By The Numbers: Sporting KC at Vancouver Whitecaps FC - July 12, 2015

Fresh off the club's second bye week of the 2015 campaign, Sporting Kansas City returns to MLS action Sunday when they face Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place in Vancouver, Canada. The match is set to kick off at 8 p.m. CT with three hours of television coverage on KMCI-TV 38 The Spot and SKCTV beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Sporting KC currently occupies the sixth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. However, Peter Vermes' side leads MLS with 1.69 points per game and has at least two games in hand on every other team above them in the standings.

Vancouver, meanwhile, is tied atop the West with 32 points and a league-best 10 wins. First-year forward Octavio Rivero leads the 'Caps with seven goals while veteran Pedro Morales has contributed four assists from midfield. We break down the matchup in our By The Numbers preview...

Head-to-head

• Sporting KC has faced Vancouver five times overall (2-1-2 record), the fewest of any MLS team minus expansion clubs Orlando City SC and New York City FC.
• The clubs last met on Aug. 10, 2014, at BC Place. An own goal and a strike from Darren Mattocks, assisted by Pedro Morales, gave the hosts a 2-0 win.
• Servando Carrasco is the only player on Sporting KC's current roster to score a regular season goal against Vancouver. Carrasco scored his lone MLS goal as a member of Seattle in a 3-2 win over Vancouver on June 8, 2013.
• Roger Espinoza (4/2/11) and Chance Myers (4/18/12) both have one career assist against Vancouver.

Sporting KC

• Ranks 6th in the Western Conference with 27 points but leads MLS with 1.69 points per game.
• Leads MLS with 1.56 goals per game and ranks second with 29 total assists.
• Tied for 2nd in MLS with eight clean sheets in 16 league matches.
• Has allowed five goals in the first 15 minutes of MLS matches, 2nd most in the league.
• Is the only MLS team to have three players with five or more league goals (Krisztian Nemeth 7, Dom Dwyer 5, Benny Feilhaber 5).
• Krisztian Nemeth leads 2015 MLS newcomers with 0.54 goals per game (seven goals in 13 appearances). He is also tied for 2nd with three game-winning goals.
• Benny Feilhaber ranks 2nd in MLS with nine assists, one behind Ethan Finlay of Columbus.
• Tim Melia has a 5-1-2 record through his first eight MLS starts, including five clean sheets and a league-best 0.63 goals against average.
• Melia (5-1-2) is one of two MLS goalkeepers (Bill Hamid, 8-4-4) to boast a win/loss record four games above .500 this season.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

• Leads MLS with eight victories by a one-goal margin.
• Ranks 2nd in MLS with eight goals scored after the 75th minute.
• Has hit the woodwork 10 times this season, most in MLS.
• Is 10-2-0 when scoring the first goal and 0-5-1 when conceding first goal.
• Leads MLS with 48 yellow cards, six more than any other team.
• Their three home losses (4-3-1 record) are tied for the most among Western Conference teams. 
• Ranks 2nd-to-last in MLS with 46 percent average possession.
• Octavio Rivero is tied for 2nd in MLS with three game-winning goals and ranks 4th in shots (59) and shots on goal (25).
• Pedro Morales is tied for 2nd in MLS with three game-winning assists, one behind Matias Perez Garcia of San Jose.
• Kendall Waston leads MLS with 140 clearances, including 101 headed clearances.
• David Ousted leads MLS goalkeepers with 10 wins (10-7-2 record). He is also in a six-way tie for most losses with seven. 

Milestones and miscellany

• Peter Vermes is one win shy of taking sole possession of 9th place all-time with 84 regular season wins as an MLS coach.
• Chance Myers is one shy of his 100th career regular season start and his 125th regular season appearance for Sporting KC.
• Benny Feilhaber ranks 7th in Sporting KC history with 29 assists across all competitions. He is one shy of tying Josh Wolff for 6th and two shy of tying Mo Johnston for 5th. Feilhaber is also one shy of his 75th regular sesaon appearance for Sporting KC.

Team stats (2015 regular season)

MLS rank in parenthesis (stats as of July 9, 2015)

All-time #VANvSKC meetings

• Regular season record vs. Vancouver: 2-1-2
• Regular season record at Vancouver: 1-1-1 (6 GF, 6 GA)