By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #SKCvRSL

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Two teams hovering around the red line in the Western Conference go head-to-head Saturday at Children's Mercy Park as part of MLS Rivalry Week. Sporting KC (5-6-2, 17 points) and Real Salt Lake (5-3-2, 17 points) square off for the second time in 2016 in a 7:30 p.m. CT kickoff on 38 The Spot, SKCTV, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM. A limited number of tickets for the game are still available at Ticketmaster.com, including standing-room only tickets for just $20. We take a statistical look at the matchup in our By The Numbers preview...

Head-to-head

• The clubs last met on April 2 at Children's Mercy Park as RSL won 2-1 for their first victory in Kansas City since 2009. RSL had been winless in seven straight trips to Sporting KC, scoring just three times during that stretch. Goals in either half from Justen Glad and Luke Mulholland gave RSL their first-ever win at Children's Mercy Park. Glad's first-half header snapped RSL's 444-minute regular season scoreless streak in KC dating back to 2010.
• Sporting KC is winless in five straight regular season meetings (0-3-2) since the start of 2015, including three straight losses by a 2-1 scoreline.
• The road team in the fixture has just two wins in the last 13 meetings across all competitions.
• Sporting KC has scored just one first-half goal in its last nine MLS meetings with RSL (including playoffs). The team has scored six second-half goals during that span.
• The all-time regular season series is tied at 8-8-5, with Sporting KC holding a 5-2-4 mark at home.
• Sporting KC midfielder Benny Feilhaber has three goals and two assists in his last four appearances against RSL in all competitions.
• Sporting KC winger Brad Davis has four goals and 12 assists in 23 regular season appearances against RSL.
• Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia is 0-4-0 against RSL in the regular season.

Real Salt Lake

• 2016 MLS record: 5-3-2, 17 points (6th in West)
• 2016 MLS road record: 1-3-2 (8 GF, 12 GA)
• Last five games: 2-3-0, 6 points (W-L-W-L-L)
• RSL scored in its first eight games of 2016 but has failed to score in its last two, a pair of 1-0 defeats to Houston and Colorado (200-minute active scoreless streak).
• RSL has lost three of four matches after opening the season on a six-game unbeaten run.
• RSL is tied for the MLS lead with five goals from set pieces, while their seven open-play goals are third-fewest in the league.
• RSL has allowed 12 goals in six road games (1-3-2) and has yet to post a road shutout this year.
• Nine of RSL's 10 games have been decided by a goal or less.
• RSL has allowed six goals after the 75th minute, second-most in MLS.
• With four goals and four assists in eight appearances, winger Joao Plata is one of three MLS players (Sebastian Giovinco and Giovani dos Santos) to average at least one goal or assist per game. Plata is eighth in MLS with 26 chances created.
• Between 2011-15, no MLS player created more chances than Javier Morales (430 including playoffs). The 10-year veteran has been involved in more than 25 percent (123 of 487) of RSL's regular season goals all-time.

Sporting Kansas City

• 2016 MLS record: 5-6-2, 17 points (7th in West)
• 2016 MLS home record: 3-2-1 (8 GF, 7 GA)
• Last five games: 1-2-2, 5 points (T-T-L-L-W)
• SKC has faced a league-low 10.5 shots per game and ranks second in scoring defense at 1.08 goals allowed per game.
• SKC is 3-0-0 when scoring multiple goals and 0-4-0 when allowing multiple goals.
• SKC is the only MLS team that has yet to score or concede three or more goals in a game.
• Among players involved in at least 25 tackles in 2016, midfielder Roger Espinoza has a league-best 85.0 percent success rate. Espinoza ranks fifth in MLS with 40 tackles and seventh with 509 successful passes.
• Defender Nuno Coelho leads MLS in minutes (1,170) while ranking fifth in successful passes (618), fifth in interceptions (42), eighth in blocked shots (9) and 13th in clearances (48).
• Defender Saad Abdul-Salaam is tied for fifth in MLS with four assists despite starting just six games.
• Winger Graham Zusi is seventh in MLS with 28 chances created.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Roger Espinoza is one shy of his 150th career MLS appearance (including playoffs).
• Benny Feilhaber is one shy of his 100th career MLS regular season appearance for Sporting KC.
• Brad Davis has 40 career game-winning assists in the regular season, one shy of tying the all-time MLS record.

Team stats (2016 regular season)

MLS rank in parenthesis (source: WhoScored.com)

Recent #SKCvRSL meetings (all competitions)

• Regular season record vs. Real Salt Lake: 8-8-5
• Regular season home record vs. Real Salt Lake: 5-2-4 (13 GF, 9 GA)

 2013 MLS Cup
* 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal