Fresh off a thrilling win over rivals Real Salt Lake in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals, Sporting Kansas City continues its stretch of five games in 15 days when Vancouver Whitecaps FC visit Sporting Park for a pivotal Western Conference clash on Saturday. The game will kick off at 8 p.m. CT with three hours of television coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT on KMCI-TV 38 The Spot and SKCTV. Local radio broadcasts will be available on 99.3 FM (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish).
First-place Vancouver (13-8-3, 42 points) comes to town boasting the league’s best road record (7-4-2), while fourth-place Sporting KC (10-4-7, 37 points) is riding a 15-game home unbeaten streak in all competitions, including a 7-0-4 mark in MLS. Vancouver (0.92) and Sporting KC (1.05) rank first and second in goals against average, respectively, but also wield no shortage of attacking firepower. Here's our By The Numbers preview...
Head-to-head
- Sporting KC has just one loss in six regular season meetings against Vancouver (3-1-2).
- Vancouver is making its third all-time trip to Sporting Park, having failed to win in their previous two attempts. Sporting KC beat the Caps 2-1 in June 2011 before earning a 1-1 draw in July 2013.
- Kevin Ellis is the only player on Sporting KC’s current roster to score a regular season goal against Vancouver. The homegrown defender scored his second career MLS goal in a 1-0 win at BC Place on July 12 of this year.
- Jamaican international Darren Mattocks scored against Sporting KC in Vancouver’s 2-0 win at BC Place on Aug. 10, 2014. Pedro Morales provided the assist.
- As a member of Seattle Sounders FC, Mauro Rosales scored a 90th-minute equalizer against Sporting KC in a 2-1 road win at Sporting Park on Aug. 6, 2011.
Sporting KC
- 2015 MLS record: 10-4-7, 37 points (4th in West)
- 2015 MLS home record: 7-0-4 (19 GF, 7 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 3-1-1, 10 points (W-W-L-T-W)
- 2015 marks the first season in club different players reach the double-digit goal mark across all competitions. Dom Dwyer (12), Krisztian Nemeth (12) and Benny Feilhaber (10) have combined for 34 for the team’s 46 total goals in the MLS regular season and U.S. Open Cup.
- SKC is the only remaining MLS club undefeated at home (7-0-4). The team's 11-game home unbeaten run is the longest in MLS this season and the longest in club history.
- SKC is tied for second in MLS with nine shutouts, including six in 11 games at Sporting Park.
- SKC is fourth in the West with 37 points but is tied for the MLS lead at 1.76 points per game.
- Feilhaber's 17 assists in all competitions are one shy of tying the single-season club record set by Preki in 2003. Feihaber has scored or assisted in six straight games for Sporting KC in all competitions.
- Tim Melia leads MLS with a 0.77 goals against average and owns the best winning percentage in the league (.731 with an 8-2-3 record).
- Sporting KC owns a 22-8-8 regular season record against Major League Soccer’s three Canadian teams. Their 22 combined wins against Toronto FC (13), Montreal Impact (6) and Vancouver Whitecaps FC (3) are most among American MLS clubs
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
- 2015 MLS record: 13-8-3, 42 points (1st in West)
- 2015 MLS road record: 7-4-2 (14 GF, 9 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 3-1-1, 10 points (L-T-W-W-W)
- Since losing to Sporting KC on July 12, Vancouver is 3-0-1 with 11 goals scored and two conceded.
- Vancouver's 7-4-2 road record is best in MLS. The club has at least three more road wins than any other team in the league.
- Vancouver owns a league-best 0.92 goals against average and has conceded just nine goals in 13 road matches.
- In MLS competition, Vancouver is 13-2-0 when scoring first and 0-6-2 when conceding first.
- Midfielder Matias Laba leads MLS with 100 tackles won, while Kendall Waston leads MLS defenders in clearances (161) and aerial duels won (98).
- David Ousted leads MLS with 13 wins, three more than any other goalkeeper, while his nine shutouts rank second.
- Vancouver leads MLS with 55 yelow cards and 339 fouls committed.
Milestones and miscellany
- Sporting KC is one shy of its 200th home win across all competitions. The team is 199-98-70 all-time in Kansas City.
- Sporting KC currently boasts a club-record 11-game home unbeaten streak in MLS (7-0-4) and a 15-game home unbeaten streak in all competitions.
- Peter Vermes is tied with his former coach Bob Gansler for eighth place in MLS history with 86 regular season victories. On Wednesday Vermes became the winningest coach in Sporting KC history with his 109th victory in all competitions.
- Benny Feilhaber is one shy of his 100th appearance for Sporting KC in all competitions. His 33 career assists for the club rank fifth in team history.
Team stats (2015 regular season)
MLS rank in parenthesis (Opta stats as of Aug. 14, 2015)
<strong>Category (per game)</strong> |
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<b>Whitecaps FC</b> |
Goals scored |
1.57 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(5th)</span> |
1.42 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(t-7</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Goals conceded |
1.05 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(2nd</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
0.92 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
Shots |
12.2 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(10</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">t</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">h)</span> |
13.5 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(7</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Shooting accuracy |
32.7% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(15</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
39.1% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(3rd)</span> |
Assists |
1.76 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(2nd)</span> |
1.08 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(13th)</span> |
Chances created |
9.9 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(8th)</span> |
10.5 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(4</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Crosses/corners |
15.9 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(18</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">t</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">h</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
16.7 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(16th)</span> |
Fouls committed |
13.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(12</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
14.1 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
Fouls suffered |
11.1 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(18th)</span> |
12.4 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(9th)</span> |
Successful passes |
270 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(19</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
294 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(12</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Passing accuracy |
73.6% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(20</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
76.5% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(10th)</span> |
Possession |
48.8% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(14</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
46.8% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(18</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Tackles won |
18.8 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
17.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(3rd)</span> |
Duels won |
57.1 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(2nd)</span> |
52.3 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(7</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Interceptions |
26.2 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
20.5 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(5th)</span> |
Shots faced |
9.7 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
11.3 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(6th)</span> |
Saves |
2.8 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(t-10</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
2.8 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(t-10</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
All-time #SKCvVAN meetings
- Regular season record vs. Vancouver: 3-1-2 (10 GF, 8 GA)
- Regular season home record vs. Vancouver: 1-0-1 (3 GF, 2 GA)
<strong>Date</strong> |
<b>Result</b> |
<strong>Location</strong> |
4/2/11 |
T 3-3 |
Empire Field |
6/25/11 |
W 2-1 |
Sporting Park |
4/18/12 |
W 3-1 |
BC Place |
7/3/13 |
T 1-1 |
Sporting Park |
8/10/14 |
L 0-2 |
BC Place |
7/12/15 |
W 1-0 |
BC Place |
