By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #SKCvCOL | Sept. 21, 2019

"By The Numbers" is a season-long series sponsored by The Kansas Department of Transportation that gives a statistical preview of every Sporting match.
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12,399  The number of injury crashes in Kansas in 2017.

Sporting Kansas City's penultimate home match of the 2019 MLS regular season will take place Saturday when the Colorado Rapids visit Children's Mercy Park for a 7:30 p.m. CT kickoff. Tickets for the Western Conference clash are available at SeatGeek.com as Sporting and The Victory Project celebrate Kick Childhood Cancer Night with several initiatives aimed to increase pediatric cancer awareness. Fans can also catch the action live on FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, FOX Sports GO, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.

Eager to bounce back following a heavy loss against the LA Galaxy, Sporting (10-13-7, 37 points) are set to face an in-form Colorado side (10-15-6, 36 points) that won three straight matches under new head coach Robin Fraser before narrowly falling to Toronto FC last Sunday. We take a statistical look at the intriguing Western Conference matchup in our newest edition of By The Numbers.

Head-to-Head

• In 30 regular season home games against Colorado, Sporting are 20-5-5 all-time with 62 goals scored and 30 conceded. 
• The home team in the regular season series is 37-10-15 all-time.
• Sporting went 6-0-5 against Colorado from 2009-2015 (including playoffs), but have gone just 2-6-2 against the Rapids since August 2015.
• The most recent meeting produced a 1-1 draw in Colorado that saw Johnny Russell equalize for Sporting with an 88th-minute free kick, canceling out Diego Rubio's 54th-minute opener.
• Sporting will meet Colorado for the 78th time in all competitions on Sunday, making the Rapids the most frequent opponent in Kansas City history.
• Sporting leads the series with a 31-28-18 record in all competitions, including a 25-23-15 edge in the regular season.

Colorado Rapids

• 2019 MLS record: 10-15-6 (36 points, 10th in Western Conference)
• 2019 MLS away record: 2-9-4 (18 GF, 29 GA)
• Last MLS match: L 2-3 at Toronto FC on Sept. 15
• Last 5 MLS matches: 3-2-0, 9 points (L-W-W-W-L)
• After starting the season 0-9-2, the Rapids have gone 10-6-4 since May 19. Colorado has outscored opponents 35-28 during that 20-game stretch.
• Colorado has scored 51 goals this season, good for the second-most in club history (62 in 1998).
• Colorado is 3-1-0 under new head coach Robin Fraser. Their three-game MLS winning streak from Aug. 31 to Sept. 11 was tied for the club's longest since winning five straight in 2003.
• Colorado's two road wins this season (2-9-4) are tied for the fewest in the Western Conference.
• Colorado ranks second-to-last in MLS with 1.87 goals allowed per game.
• Colorado ranks last in MLS with an average possession of 41.1%.
• Colorado has conceded 14 goals in the final 15 minutes of matches this season, the third-most in MLS.
• Colorado's 10 one-goal losses are the second-most in MLS.
• Colorado is 7-0-2 when leading at halftime but 0-11-2 when trailing at halftime.
• Colorado's top two scorers, Kei Kamara (11 goals) and Diego Rubio (nine goals), both previously played for Sporting.
• Rubio is two shy of the MLS lead with nine yellow cards in 23 appearances.
• Defender Keegan Rosenberry has played every minute in all 31 regular season matches for Colorado this season.
• Midfielder Jack Price leads Colorado with nine assists. He has the most assists without a goal of any MLS player this season.

Sporting Kansas City

• 2019 MLS record: 10-13-7, 37 points (9th in Western Conference)
• 2019 MLS home record: 7-5-3 (26 GF, 25 GA)
• Last MLS match: L 2-7 at LA Galaxy on Sept. 15
• Last 5 MLS matches: 3-2-0, 9 points (W-W-W-L-L)
• Sporting sit seven points below the seventh and final Western Conference playoff spot with four matches remaining.
• Sporting have gone 15 straight matches without a draw (7-8-0). This is the longest such streak in club regular season history during the non-shootout era (2000-present).
• Sporting's seven goals conceded in last Sunday's 7-2 loss to the LA Galaxy were tied for the most in club history.
• Sporting are 7-1-2 when leading at halftime but 1-7-2 when trailing at halftime.
• Sporting have conceded 16 goals in the final 15 minutes of matches this season, the second-most in MLS.
• Felipe Gutierrez has become the fourth midfielder in club history to hit double-digit goals in a single regular season (Preki, Mark Chung, Benny Feilhaber).
• Gutierrez has also become the first MLS player during the Opta era (2010-present) to record double-digit goals (12) and win at least 50 tackles (53) in a single regular season.
• Forward Johnny Russell is tied for the MLS lead with four goals from outside the box and is one of three MLS players with two goals from direct free kicks.
• Russell, who has nine goals and seven assists in MLS, is one goal shy of becoming the fourth player in Sporting history to score double-digit goals in back-to-back regular seasons (Preki, Josh Wolff, Dom Dwyer).

Milestones and Miscellany

• Defender Matt Besler is one shy of his 300th career MLS appearance for Sporting (including playoffs).
• Goalkeeper Tim Melia is one shy of his 46th regular season shutout for Sporting, which would pass Jimmy Nielsen for the most in club history.

Recent #SKCvCOL regular season meetings

• Regular season record vs. Colorado: 25-23-15
• Regular season home record vs. Colorado: 20-5-5

Team stats (2019 regular season)

MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)