By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #SKCvRSL

"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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Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake renew their rivalry Saturday at Children's Mercy Park, kicking off at 7:30 p.m. CT on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, ESPN 99.3 FM and La Grande 1340 AM. The game will also be streamed on FOX Sports GO, available to all pay-TV subscribers within the Sporting KC TV territory who receive FOX Sports Kansas City or FOX Sports Midwest.

Real Salt Lake (2-4-2, 8 points) snapped a lengthy road winless skid with a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids on April 15, and will now attempt to dethrone a Sporting Kansas City side (3-1-3, 12 points) whose home unbeaten run is one shy of a new club record. We take a statistical look at the matchup in our By The Numbers preview...

Head-to-head

• Sporting KC is 0-4-3 in its last seven regular season meetings against Real Salt Lake, including a pair of home losses in 2016. That seven-game winless skid is Sporting KC's longest active spell against any MLS opponent.
• Sporting KC last beat Real Salt Lake in the regular season on July 27, 2013, when Ike Opara headed home a Graham Zusi corner kick in the 97th minute to secure a 2-1 victory.
• Outside of regular season play, Sporting KC has defeated Real Salt Lake in each of the last two meetings. Peter Vermes' men beat RSL in the 2013 MLS Cup and the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals.
• RSL went 2-0-1 in the 2016 series, winning 2-1 on April 2 and 3-1 on May 21 at Children's Mercy Park. The sides then battled to a 0-0 draw on Oct. 16 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.
• Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber has three goals and two assists in his last six appearances vs. RSL in all competitions.

Real Salt Lake

• 2017 MLS record: 2-4-2, 8 points (7th in West)
• 2017 MLS away record: 1-2-1 (4 GF, 7 GA)
• Last five games: 2-2-1, 7 points (D-L-W-W-L)
• Last MLS match: L 3-1 vs. Atlanta United on April 22
• RSL snapped an eight-game road winless skid (0-7-1) in the regular season with a 2-1 victory at the Colorado Rapids on April 15.
• RSL has kept just one clean sheet in their last 35 regular season away games.
• RSL has won two of their last three games after starting the season 0-3-2.
• RSL leads MLS with 15.5 interceptions per game. Luke Mulholland is second among MLS midfielders with 19 total interceptions this season.
• Newly acquired midfielder Albert Rusnak is ninth in MLS with 15 chances created.
• Former Kansas City striker Yura Movsisyan leads RSL with four goals, while Mulholland and Rusnak have bagged two each.
• Nineteen-year-old midfielder Brooks Lennon is tied for second in MLS with eight successful crosses from open play.
• RSL ranks 21st in passing accuracy (71.2 percent) and has the second-most failed passes (893) in MLS.
• RSL has committed three errors directly leading to opponent goals, tied for most in MLS this season.
• RSL leads MLS with 18 yellow cards.

 Sporting KC

• 2017 MLS record: 3-1-3, 12 points (4th in West)
• 2017 MLS home record: 2-0-1 (5 GF, 2 GA)
• Last five games: 3-1-1, 10 points (W-D-W-W-L)
• Last MLS match: L 1-0 at FC Dallas on April 22
• Sporting KC boasts a 12-game home unbeaten streak in the regular season, one shy of setting a new club record.
• During this 12-game home unbeaten run, Sporting KC is 9-0-3 with six shutouts and has outscored opponents 26-10.
• Sporting KC has gone 10 straight MLS matches (including playoffs) without allowing a first-half goal.
• No team has allowed fewer goals (0.43) or faced fewer shots (8.9) per game than Sporting KC.
• Goalkeeper Tim Melia is tied for the MLS lead with four shutouts while ranking second in both goals against average (0.43) and save percentage (82.1).
• Forward Dom Dwyer is second in MLS with 26 fouls suffered and ranks seventh with 52 duels won.
• Midfielder Ilie ranks third in MLS with 443 successful passes, while midfielder Roger Espinoza ranks sixth with 216 successful passes in the attacking half.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Forward Dom Dwyer is one shy of his 13th career game-winning goal in the MLS regular season, which would tie Preki's club record.
• Defender Graham Zusi is one shy of his 50th career assist in the MLS regular season.

Team stats (2017 regular season)

MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)

Recent #SKCvRSL meetings

• Regular season record vs. RSL: 8-9-6 (27 GF, 29 GA)
• Regular season home record vs. RSL: 5-3-4 (14 GF, 12 GA)