By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #SKCvPHI | March 10, 2019

"By The Numbers" is a season-long series sponsored by The Kansas Department of Transportation, giving a statistical preview of every Sporting KC match.
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Fresh off a breathless three-game road trip that took the club to three different countries in the space of seven days, Sporting Kansas City (0-1-0, 0 points) returns to the friendly confines of Children’s Mercy Park for Sunday's MLS home opener and Fan Appreciation Match against the Philadelphia Union (0-1-0, 0 points).

Tickets for Sunday’s interconference battle, kicking off at 2 p.m. CT, remain available at SeatGeek.com as Sporting and Philadelphia look to bounce back from losses suffered in Week 1 of the 2019 MLS campaign. FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Midwest Plus will televise three hours of live coverage beginning at 1:30 p.m. CT, while streamers can catch the action live on FOX Sports GO. Local radio broadcast will also air on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM (Spanish), with The Final Whistle postgame show immediately afterward on 810 WHB.

Sporting have enjoyed far more success than the Union over the last decade, winning four major trophies since 2012, but Philadelphia have held their own in the series as exhibited by a shutout victory last fall. Let's take a statistical look at the matchup in our newest edition of By The Numbers.

Head-to-Head

• Sporting and Philadelphia are dead-even with six wins and six draws apiece in 18 meetings across all competitions.
• Sporting have just one win in their last seven regular-season meetings against Philadelphia since 2014 (1-4-2). The lone victory during that time came on April 5, 2015, when Krisztian Nemeth scored in second-half stoppage time to give Sporting a 3-2 home win.
• The clubs notably met in the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final at Talen Energy Stadium, a gripping affair that Sporting won 7-6 on penalties after a 1-1 draw through regulation. Nemeth provided Sporting's second-half equalizer in that match.
• The most recent meeting saw Philadelphia take a 2-0 home win on Sept. 23, 2018, riding a brace from now-departed forward Jay Simpson.
• Sporting has failed to shut out the Union in 13 straight regular season meetings.

Philadelphia Union

• 2018 MLS record: 15-14-5, 50 points (6th in East)
• 2018 MLS away record: 6-8-3 (20 GF, 30 GA)
• 2018 Playoffs: L 1-3 at New York City FC in Knockout Round
• 2019 Week 1: Lost 1-3 vs. Toronto FC last Saturday
• Philadelphia set a club record in 2018 with 15 regular-season wins, advancing to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the third time in their 10-year history.
• The Union's six regular-season away wins last year (6-8-3) were third-most in the Eastern Conference.
• Last year the Union lost the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final for the third time in five seasons, falling 3-0 to the Houston Dynamo.
• The Union have lost four straight MLS matches dating back to last October (including playoffs).
• Forwards Fafa Picault and Cory Burke were tied for the Union lead with 10 regular-season goals last year.
• Three of Philadelphia's top six players in minutes last season are no longer with the club, namely midfielder Borek Dockal, defender Keegan Rosenberry and former Sporting forward C.J. Sapong. Last year Dockal led MLS in assists (18), Rosenberry led the league in interceptions (95) and Sapong placed sixth in duels won (223).
• Mexican international midfielder Marco Fabian scored on his Union debut in last Saturday's 3-1 home loss to Toronto FC.

Sporting

• 2018 MLS record: 18-8-8, 62 points (1st in West)
• 2018 MLS away record: 8-6-3 (31 GF, 23 GA)
• 2018 Playoffs: L 2-3 (agg.) vs. Portland in Western Conference Championship
• 2019 Week 1: Lost 1-2 at LAFC last Sunday
• Forward Krisztian Nemeth has scored in each of his three competitive appearances this season, leading the team with three goals.
• Defender Matt Besler and midfielder Ilie Sanchez are the only players to play every minute of Sporting's first four competitive matches this season.
• Manager Peter Vermes fielded the same starting lineup in Sporting's first three matches of 2019 before making eight changes in Wednesday's 2-1 Champions League loss at Independiente.
• Sporting were 10-0-0 during the 2018 regular season when leading at halftime, but surrendered a 1-0 halftime lead in their 2-1 loss at LAFC last Sunday
• The 94th-minute goal conceded by Sporting in the LAFC defeat was the latest goal in Week 1 of the 2019 MLS season.
• Sporting went 10-2-5 in regular-season home games last season, outscoring opponents 34-17.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Sporting are 13-3-7 all-time in MLS home openers, including a 2-1-5 record at Children's Mercy Park.
• Sporting's only home-opening defeats in MLS play came in 1999 (Chicago Fire), 2009 (Toronto FC) and 2018 (New York City FC).
• On Thursday, Sporting completed an 18-day travel stretch in which the club covered almost 10,000 air miles, took six separate flights, played three away matches in three different countries and time zones, and spent just four full days in Kansas City.

Recent #SKCvPHI meetings

• Regular season record vs. Union: 5-6-5 (all competitions: 6-6-6)
• Regular season home record vs. Union: 2-2-3

Team stats (2018 regular season)

MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)