Sporting Kansas City (12-8-8, 44 points) continues their playoff push Wednesday against Western Conference rival Houston Dynamo (9-12-8, 35 points) at BBVA Compass Stadium. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT with live television coverage on KMCI-TV 38 The Spot and SKCTV, as well as local radio broadcasts on 99.3 FM and 1340 AM.
Peter Vermes' men are unbeaten in five straight trips to BBVA Compass Stadium and have lost just one of their last 11 matches against Houston in all competitions. Forward Dom Dwyer has relished the rivalry in particular, having scored in six straight meetings against the Dynamo dating back to the 2013 Eastern Confrence Finals. We take a closer look at Wednesday's contest in our By The Numbers preview...
Head-to-head
- Sporting KC has faced Houston 19 times in all competitions since the beginning of 2011, more than any other MLS opponent (8-4-7 record).
- Sporting KC has just one loss in their last 11 games vs. Houston in all competitions with a 6-1-4 record.
- Dom Dwyer has scored in six straight appearances vs. Houston dating back to November 2013.
- Will Bruin has scored in three of his previous four games against Sporting KC in all competitions.
- Brad Davis has six goals and nine assists in 30 regular season appearances against Sporting KC. His 30 games played vs. Kansas City are tied for the most among all active MLS players (Justin Mapp).
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Sporting KC and Houston have met three times this season in all competitions:
- 4-4 draw in Houston on April 25 (regular season - highlights)
- 3-1 win for Sporting KC on July 21 (U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal - highlights)
- 1-1 draw in Kansas City on Aug. 1 (regular season - highlights)
- In three previous matches against Houston this season, Sporting KC has scored nine of their 10 total goals after the 70th minute.
- Benny Feilhaber has three goals in three games against Houston this season, including a brace at BBVA Compass Stadium on April 25.
- Krisztian Nemeth has scored twice in three appearances against Houston this season, while Giles Barnes bagged a brace against Kansas City on April 25.
Houston Dynamo
- 2015 MLS record: 9-12-8, 35 points (9th in West - standings)
- 2015 MLS home record: 7-4-3 (25 GF, 18 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 1-3-1, 4 points (T-L-W-L-L)
- Houston is 7-1-1 in their last nine home games in all competitions dating back to May 16.
- Sixteen of Houston's 36 goals scored and 18 of their 39 allowed have come after the 60th minute (regular season).
- In all competitions this season, Houston is 10-0-3 when scoring the first goal and 8-0-2 when leading at halftime.
- Houston has six clean sheets through 29 regular season matches, tied for their fewest since the club's inaugural campaign in 2006 (five).
- Houston has conceded at least two goals in five of their last six MLS matches.
- Houston ranks last in MLS with 3.6 shots on goal per game.
- Giles Barnes is second on Houston with six goals, but hasn't scored in 12 straight league appearances dating back to May 22.
- Brad Davis leads MLS with six assists from set plays. Davis has 27 set piece assists over thel last five regular seasons, 12 more than any other player.
Sporting KC
- 2015 MLS record: 12-8-8, 44 points (5th in West - standings)
- 2015 MLS road record: 3-7-4 (18 GF, 23 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 1-3-1, 4 points (L-L-T-L-W)
- Benny Feilhaber is tied for the MLS lead with 14 assists and is one of two MLS players (Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto) to reach double digits in goals and assists in league play.
- Dom Dwyer's 32 regular season goals since the start of 2014 are the most over a two-year span in Sporting KC history.
- Krisztian Nemeth's 20 combined goals (13) and assists (7) are the most by a newcomer in Sporting KC history (excluding inaugural 1996 season).
- Feilhaber, Dwyer and Nemeth have combined for 40 of Sporting KC's 57 goals across all competitions in 2015.
- Matt Besler leads MLS with 185 clearances and has played every minute of Sporting KC's last 30 games in all competitions.
- Soni Mustivar leads MLS with 6.2 interceptions per 90 minutes played and boasts a 14-3-4 record as a starter in all competitions.
- SKC recorded nine shutouts in their first 17 regular season matches (17 goals conceded), but have just one clean sheet in their last 11 (22 goals conceded).
Milestones and miscellany
- Dom Dwyer has scored 43 career goals for Sporting KC in all competitions, tied with Chris Klein for fourth in team history.
- Graham Zusi ranks third in team history with 53 assists in all competitions, one shy of tying Chris Klein for second.
- Paulo Nagamura is one shy of his 100th career appearance for Sporting KC in all competitions.
- Seth Sinovic is one shy of his 150th career start for Sporting KC in all competitions.
Team stats (2015 regular season)
MLS rank in parenthesis (stats as of Sept. 22, 2015)
<strong>Category (per game)</strong> |
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<b>Houston Dynamo</b> |
Goals scored |
1.57 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(5th)</span> |
1.24 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(t-13</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Goals conceded |
1.39 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(12</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
1.34 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(10th)</span> |
Shots |
12.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(10</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">t</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">h)</span> |
11.3 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(15</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Shooting accuracy |
43.7% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(16</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
41.9% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(19th)</span> |
Assists |
1.71 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(4th)</span> |
1.10 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(t-11th)</span> |
Chances created |
9.5 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(10th)</span> |
8.3 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(15</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Crosses/corners |
16.5 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(17</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">t</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">h</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
19.5 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(12th)</span> |
Fouls committed |
12.9 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(12</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
13.2 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(8</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Fouls suffered |
11.3 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(16th)</span> |
12.1 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(t-10th)</span> |
Successful passes |
276 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(20</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
282 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(17</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Passing accuracy |
74.1% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(19</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
76.3% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(14th)</span> |
Possession |
49.7% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(9</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
48.7% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(14</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Tackles won |
18.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
13.3 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(18th)</span> |
Duels won |
55.8 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(2nd)</span> |
47.4 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(17</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Interceptions |
26.5 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
21.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(6th)</span> |
Shots faced |
10.3 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
11.4 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(5th)</span> |
Saves |
3.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(10</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
2.7 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(15</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Recent #HOUvSKC Meetings
- All competitions record vs. Houston: 9-10-11 (5-7-10 in MLS)
- Regular season road record vs. Houston: 3-3-5 (14 GF, 16 GA)
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Score</strong> |
<strong>Location</strong> |
<strong>Competition</strong> |
11/9/13 |
T 1-1 |
BBVA Compass Stadium |
MLS Playoffs |
11/23/13 |
W 2-1 |
Sporting Park |
MLS Playoffs |
6/6/14 |
W 2-0 |
BBVA Compass Stadium |
Regular season |
8/29/14 |
L 1-3 |
Sporting Park |
Regular season |
4/25/15 |
T 4-4 |
BBVA Compass Stadium |
Regular season |
7/21/15 |
W 3-1 |
Sporting Park |
Open Cup |
8/1/15 |
T 1-1 |
Sporting Park |
Regular season |
