"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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Two teams eager for a return to winning ways square off Saturday when Sporting Kansas City (9-4-5, 32 points) hosts Toronto FC (4-10-3, 15 points) in a highly anticipated matchup at Children's Mercy Park. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, FOX Sports GO, Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM (Spanish).
For the first time since mid-March, the top spot in the Western Conference does not belong to Sporting KC. Manager Peter Vermes' men suffered their second straight loss Wednesday at Real Salt Lake and will look to bounce back against the reigning MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield champions, who have endured a tumultuous start to their title defense in 2018 and have never won at Children's Mercy Park. We take a statistical look at Saturday's showdown in our newest edition of By The Numbers.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting KC holds a distinct upper hand in the regular-season series, going 14-4-6 overall and 9-1-2 at home against Toronto FC.
- Sporting KC is 11-1-3 in its last 15 meetings with Toronto, including 6-0-2 in the last eight.
- Toronto's 14 losses to Sporting KC are their most against any MLS foe in club history.
- Toronto FC is 0-6-1 at Children’s Mercy Park with six goals scored and 18 conceded.
Toronto FC
- 2018 MLS record: 4-10-3, 15 points (10th in East)
- 2018 MLS away record: 1-6-1 (12 GF, 20 GA)
- Last MLS match: L 3-4 at Minnesota United FC on July 4
- Last five MLS matches: 1-3-1, 4 points (W-T-L-L-L)
- Toronto has lost 10 MLS matches this season (4-10-3), already double their loss total from 2017 (20-5-9).
- Toronto is 1-6-1 on the road this season after going 7-4-6 away from home in 2017.
- Toronto FC has lost three straight MLS matches for the first time since September 2015.
- Toronto leads MLS this season with 35 big chances missed.
- Toronto FC ranks last in MLS with just 7.8 fouls committed per game, 2.4 fewer than any other team.
- Midfielder Victor Vazquez (5 goals, 6 assists) and forward Sebastian Giovinco (4 goals, 7 assists) have scored or assisted on 18 of Toronto’s 27 goals this season, including 11 of the last 13.
- Giovinco is second in MLS with 84 shot attempts and has hit the woodwork four times, second most among any player in the league.
- In 2017, Toronto FC became the first MLS club to win a treble, lifting the MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield and Canadian Championship.
- Toronto FC's 69 points in 2017 were the most any team has collected in an MLS season. The team also finished last season with 74 goals (2nd most all-time) and 20 wins (most all-time in the non-shootout era).
Sporting KC
- 2018 MLS record: 9-4-5, 32 points (2nd in West)
- 2018 MLS home record: 6-1-2 (20 GF, 9 GA)
- Last MLS match: L 2-4 at Real Salt Lake on July 4
- Last five MLS matches: 2-2-1, 7 points (W-T-W-L-L)
- Sporting KC had occupied first place in the West for 15 straight weeks, their second-longest uninterrupted run at the top of the conference in club history, before falling to Real Salt Lake on Wednesday.
- Sporting KC has allowed 10 goals across its last four games in all competitions. In each of those matches, Sporting KC conceded the first goal.
- Sporting KC has lost two straight league matches for the first time since May 2017. The club hasn't lost three straight in MLS since April 2016.
- Sporting KC is 6-0-2 in its last eight MLS matches at Children's Mercy Park, scoring 20 goals and conceding seven.
- Sporting KC has received eight MLS goals from substitutes, an all-time regular season club record.
- Sporting KC's leading goal scorer and assist man will serve a one-game red card suspension on Saturday. Daniel Salloi leads the side with six MLS goals, while Roger Espinoza has a career-high eight assists.
- Forward Johnny Russell ranks third in MLS with 111 touches in the opponent's box. He has recorded five goals and six assists in his first MLS campaign.
- Graham Zusi leads MLS in touches (1,584) and ranks first among defenders with 32 chances created.
- Goalkeeper Tim Melia is tied for the MLS lead with seven shutouts and has saved five of the last nine penalty kicks he has faced since the start of 2017.
Recent #SKCvTOR regular season meetings
- Regular season record vs. Toronto FC: 14-4-6
- Regular season home record vs. Toronto FC: 9-1-2 (27 GF, 10 GA)
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Result</strong> |
<strong>Stadium</strong> |
<strong>Details</strong> |
05/23/2014 |
T 2-2 |
Children's Mercy Park |
Dom Dwyer nets two but Toronto levels in 91st minute |
07/26/2014 |
W 2-1 |
BMO Field |
Graham Zusi scores in comeback road win |
08/16/2014 |
W 4-1 |
Children's Mercy Park |
Dom Dwyer bags another brace in comfortable win |
08/08/2015 |
W 3-1 |
BMO Field |
Benny Feilhaber notches a goal and an assist |
03/20/2016 |
W 1-0 |
Children's Mercy Park |
Brad Davis comes off the bench to score winner |
03/31/2017 |
T 0-0 |
BMO Field |
SKC holds Toronto to a season-low two shots on target |
Team stats (2018 regular season)
MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)
<strong>Category (per game)</strong> |
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<b>Toronto</b> |
Goals scored |
1.83 (6th) |
1.59 (12th) |
Goals conceded |
1.22 (5th) |
2.00 (20th) |
Shots |
17.5 (1st) |
15.7 (2nd) |
Shots on goal |
6.0 (3rd) |
5.7 (6th) |
Shooting accuracy |
47.0 (14th) |
48.0 (10th) |
Passing accuracy |
84.7 (1st) |
83.2 (3rd) |
Possession |
58.9 (2nd) |
55.5 (3rd) |
Duels won |
53.7 (10th) |
51.8 (15th) |
Tackles won |
11.2 (20th) |
11.9 (18th) |
Interceptions |
13.6 (15th) |
12.2 (21st) |
Clearances |
15.7 (21st) |
15.8 (19th) |
Fouls committed |
10.7 (18th) |
7.8 (23rd) |
Fouls suffered |
10.1 (17th) |
11.1 (10th) |
Shots faced |
12.0 (5th) |
13.2 (10th) |
