By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #SKCvHOU | May 29, 2021

"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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91.5%  The percentage of people involved in a traffic crash who wore a seatbelt in Kansas in 2019.

Hot off a 3-1 road win at the San Jose Earthquakes and occupying second place in the Western Conference, Sporting Kansas City (4-2-1, 13 points) will host rivals Houston Dynamo FC (3-2-2, 11 points) on Saturday night in the first full-capacity match at Children's Mercy Park since March 7, 2020. A limited number of tickets for the momentous showdown are available at SeatGeek.com while supplies last.

Saturday's contest will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT with three hours of live coverage beginning at 7 p.m. CT on Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Midwest Plus, BallySports.com and the Bally Sports app. Listeners can follow the action live locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish), while the Sporting KC app will provide additional in-game updates.

The last time Sporting welcomed a full house at home, the Dynamo suffered a 4-0 defeat as Alan Pulido and Gadi Kinda scored on their Children’s Mercy Park debuts in one of the most memorable home openers in club history. Almost 15 months later, the Western Conference rivals will come full circle in a highly anticipated showdown on Memorial Day Weekend. 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 5-3-2 in their last 10 regular season meetings against Houston dating back to October 2017, posting four shutouts during that stretch.
• The teams recently met on May 12 at BBVA Stadium as Houston prevailed 1-0 on a goal from forward Maxi Urruti despite Sporting holding a 16-5 advantage in shots and limiting the Dynamo to a single shot on target.
• Sporting and Houston took two wins apiece in last year's regular season series. The teams combined for 17 goals in those four meetings.
• In two visits to Children's Mercy Park in 2020, Houston lost 4-0 on March 7 and won 5-2 on Aug. 25.
• Sporting forward Alan Pulido has three goals and an assist in four career appearances against Houston, including a brace in his team's 2-1 win at BBVA Compass Stadium on Oct. 3, 2020.
• Houston leads the all-time series in the regular season (13-10-13) and in all competitions (19-15-14).
• Sporting has faced Houston 37 times in all competitions since 2011, more than any other opponent, and posted a 14-13-10 record during that stretch.
• Sporting defender Graham Zusi has five career assists against Houston in the regular season, the most of any Kansas City player all-time.
• Similarly, Tim Melia has five career regular season wins against Houston, the most of any Kansas City goalkeeper all-time.
• In the all-time regular season series, Sporting have scored 25 of their 46 goals against Houston after the 60th minute.

Houston Dynamo FC

• MLS record:3-2-2, 11 points
• MLS standings: 4th in West
• MLS away record: 0-2-1 (3 GF, 6 GA)
• Last five matches: 2-1-2 (T-T-W-L-W)
• Last match: Won 2-1 vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC on May 22
• Houston are 3-0-1 at home this season but winless on the road at 0-2-1.
• Houston's 33 regular season road losses since the start of 2018 are the most in MLS. The Dynamo have gone 5-33-9 away from home over the last four seasons.
• Houston has scored in all seven matches this season but has yet to score more than twice in a game (nine goals in seven matches).
• All nine of Houston's goals this season have come from inside the box.
• Houston ranks last in MLS in average possession (42.8%) and fourth-to-last in passing accuracy (75.5%).
• Houston has yet to score after the 60th minute this season.
• Houston's three one-goal wins are tied for the most in MLS.
• Forward Maxi Urruti leads MLS with three game-winning goals, accounting for all three of Houston's victories.
• All three of Urruti's goals have been game-winners. Memo Rodriguez ranks second on the team with two goals.
• Defender Adam Lundkvist is tied for second in MLS with 18 interceptions. His two assists are tied with Rodriguez for the team lead.
• Forward Fafa Picault leads MLS with 12 offside infractions.
• Goalkeeper Marko Maric and defender Tim Parker are the only Houston players who have played every minute this season.

Sporting Kansas City

• MLS record:4-2-1, 13 points
• MLS standings: 2nd in West
• MLS home record: 2-0-1 (6 GF, 2 GA)
• Last five matches: 3-2-0 (L-W-L-W-W)
• Last match: Won 3-1 at San Jose Earthquakes on May 22
• Sporting leads MLS this season with nine points and three wins from losing positions. No other club has more than four points and one win from losing positions in 2021.
• Sporting have scored in 18 straight regular season home matches dating back to Aug. 10, 2019, the second-longest home scoring streak in club history.
• According to MLSsoccer.com, Sporting leads MLS with 13.47 expected goals this season.
• Forward Alan Pulido leads MLS during the month of May with four goals and 25 shot attempts.
• Pulido leads MLS since the start of 2020 with 0.99 goals and primary assists per 90 minutes played (regular season and playoffs). He has 10 goals and six assists in MLS play over the last two seasons.
• Forward Daniel Salloi has three goals and two assists in seven appearances this season after recording one goal and one assist in the previous two seasons combined. He ranks second in MLS with 39 touches in the opponent's box.
• In last weekend's win at San Jose, Salloi became the second MLS player since the start of 2020 with a goal, a primary assist, four chances created and 85% passing accuracy in a match.
• Pulido (4 goals, 1 assist) and Salloi (3 goals, 2 assists) are two of 10 MLS players with at least five combined goals and assists this season.
• In last weekend's win over San Jose, Jaylin Lindsey became the second Sporting defender since 2010 with a goal, five tackles and 10 duels in a regular season match.
• Sporting ranks last in MLS with 9.6 fouls committed per game.
• After ranking last in MLS with 4.3 chances created per game through Week 3, Sporting has created 15.5 chances per game in their last four matches.
• Similarly, Sporting averaged 7.7 shots per game through Week 3. They have averaged 20.5 shots per game in their last four matches.
• Goalkeeper Tim Melia has won five straight regular season matches dating back to October 2020.
• Defender Andreu Fontas leads MLS in passes (458) and passes completed (402).
• Defender Luis Martins is the only Sporting player to play every minute this season. He ranks fourth in MLS with 32 crosses from open play.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Defender Graham Zusi is one shy of his 348th appearance for Sporting in all competitions, which would tie Matt Besler for the most in club history.

Recent #HOUvSKC meetings (all competitions)

• Regular season record vs. Houston: 10-13-13
• All-competitions record vs. Houston: 15-19-14

Team Stats (2021 regular season)

(Source: Opta; MLS rank in parenthesis)