By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #SKCvDAL | Sept. 19, 2020

"By The Numbers" is a season-long series presented by the Kansas Department of Transportation that gives a statistical preview of every Sporting match. To visit the series archive, click here.
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A pair of MLS originals will lock horns at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday as Sporting Kansas City (6-3-2, 20 points) and FC Dallas (4-2-4, 16 points) look to keep pace in the ultra-competitive Western Conference with live coverage on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, FOX Sports GO, Univision, TUDN and @TUDNUSA on Twitter as well as local radio stations Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.

Manager Peter Vermes' men are fresh off a momentous 1-0 home victory over Minnesota United FC—a result that vaulted Sporting to first place in the West—and will aim to continue their winning ways against an organized FC Dallas side that has avoided defeat on each of its last three visits to Children's Mercy Park.

With stakes running high and sunny skies in the forecast, we take a statistical look at the pivotal matchup in our newest edition of By the Numbers, presented by the Kansas Department of Transportation.

Head-to-Head

• The regular season series is tied at 25-25-13 through 63 meetings dating back to 1996.
• Sporting are 8-2-3 in their last 13 home matches against FC Dallas in all competitions, scoring 29 goals and conceding 13.
• FC Dallas went winless in 10 trips to Children’s Mercy Park across all competitions from March 2012 to June 2018, but have gone 2-0-1 in their last three visits to the stadium since July 2018.
• The most recent meeting between the sides on Sept. 2 at Children's Mercy Park saw forwards Franco Jara and Khiry Shelton trade first-half goals.
• In the most recent meeting on Sept. 2, Sporting outshot Dallas 22-5. Dallas blocked 14 shots over the course of the night, tied for the most in an MLS match since the Opta era began in 2010.
• FC Dallas midfielder Michael Barrios has five goals and four assists in 12 regular season appearances against Sporting.

FC Dallas

• MLS record:4-2-4, 16 points (4th in Western Conference)
• MLS away record: 0-1-2 (3 GF, 4 GA)
• Last five regular season matches: 3-1-1, 10 points (W-T-L-W-W)
• Last Match: W 4-1 vs. Colorado Rapids on Wednesday, Sept. 16
• Dallas enters Saturday on the heels of two straight victories, their first multi-game winning streak of the season.
• Dallas' two regular season losses are tied for the second-fewest in MLS.
• Dallas has scored 12 goals in its last five games after scoring just four in its first five.
• Dallas has allowed 10 goals in 10 matches this season, tied for the fewest in the Western Conference
• Seven of Dallas' 10 matches have been decided by a goal or less. Similarly, seven of the club's 10 games have been tied at halftime.
• Dallas has faced 16.1 shots per game, third-most in MLS and almost twice as many as Sporting.
• Dallas' 16 goals this season have come from nine different players. Midfielder Santiago Mosquera leads the way with four goals, having scored a hat trick in Wednesday's 4-1 home win over Colorado.
• Franco Jara, Zdenek Ondrasek and 17-year-old Ricardo Pepi are tied for second on the team with two goals apiece.
• Midfielder Thiago Santos leads MLS with 104 duels won. He also ranks fourth in both fouls committed (23) and fouls suffered (31).
• Midfielder Michael Barrios has recorded an assist in three straight matches.
• Santos, Barrios and defender Reto Ziegler have appeared in all 10 Dallas matches this season.
• Goalkeeper Kyle Zobeck made his MLS debut on Sept. 2 at Sporting and has started each of Dallas' last three matches.

Sporting Kansas City

• MLS record:6-3-2, 20 points (1st in Western Conference)
• MLS home record: 2-1-1 (8 GF, 6 GA)
• Last five regular season matches: 1-2-2, 5 points (L-T-T-L-W)
• Last Match: Won 1-0 vs. Minnesota United FC on Sunday, Sept. 13
• Across all competitions, Sporting boasts an 18-0-9 record in home matches at Children's Mercy Park that kick off at 4 p.m. CT or earlier.
• Sporting ranks third in MLS with 1.91 goals per game and is the only MLS team yet to be shut out this season.
• Sporting's 11-game scoring streak to start the regular season is one shy of tying the club record set in 2003 and 2008.
• In Sporting's 1-0 win over Minnesota on Sunday, the Loons failed to put a single shot on goal for the first time in the club's 114-game MLS history.
• Sporting's 8.5 shots faced per game are the second-fewest in MLS.
• Sporting's Homegrown Players have combined to make 20 appearances over the last five matches.
• Sporting hasn't started the same four defenders in back-to-back matches since July 30, the club's final game in the MLS is Back Tournament.
• Midfielder Gadi Kinda and forward Khiry Shelton are tied for the team lead with four goals this season.
• Kinda's four goals are the second-most among MLS midfielders, while his 15 chances created are a team-best.
• Shelton is one of two MLS players (Cristian Pavon) with at least four goals, 10 chances created, 40 recoveries and 60 duels won.
• Gianluca Busio has played every minute of Sporting's last six matches at the holding midfield position, completing 88.9 percent of his passes.
• Graham Zusi leads MLS defenders with 145 successful passes in the attacking third.
• Forward Gerso Fernandes ranks fifth in MLS with 55 touches in the opponent's box.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Sporting manager Peter Vermes is one shy of his 150th regular season coaching win. He would become the fifth head coach in league history to reach the milestone behind Sigi Schmid (240), Bruce Arena (213), Dom Kinnear (169) and Bob Bradley (165).
• Saturday will be Sporting's 200th home match at Children's Mercy Park, including friendlies.
• Sporting is one shy of its 250th home win in club history across all competitions.
• Defender Graham Zusi has 28 career game-winning assists in the regular season, one shy of tying Kyle Beckerman for the most among active MLS players.

Recent #SKCvDAL meetings

• Regular season record vs. FC Dallas: 25-25-13 (92 GF, 101 GA)
• Regular season home record vs. FC Dallas: 15-10-8 (58 GF, 41 GA)

Team Stats (2020 regular season)

(Per Opta; MLS rank in parenthesis)