By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #SKCvLA | May 29, 2019

"By The Numbers" is a season-long series sponsored by The Kansas Department of Transportation, giving a statistical preview of every Sporting KC match.
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Just 72 hours removed from a pulsating 3-2 victory over Seattle Sounders FC, Sporting Kansas City (3-4-5, 14 points) will aim to continue their winning ways Wednesday when they host fellow MLS originals LA Galaxy (8-5-1, 25 points) at Children's Mercy Park.

The Western Conference tilt will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT and tickets remain available at SeatGeek.com. FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO will provide three hours of live coverage, while local radio broadcasts will air on Sports Radio 810 WHB and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM.

The Galaxy raced out of the gates in 2019, winning seven of their first nine matches, but head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto's side has cooled substantially since then. Sporting, meanwhile, earned a morale-boosting triumph on Sunday and will conclude a three-game homestand with intentions of extending the Galaxy's 11-year winless draught in Kansas City. We take a statistical look at the matchup in our newest edition of By The Numbers.

Head-to-Head

• Sporting are unbeaten in their last eight regular season meetings against LA, going 4-0-4 since October 2015.
• LA are 0-4-4 all-time at Children's Mercy Park and 0-5-6 in their last 11 visits to Kansas City dating back to 2008. The Galaxy haven't won in Kansas City since September 2007.
• Sporting and LA drew their most recent meeting by a 1-1 scoreline on Oct. 6, 2018, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Johnny Russell traded goals.
• The 62 regular season meetings between the sides have produced just three scoreless draws.
• Russell scored in both appearances against LA last season.
• Goalkeeper Tim Melia is 4-0-4 all-time against LA, posting a 0.88 goals against average and two shutouts.
• LA holds a narrow lead in the all-time regular season series with a 24-23-15 record.

LA Galaxy

• 2019 MLS record: 8-5-1 (25 points, 3rd in Western Conference)
• 2019 MLS away record: 2-3-1 (6 GF, 8 GA)
• Last MLS match: W 1-0 at Orlando City SC on May 24
• Last 5 MLS matches: 1-4-0, 3 points (L-L-L-L-W)
• LA opened the season 7-1-1 but have gone just 1-4-0 in their last five games, snapping a four-game losing skid with a 1-0 win at Orlando City SC on Friday.
• LA leads MLS with five penalty kick goals.
• LA has hit the woodwork nine times this season, more than any other MLS team.
• LA leads MLS with 70 successful crosses from open play, 26 more than any other team.
• Forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic ranks second in MLS with nine goals and is tied for the league lead with four game-winning goals.
• Among players with at least 500 minutes, midfielder Jonathan dos Santos leads MLS with a 93.1% passing accuracy and ranks second with 35 tackles won. Midfielder Sebastian Lletget ranks fourth in passing accuracy at 91.7%.
• Midfielder Uriel Antuna ranks second in MLS with 16 successful crosses from open play.
• Goalkeeper David Bingham is second in MLS with eight wins and ranks third with 46 saves.

Sporting Kansas City 

• 2019 MLS record: 3-4-5, 14 points (11th in Western Conference)
• 2019 MLS home record: 3-1-3 (19 GF, 13 GA)
• Last MLS match: W 3-2 vs. Seattle Sounders FC on May 26
• Last 5 MLS matches: 1-2-2, 2 points (T-L-L-T-W)
• Sporting leads MLS with 2.71 goals per home game and ranks second in scoring offense with 1.92 goals per game overall.
• A total of 23 players have started an MLS match this season for Sporting, third most in the league behind the New York Red Bulls (26) and Orlando City SC (25).
• Sporting snapped a seven-game MLS winless run in Sunday's victory over Seattle. It was the club's longest winless draught since 2016.
• Sporting has just one shutout this season, the second-fewest in MLS behind Portland's zero.
• Forwards Johnny Russell and Krisztian Nemeth are tied for second in MLS with seven goals excluding penalty kicks. They are tied for fourth in the league's Golden Boot race.
• In addition to scoring seven times, Russell leads the team with five assists in all competitions. He also leads MLS with three goals from outside the box.
• Nemeth has scored a team-best 11 goals in 15 matches across all competitions this season.
• Midfielder Felipe Gutierrez leads Sporting in duels won (59) and tackles won (18) while ranking second on the team in chances created (18).
• Goalkeeper Tim Melia has saved both of the penalties he has faced this season in MLS play.
• The versatile Yohan Croizet recorded two assists in Sunday's win over Seattle.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Goalkeeper Tim Melia is one shy of his 150th appearance for Sporting in all competitions.
• Forward Daniel Salloi is one shy of his 50th start for Sporting in all competitions
• Sporting is one shy of the club's 200th MLS regular season home win all-time.

Recent #SKCvLA regular season meetings

• Regular season record vs. LA: 23-24-15 (76 GF, 90 GA)
• Regular season home record vs. LA: 16-8-8 (46 GF, 41 GA)

Team stats (2019 regular season)

MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)