"By The Numbers" is a season-long series sponsored by The Kansas Department of Transportation, giving a statistical preview of every Sporting KC match.
Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo will meet in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the third straight year when they square off in Wednesday's Round of 16 at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. CT with a live stream on SportingKC.com.
As the top two teams in Major League Soccer's Western Conference, Sporting KC (8-4-6, 30 points) and Houston (7-6-4, 25 points) will look to continue their stout campaigns with a deep run in U.S. Soccer's oldest and most prestigious cup competition. We give a statistical breakdown the fascinating matchup in our By The Numbers preview.
Head-to-head
- Sporting KC is 9-13-12 in all competitions against Houston, including a 2-1-0 mark in the U.S. Open Cup.
- Sporting KC has faced Houston 23 times in all competitions since 2011, more than any other opponent (8-7-8 record). This includes five playoff games (2011-2013) and three U.S. Open Cup matches (2011, 2015, 2016).
- Sporting KC earned a 3-1 home win over Houston in the 2015 Open Cup quarterfinals en route to the championship, but the Dynamo exacted revenge last summer with a 3-1 home victory of their own in the Open Cup Round of 16.
- In last June's Open Cup showdown, forward Mauro Manotas bagged a brace and midfielder Alex scored to pace Houston to victory.
- Ever since defeating the Dynamo in the 2015 Open Cup quarterfinals, Sporting KC is winless in five straight meetings with Houston across all competitions (0-3-2).
- Sporting KC has lost three straight matches at BBVA Compass Stadium in all competitions.
Houston Dynamo
- 2017 MLS record: 7-6-4, 25 points (2nd in West)
- 2017 MLS home record: 7-0-2 (25 GF, 8 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 1-1-3, 6 points (T-W-L-T-T)
- Last MLS match: T 1-1 vs. FC Dallas on Friday, June 23
- 2016 Open Cup: Lost in quarterfinals to FC Dallas
- Best Open Cup finish: Semifinals (2006, 2009)
- Houston is 7-0-2 at BBVA Compass Stadium this season, scoring an MLS-best 25 home goals (2.78 per game).
- Houston leads the Western Conference with a shot conversion rate of 14.0 percent and ranks third with 4.8 shots on target per game.
- As a successful counter-attacking team, Houston leads MLS in total fast breaks (14) and shots from fast breaks (nine).
- Forward Erick "Cubo" Torres is second in MLS with 11 goals, while midfielder Alex is tied for third in MLS with seven assists.
- Defender Adolpho Machado has played every minute of all 17 MLS matches this season. Machado leads MLS with 119 clearances.
- Midfielder Juan Cabezas is fifth in MLS with 39 tackles won.
Sporting KC
- 2017 MLS record:8-4-6, 30 points (1st in West)
- 2017 MLS away record: 2-4-4 (5 GF, 9 GA)
- Last five games: 2-1-2, 8 points (L-W-T-T-W)
- Last MLS match: W 2-1 at LA Galaxy on Saturday, June 24
- 2016 Open Cup: Lost in Round of 16 to Houston Dynamo
- Best Open Cup finish: Champions (2004, 2012, 2015)
- Sporting KC's 0.67 goals against average is the lowest in MLS.
- Sporting KC leads MLS with 14.8 shots per game while facing a league-low 9.2 shot per game.
- Sporting KC leads MLS in passing accuracy (83.3%) while ranking third in average possession (57.9%).
- Sporting KC is unbeaten in five games across all competitions during the month of June, going 3-0-2 with three shutouts.
- Goalkeeper Tim Melia leads MLS with nine shutouts and an 82.6 save percentage while ranking fifth with 57 saves.
- Defender Ike Opara has scored three goals during the month of June. In his 17 starts across all competitions this season, Sporting KC has allowed just eight goals.
- Midfielder Ilie leads MLS in passes (1,319) and has played every minute of all 19 matches for Sporting KC in all competitions.
- Forward Gerso is second in MLS in dribbles completed (40) and touches inside the opponent's box (110).
Milestones and Miscellany
- In Saturday's 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy, Sporting KC scored two first-half road goals for the first time since Aug. 8, 2015, a span of 67 MLS matches (including playoffs).
- Sporting KC has become the second team in MLS history to earn road wins against LA and the Portland Timbers in the same season (Real Salt Lake in 2012).
Team stats (2017 regular season)
MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)
<strong>Category (per game)</strong> |
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<strong>Houston</strong> |
Goals scored |
1.22 (t-15th) |
1.76 (t-4th) |
Goals conceded |
0.67 (1st) |
1.47 (t-12th) |
Shots |
14.8 (1st) |
12.6 (9th) |
Shots on goal |
5.1 (2nd) |
4.8 (3rd) |
Shooting accuracy |
44.8 (13th) |
51.6 (4th) |
Passing accuracy |
83.3 (1st) |
75.3 (18th) |
Possession |
57.9 (3rd) |
44.1 (19th) |
Duels won |
50.0 (9th) |
47.2 (19th) |
Tackles won |
11.7 (21st) |
12.7 (17th) |
Interceptions |
11.5 (22nd) |
13.5 (11th) |
Fouls committed |
11.1 (19th) |
12.4 (12th) |
Fouls suffered |
11.9 (8th) |
9.8 (22nd) |
Shots faced |
9.2 (1st) |
11.9 (15th) |
Recent #HOUvSKC meetings in all competitions
- Regular season record vs. Houston: 5-9-11
- Record vs. Houston in all competitions: 9-13-12
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Result</strong> |
<strong>Stadium</strong> |
<strong>Competition</strong> |
<strong>Details</strong> |
07/21/2015 |
W 3-1 |
Children's Mercy Park |
Open Cup quarterfinals |
Dom Dwyer, Benny Feilhaber and Krisztian Nemeth score |
08/01/2015 |
T 1-1 |
Children's Mercy Park |
Regular season |
Dwyer scores early before Ricardo Clark levels late |
09/23/2015 |
L 0-1 |
BBVA Compass Stadium |
MLS |
Will Bruin bags the winner in the 67th mintue |
05/07/2016 |
L 0-2 |
BBVA Compass Stadium |
MLS |
Giles Barnes and Andrew Wenger score first-half goals |
06/29/2016 |
L 1-3 |
BBVA Compass Stadium |
Open Cup Round of 16 |
Alex scores and Mauro Manotas bags brace |
09/09/2016 |
T 3-3 |
Children's Mercy Park |
MLS |
Dwyer, Roger Espinoza and Jacob Peterson score, but Alex and Manotas help Houston draw |
