By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #SKCvDAL | Sept. 2, 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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21-24  The age group responsible for 396 alcohol-related crashes in Kansas in 2018.

Occupying first place in the Western Conference and coming off a 1-1 draw at the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, Sporting Kansas City (5-2-1, 16 points) will return to Children's Mercy Park on Wednesday to face fellow MLS charter member FC Dallas (2-1-3, 9 points) at 7:30 p.m. CT. FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO will provide three hours of live coverage beginning at 7 p.m. CT, while Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM will air the game locally.

The visitors will be high on confidence, having claimed a 3-1 home victory over Minnesota United FC on Saturday with a goal from 19-year-old Jesus Ferreira and an assist from 17-year-old Ricardo Pepi. Sporting, meanwhile, salvaged a point last weekend behind 18-year-old Gianluca Busio's wondrous long-range effort.

In a showdown that pits two teams reliant on homegrown talent, we take a statistical look at the 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 25-25-12 through 62 meetings.
• FC Dallas won both meetings in 2019, including a 2-0 road victory at Children's Mercy Park and a 6-0 home result last October on Decision Day.
• Sporting are 8-2-2 in their last 12 home matches against FC Dallas in all competitions, scoring 28 goals and conceding 12.
• FC Dallas went winless in 10 trips to Children’s Mercy Park across all competitions from 2012-2018 before winning on each of their last two visits.
• Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has scored four goals in his last five appearances against FC Dallas in all competitions.
• FC Dallas midfielder Michael Barrios has five goals and four assists in 12 regular season appearances against Sporting.

FC Dallas

• MLS record:2-1-3, 9 points (6th in Western Conference)
• MLS away record: 0-0-1 (0 GF, 0 GA)
• Last five regular season matches: 1-1-3 (T-L-T-T-W)
• Last Match: Won 3-1 vs. Minnesota United FC on Saturday, Aug. 29
• FC Dallas ranks second in MLS with a 0.67 goals against average, having conceded four goals in six matches.
• FC Dallas has yet to allow a first-half goal this season.
• FC Dallas has scored four of its seven goals after the 75th minute.
• FC Dallas ranks second in MLS in tackles won per game (11.8) and third in duels won per game (55.7).
• FC Dallas did not participate in the MLS is Back Tournament in July due to a number of positive COVID-19 cases within the team prior to the competition kicking off.
• Goalkeeper Jimmy Mauer has two shutouts in four appearances this season. He ranks third in MLS with a 0.50 goals against average. and fourth with a save percentage of 90.9%.
• Midfielder Thiago Santos leads MLS with 69 duels won.
• Forward Zdenek Ondrasek is the only FC Dallas player with two goals this season. He scored on Feb. 29 and March 7 and has gone four appearances without a goal since then.
• Defender Matt Hedges and Reto Ziegler have started all six matches for FC Dallas this season.

Sporting Kansas City

• MLS record:5-2-1, 16 points (1st in Western Conference)
• MLS home record: 1-1-0 (6 GF, 5 GA)
• Last five regular season matches: 3-1-1 (W-W-W-L-T)
• Last Match: Tied 1-1 at Colorado Rapids on Saturday, Aug. 29
• Sporting leads MLS with 18 goals scored and ranks second with 2.25 goals per game.
• Nine different Sporting players have scored a goal this season, the most in MLS.
• Sporting leads MLS in shot conversion rate (16.7%) and ranks fifth in shooting accuracy (53.4%).
• Midfielder Gadi Kinda leads Sporting with four regular season goals and will miss Wednesday's match on a red card suspension.
• Forward Alan Pulido is tied for third in MLS with four assists and has also contributed three goals, tied for second-most on the team with Khiry Shelton. Pulido leads MLS with 45 touches in the opponent's box.
• Midfielder Gianluca Busio scored Sporting's equalizer in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Colorado and had a game-high five tackles won, the second-most in MLS last weekend.
• Defender Graham Zusi is the only Sporting player to feature in all 720 minutes of the regular season.
• Last Tuesday against the Houston Dynamo, Sporting fielded five Homegrown Players in a competitive match for the first time ever as Gianluca Busio, Cameron Duke, Felipe Hernandez, Jaylin Lindsey and Daniel Salloi took the field.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Defender Matt Besler is one shy of his 300th career MLS start for Sporting (including playoffs).
• Midfielder Ilie Sanchez is one shy of his 100th career regular season start for Sporting.

Recent #SKCvDAL meetings

• Regular season record vs. FC Dallas: 25-25-12 (91 GF, 100 GA)
• Regular season home record vs. FC Dallas: 15-10-7 (57 GF, 40 GA)

Team Stats (2020 regular season)

(Per Opta; MLS rank in parenthesis)