By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #SKCvDC

"By The Numbers" is sponsored by The Kansas Department of Transportation. Memorial Day weekend typically marks the start of the summer vacation season and summer celebrating. Be responsible this Memorial Day and designate a sober driver.

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Two charter members of MLS square off Friday as Sporting KC (5-7-2, 17 points) hosts D.C. United at Children's Mercy Park. Both sides occupy seventh place in their respective conferences and seek a victory that would provisionally lift them back above the red line. 
A limited number of tickets for Friday's match remain available at Ticketmaster.com. The game will be televised locally on 38 The Spot and nationally on UniMas, while listeners can follow the action live on 99.3 FM (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish). We take a statistical look at the matchup in our By The Numbers preview...

Head-to-head

• The long-time foes have squared off 52 times in the regular season, splitting the series 20-20-12.
• Sporting KC went 6-0-3 at home against D.C. United from 2007-2013, posting five shutouts during the stretch, before falling 3-0 when D.C. last visited Children's Mercy Park in August 2014.
• Sporting KC went unbeaten in seven games vs. D.C. from 2011-2013 (6-0-1), but have gone winless in four since the start of 2014 (0-2-2).
• The clubs met once in 2015, battling to a 1-1 draw after Dom Dwyer's 45th-minute strike cancelled out Jairo Arrieta's opener at RFK Stadium.
• D.C. forward Fabian Espindola has five goals in 13 regular season appearances for Sporting KC, including three goals in his last five. He has scored in each of his last two visits to Children's Mercy Park, winning both games.
• Sporting KC winger Brad Davis has six goals and 11 assists in 31 regular season appearances against D.C. His 11 assists are the second-most against D.C. all-time.

D.C. United

• 2016 MLS record: 3-5-4, 13 points (7th in East)
• 2016 MLS road record: 0-2-3 (3 GF, 7 GA)
• Last five games: 2-2-1, 7 points (W-T-L-W-L)
• D.C. is winless in five road games this season, going 0-2-3 with just three goals scored (seven conceded).
• D.C. hasn't won a road game since Aug. 8, 2015 at Montreal, going 0-7-4 since then with just five goals scored (including playoffs).
• D.C. has been shut out five times this season, second-most in MLS, but exploded for a 4-0 win over Vancouver on April 9 and a 3-0 win over New England on April 23.
• D.C. is 0-5-3 when allowing at least one goal this season.
• Defenders Bobby Boswell, Sean Franklin and Taylor Kemp have played every minute for D.C. this season.
• Forward Fabian Espindola is sixth in MLS with 3.7 shots per game and leads D.C. with 33 shot attempts despite playing less than half of the club's minutes this season (483 of 1,080).
• Goalkeeper Bill Hamid has a 0.82 goals against average in 11 regular season appearances against Sporting KC (3-5-3 record).

Sporting Kansas City

• 2016 MLS record: 5-7-2, 17 points (7th in West)
• 2016 MLS home record: 3-3-1 (9 GF, 10 GA)
• Last five games: 1-3-1, 4 points (T-L-L-W-L)
• SKC is 3-0-0 against Eastern Conference teams this season and 6-0-1 at home against the East since moving to the West in 2015.
• SKC is 14-4-4 against interconference foes in the regular season since the start of 2014.
• SKC is unbeaten in 13 straight home games (9-0-4) against interconference opponents during the regular season. The club last lost to an interconference foe at home in May 2013 against Seattle Sounders FC.
• SKC is 3-0-0 when scoring multiple goals this season and 0-5-0 when allowing multiple goals.
• SKC is 1-6-2 in its last nine games, out-shooting and out-possessing their opponents in eight of those games during the skid.
• SKC has been outscored 6-1 in the final 15 minutes of the first half this season.
• Defender Nuno Coelho leads MLS in minutes played (1,260) and interceptions (50) while ranking fifth in successful passes (676), ninth in blocked shots (9) and 15th in clearances (51).

Milestones and Miscellany

• Dom Dwyer is one shy of entering  tie for second in Sporting KC history on the club's regular season and all-competitions scoring charts. His 42 regular season goals are one behind Davy Arnaud and Josh Wolff, while his 51 goals in all competitions are one behind Arnaud.
• Jacob Peterson is one shy of his 100th career substitute appearance in the MLS regular season. He would be the fifth MLS player to reach the century mark in regular season substitute appearances.

Team stats (2016 regular season)

MLS rank in parenthesis (source: WhoScored.com)

Recent #SKCvDC meetings (all competitions)

• Regular season record vs. D.C. United: 20-20-12
• Regular season home record vs. D.C. United: 14-7-5 (47 GF, 31 GA)