By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #SKCvLA

"By The Numbers" is sponsored by The Kansas Department of Transportation. Did you know that a DUI stays on your driving record for life? Be safe and designate a sober driver.

Children's Mercy Park takes center stage on Sunday when Sporting Kansas City (11-12-6, 39 points) hosts the LA Galaxy (11-4-14, 47 points) in a star-studded clash that carries significant playoff implications in the Western Conference. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CT on FOX and ESPN Deportes, while local radio broadcasts will air on 99.3 FM and 1340 AM. A limited number of tickets for the match are still available at Ticketmaster.com as the longtime MLS rivals battle for playoff position in the wild West.

Sporting KC settled for a bitter 3-3 draw against the Houston Dynamo last week but take an impressive home unbeaten streak into Sunday's fixture. The high-scoring Galaxy, meanwhile, have the fewest losses in MLS and last week welcomed back U.S. soccer legend Landon Donovan, who has come out of retirement after a two-year hiatus. We take a statistical look at the marquee matchup in our By The Numbers preview.

Head-to-head

• Sporting KC and LA have met twice previously this season, battling to a 1-1 draw in Kansas City on May 1 and a scoreless stalemate at StubHub Center on June 2.
• Despite settling for a pair of draws, Sporting KC held a distinct upper hand in both previous meetings, outshooting the Galaxy 32-5 over the two games.
• Brad Davis and Giovani dos Santos traded first-half goals in the first meeting of 2016 at Children's Mercy Park, a match in which Sporting KC held a 17-4 shot advantage.
• Sporting KC held LA to an MLS record-low one shot attempt when the sides last met on June 2.
• LA is 0-3-2 all-time at Children's Mercy Park and 0-4-4 in their last eight visits to Kansas City dating back to 2008. The Galaxy haven't won in KC since September 2007.
• In addition to their eight-game home unbeaten run against LA, Sporting KC has just one loss in the last five regular season fixtures overall (2-1-2).
• LA holds a 24-20-13 record in the regular season series but is just 8-15-6 in Kansas City.
• The 57 regular season meetings between the sides have produced just three scoreless draws, including their most recent meeting on June 2.
• Sporting KC is the only team that Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena has a losing regular season record against in his MLS coaching career (8-11-8).
• Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber has scored or assisted in three of his last five appearances vs. LA.
• LA forward Giovani dos Santos has one goal and one assist in two appearances at Children's Mercy Park.
• LA midfielder Landon Donovan has 13 goals and 12 assists in 29 regular season appearances vs. Sporting KC.

LA Galaxy

• 2016 MLS record: 11-4-14, 47 points (2nd in West)
• 2016 MLS road record: 3-4-7 (19 GF, 18 GA)
• Last five games: 2-0-3, 9 points (T-T-W-T-W)
• Last MLS match: Won 4-2 vs. Orlando City SC on Sept. 11
• Despite ranking last in MLS with 10.6 shots per game, LA leads the league with 1.69 goals per game.
• Despite facing a league-high 15.6 shots per game, LA is third in MLS with a 1.01 goals against average.
• LA has the fewest road losses (4) and total losses (4) in MLS. The team has just one defeat in its last 15 league matches since June 22 (6-1-8). During that stretch, the club is 2-1-4 on the road.
• LA is one of two MLS teams (Toronto FC) with a positive road goal differential at plus-1 (19 GF, 18 GA).
• Forward Giovani Dos Santos is tied for fourth in MLS with 14 goals and tied for third with 11 assists. He and Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC) are the only players to rank in the top five in both categories.
• Dos Santos has five goals and three assists in his last three games, including back-to-back braces.
• Goalkeeper Brian Rowe is third in MLS in both GAA (1.01) and save percentage (77.5).
• Defender Jelle Van Damme ranks third in MLS with 21 blocked shots and 10th with 115 clearances.

Sporting Kansas City

• 2016 MLS record: 11-12-6, 39 points (5th in West)
• 2016 MLS home record: 9-4-2 (26 GF, 17 GA)
• Last five games: 1-2-2, 5 points (L-T-W-L-T)
• Last MLS match: Tied 3-3 vs. Houston Dynamo on Sept. 9
• SKC is 6-0-1 in its last seven regular season matches at Children's Mercy Park, posting shutouts in three of the previous four.
• SKC is 5-1-1 in matches televised on FOX Sports this season, including a 4-0-1 record at Children's Mercy Park.
• SKC leads MLS with 14.5 shots per game while also allowing a league-low 9.1 shots per game.
• SKC leads MLS with 66 chances created from set pieces, nine more than any other team.
• SKC leads MLS with 56.0 percent possession and 28 headed shots on target.
• SKC is 19th in MLS in both shooting accuracy (40.6%) and shot conversion rate (8.3%).
• Forward Dom Dwyer is seventh in MLS with 13 goals and third with 100 shot attempts (the fourth most in a single season in KC history).
• Midfielder Roger Espinoza is fourth in MLS with 185 duels won and 10th with 51 tackles won.
• Midfielder Benny Feilhaber has four assists in his last six games.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Dom Dwyer is one shy of his 50th career goal in the MLS regular season. He could be the 50th player in league history to reach the milestone (Real Salt Lake's Javier Morales is also at 49 goals).
• Soni Mustivar is one shy of his 50th career start for Sporting KC in all competitions.
• Benny Feilhaber is one shy of tying Graham Zusi for 10th in team history with 28 goals in all competitions.
• Diego Rubio is the first player in Sporting KC history to score in MLS, the U.S. Open Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League in the same season.
• Sporting KC is one shy of 1,100 all-time goals scored (all competitions).

Team stats (2016 regular season)

MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)

Recent #SKCvLA regular season meetings

• Regular season record vs. LA: 20-24-13 (67 GF, 85 GA)
• Regular season home record vs. LA: 15-8-6 (41 GF, 37 GA)