents 9-2 in the final 15 minutes of matches this season.
• Sporting KC has allowed just four goals across its last seven away games in all competitions
• Sporting KC leads MLS in shots per game (18.2) and passing accuracy (85.0 percent) while ranking second in average possession (59.2).
• Forward Daniel Salloi is tied for the team lead in goals (five) and assists (six) in MLS competition.
• Midfielder Roger Espinoza has a career-high six assists through 17 league games. He also ranks third in MLS with 36 chances created from open play.
• Graham Zusi leads MLS in touches (1,519) and ranks first among defenders with 29 chances created.
• Goalkeeper Tim Melia is tied for the MLS lead with seven shutouts and ranks fourth with a 75.7 save percentage.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Sporting KC is one shy of its 100th regular season road win all-time.
• Defender Graham Zusi is one shy of his 274th appearance for the club in all competitions, which would break a tie with Davy Arnaud and Nick Garcia for third-most in club history.

Recent #RSLvSKC meetings in all competitions

• Regular season record vs. Real Salt Lake: 9-10-7
• All competitions record vs. Real Salt Lake: 11-11-1

Team stats (2018 regular season)

MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)