Sporting Kansas City at FC Cincinnati
2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 10
Saturday, April 26 | 1:30 p.m. CT (1:40 kickoff)
TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV | Pub Partners
Listen: 94.5 FM | 1510 AM | SKC App | SportingKC.com
More: 5 Things | By the Numbers | Game Notes | MatchCenter
Sporting Kansas City will kick off MLS Matchday 10 when the team takes on FC Cincinnati at 1:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at TQL Stadium.
The cross-conference clash features two teams coached by former U.S. MNT teammates -- SKC's Kerry Zavagnin and Cincy's Pat Noonan played four matches together from 2005-06, including a pair of World Cup qualifiers -- whose rosters are bolstered by a pair of new Designated Players. Serbian striker Dejan Joveljic leads Sporting with five goals since arriving from LA in the first cash-for-player trade in league history and midfielder Manu Garcia has recorded a team-high four assists since making his MLS debut in February.
FC Cincinnati acquired Kevin Denkey, who led the Belgian Pro League with 27 goals during the 2023-24 campaign, and the 24-year-old Togo international has already struck six times across all competitions. That ranks second most on the squad behind Brazilian playmaker Evander, who was traded from the Portland Timbers after earning MLS All-Star and MLS Best XI honors in 2024.
Evander has a team-best eight goals in all competitions this year, including goals in three straight appearances to give him a league-high 41 goal contributions (21 goals, 20 assists) since the start of the 2024 campaign. Most recently, the 26-year-old bagged a brace in Cincinnati's 3-2 road result at Chicago last weekend that lifted FC Cincy into a share of the Eastern Conference lead thanks to the longest active winning streak in MLS behind four consecutive victories.
Sporting Kansas City enters Saturday's showdown with momentum from a stunning 5-3 win at San Jose last Saturday that snapped an eight-game road losing streak and an 11-match winless run away from home in all competitions. Daniel Salloi earned MLS Player of the Matchday honors after tallying a career-high four goal contributions in the victory with two goals and two assists.
Now in the team's seventh season, FC Cincinnati will host Sporting for a fourth time despite not yet playing on the road in the series. Sporting is unbeaten in the three previous meetings with a 1-1 regular season draw in 2019, a 1-0 regular season win in 2020 and a 3-3 draw in Leagues Cup in 2023, however FC Cincinnati is unbeaten in six matches at TQL Stadium this season (3-0-3).
FC Cincinnati's backline features a trio of U.S. Men's National Team defenders -- and past MLS All-Stars -- with World Cup veteran DeAndre Yedlin, former MLS Defender of the Year Matt Miazga and Olympian Miles Robinson, who was part of the 2024 Summer Games alongside Sporting KC goalkeeper John Pulskamp and midfielder Jake Davis.
Davis is one of three SKC players ruled out on Saturday due to injury - along with centerbacks Joaquin Fernandez and Dany Rosero for an SKC defense that has conceded a league-high 19 goals this year -- while FC Cincinnati has also been without a trio of key contributors in recent weeks with injuries to Teenage Hadebe, Yuya Kubo and Obinna Nwobodo.
Two-time MLS Referee of the Year Allen Chapman is assigned to CINvSKC and the matinee match-up will be available to watch live on Apple TV for MLS Season Pass subscribers with English (Josh Eastern and Jamie Watson) and Spanish (Jesus Acosta and Carlos Suarez) commentary. MLS Season Pass is available through the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes and game consoles as well as on the web at tv.apple.com.
Sporting KC Season Ticket Members receive a free subscription to MLS Season Pass. Fans can sign up for MLS Season Pass for $14.99 per month or $99 for the full season and Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up at a special price of $12.99 per month or $79 for the full season. Through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share the subscription using their own Apple ID and password.
Pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network will also show all of the action, including a watch party at No Other Pub in the Kansas City Power & Light district featuring $4 domestic drafts, $5 wells and 50% off chicken nachos for fans in SKC gear starting at 11:30 a.m.​​​​​​
