By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #SKCvSJ | Aug. 17, 2019

"By The Numbers" is a season-long series sponsored by The Kansas Department of Transportation that gives a statistical preview of every Sporting match.
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Sporting Kansas City will kick off a three-game homestand Saturday when the San Jose Earthquakes visit Children's Mercy Park. The Western Conference clash will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT and tickets remain available at SeatGeek.com, with the first 7,500 fans through the stadium gates receiving a free wall decal courtesy of match sponsor Dairy Farmers of America. Supporters can also catch the action live on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, FOX Sports GO, Sports Radio 810 WHB and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM.

Led by first-year head coach Matias Almeyda, the Earthquakes have enjoyed a meteoric rise since starting slowly out of the gates and currently occupy sixth place in the West. Sporting, meanwhile, have plenty of work to do if they wish to extend their eight-year playoff streak into 2019. We take a statistical look at the high-stakes clash in our newest edition of By The Numbers.

Head-to-Head

• Sporting have won 11 of their last 12 regular season home games against San Jose dating back to 2004.
• Sporting have won each of their last three home meetings against San Jose, claiming victories at Children's Mercy Park in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
• Sporting went 5-0-1 against San Jose from 2016 to 2018 before suffering a 4-1 road loss at Avaya Stadium on April 20.
• Sporting midfielder Felipe Gutierrez has three goals and two assists in three appearances against San Jose.
• San Jose received a Danny Hoesen brace and additional goals from Shea Salinas and Magnus Eriksson in their 4-1 home win over Sporting on April 20.
• Just one of Sporting's 29 regular season home games against San Jose has ended in a draw. Sporting are 20-8-1 at home in the all-time series.
• Sporting holds a narrow 26-25-8 edge in the all-time regular season series, with both teams scoring 74 goals across the 59 meetings.

San Jose Earthquakes

• 2019 MLS record: 11-8-5 (38 points, 6th in Western Conference)
• 2019 MLS away record: 3-5-3 (16 GF, 20 GA)
• Last MLS match: L 1-2 at Colorado Rapids on Aug. 10
• Last 5 MLS matches: 3-1-1, 10 points (W-W-W-T-L)
• After starting the season 1-5-0, San Jose has gone 10-3-5 since April 20.
• San Jose leads MLS with 13.9 chances created per game.
• San Jose ranks second in MLS with 17.2 shots per game but ranks 21st in shot conversion rate at 9.9%.
• San Jose ranks second in MLS in both passing accuracy (84.5%) and possession (58.4%).
• San Jose is tied for second in MLS with seven goals in the first 15 minutes of matches.
• Forward Chris Wondolowski, the all-time MLS scoring leader with 153 regular season goals, has a team-best nine goals in 2019. He has bagged at least 10 goals every year since 2010.
• Midfielder Magnus Eriksson is tied for second in MLS with 75 chances created.
• Midfielder Cristian Espinoza is tied for second in MLS with five game-winning assists.
• Midfielder Vako ranks fifth in MLS with 80 shot attempts.

Sporting Kansas City 

• 2019 MLS record: 7-11-7, 28 points (10th in Western Conference)
• 2019 MLS home record: 4-5-3 (22 GF, 24 GA)
• Last MLS match: L 0-1 at Orlando City SC on Aug. 14
• Last 5 MLS matches: 1-4-0, 3 points (L-L-W-L-L)
• Sporting sit nine points below the seventh and final Western Conference playoff spot with nine matches remaining.
• Sporting have a 2-5-1 home record since April 14, having gone 29-3-13 at Children's Mercy Park from June 2016 through March 2019.
• Sporting's five home losses (4-5-3) are tied for the second-most in MLS.
• Sporting's five road losses (3-5-4) are tied for the second-fewest in the Western Conference.
• Felipe Gutierrez has become the fourth midfielder in club history to hit double-digit goals in a single regular season. He leads the team with 10 league goals in 2019.
• Forward Johnny Russell leads MLS with four goals from outside the box and is one of two MLS players, alongside D.C. United's Wayne Rooney, with two goals from direct free kicks.
• Forward Gerso Fernandes is tied for second in MLS with three penalty kicks won.
• Sporting are 0-9-3 this season when conceding the first goal of the match and 0-7-2 when trailing at halftime.
• Sporting's eight-year playoff streak is the third-longest active run in MLS behind Seattle (10 years) and the New York Red Bulls (nine years).

Milestones and Miscellany

• Midfielder Roger Espinoza is one shy of his 274th appearance for Sporting in all competition, which would move him into sole possession of fourth place on the all-time chart.

Recent regular season meetings

• Regular season record vs. San Jose: 26-25-8 (74 GF, 74 GA)
• Regular season home record vs. San Jose: 20-8-1 (47 GF, 31 GA)

Team stats (2019 regular season)

MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)