By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #SKCvHOU | March 7, 2020

"By The Numbers" is a season-long series sponsored 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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56  The number of fatal alcohol-related crashes in Kansas in 2018.

Following an impressive 3-1 road win in Vancouver to open the season last weekend, Sporting Kansas City will begin their 10th home campaign at world-class Children's Mercy Park on Saturday when the Houston Dynamo pay a visit for the newest chapter of an intense Western Conference rivalry. Saturday's showdown will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT and tickets remain available at SeatGeek.com, with the first 10,000 fans through the stadium gates receiving a free rally towel courtesy of match sponsor UMB Bank.

FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO will provide three hours of live coverage on Saturday night—including 30-minute pre-match and post-match shows—starting at 7 p.m. CT, while listeners can catch the action on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish). The Final Whistle postgame show will also air live on 810 WHB immediately afterward as Sporting opens a 17-game home slate in one of North America's finest soccer venues.

Sporting and Houston certainly aren't strangers, having met 32 times in all competitions over the last 10 seasons. Manager Peter Vermes' men have held the recent upper hand, but a win on Saturday will be hard to come by as new Dynamo coach Tab Ramos aims to make his mark. 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

• Sporting are 3-0-2 in their last five regular season meetings against Houston dating back to October 2017, posting three shutouts during that stretch.
• Sporting has won two straight home meetings against Houston and owns a 4-4-7 regular season home record against the Dynamo.
• The clubs last met on Aug. 31, 2019, when Johnny Russell's early header gave Sporting a 1-0 win at Children's Mercy Park.
• When Houston visited Kansas City in June 2018, Sporting prevailed 3-2 behind a goal and two assists from Daniel Salloi. It marked the sixth time in club history that Sporting had come from two goals down to win an MLS match in regulation, and just the second time during the Children's Mercy Park era.
• Thirteen of the 31 regular season matches between the clubs have resulted in draws. Houston holds a 10-8-13 advantage.
• Sporting and Houston have drawn six of the last nine regular season meetings at Children's Mercy Park dating back to 2012. Sporting are 2-1-6 during that stretch.
• Houston forward Mauro Manotas has scored seven goals in eight competitive appearances against Sporting.
• Sporting has faced Houston 32 times in all competitions since 2011, more than any other opponent, and posted an 12-10-10 record during that stretch.

Houston Dynamo

• 2020 MLS record: 0-0-1 (1 point, t-7th in Western Conference)
• 2020 MLS away record: 0-0-0 (0 GF, 0 GA)
• Week 1 result: T 1-1 vs. LA Galaxy
• Houston forward Mauro Manotas scored a second-half equalizer in last Saturday's 1-1 home draw against the LA Galaxy. Manotas has appeared in 99 of Houston's last 103 regular season matches since 2017 and has 49 MLS goals in 130 career games.
• Houston defender Kiki Struna landed MLS Team of the Week honors for his performance against LA, making seven clearances and winning all six of his duels while completing 46 passes.
• One of Houston's most notable offseason acquisitions was forward Darwin Quintero, who totaled 21 goals and 20 assists across his first two MLS seasons with Minnesota United FC.
• Houston began the 2019 season 6-1-1 but finished 6-17-3, the worst mark in the Western Conference from May 11 onward.
• Houston has kept just eight clean sheets in its last 69 regular season matches since the start of 2018, the fewest in the Western Conference during that time.
• Houston has made just one playoff appearance in the last six seasons, having previously reached MLS Cup in 2006, 2007, 2011 and 2012.

Sporting Kansas City

• 2020 MLS record: 1-0-0, 3 points (t-1st in Western Conference)
• 2020 MLS home record: 0-0-0 (0 GF, 0 GA)
• Week 1 result: Won 3-1 at Vancouver Whitecaps FC
• Sporting was one of three MLS teams to score three goals in Week 1, joining the New York Red Bulls and Minnesota United FC.
• Mexican striker Alan Pulido and Israeli midfielder Gadi Kinda scored first-half goals in the 3-1 win over Vancouver, marking the fourth time in club history that two Sporting newcomers have scored in a season opener.
• Pulido's headed goal on Saturday, assisted by Croatian defender Roberto Puncec, marked the first time since 1996 that Sporting's opening goal of a regular season was scored and assisted by a pair of MLS debutants.
• Forward Erik Hurtado's 95th-minute goal last Saturday was the third-latest road goal in Sporting's regular season history.
• Forward Johnny Russell is the second player in team history to record nine goals and nine assists in consecutive regular seasons.
• Goalkeeper Tim Melia’s 10 penalty kick saves since the start of 2016 are five more than any other player in the MLS regular season.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Manager Peter Vermes is one shy of his 350th regular season match in charge of Sporting. He will become the fifth head coach in MLS history to reach that milestone.
• Goalkeeper Tim Melia is one shy of his 46th shutout for Sporting in the MLS regular season, which would pass Jimmy Nielsen for the most in club history.
• Sporting are 14-3-7 all-time in MLS home openers, including a 3-1-5 record at Children's Mercy Park.
• Sporting's only home-opening defeats in MLS play came in 1999 (Chicago Fire), 2009 (Toronto FC) and 2018 (New York City FC).

Recent #SKCvHOU meetings (all competitions)

• Regular season record vs. Houston: 8-10-13
• All-competitions record vs. Houston: 13-16-14