"By The Numbers presented by Compass Minerals" is a season-long series that gives a statistical preview of every Sporting match. To visit the series archive, click here.
Sporting Kansas City will begin a demanding stretch of five matches in 15 days on Saturday when Manager Peter Vermes' side visits Austin FC at Q2 Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Sporting enters a pivotal late spring period with the aim of rediscovering its league form and advancing in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Austin, meanwhile, weathered a slow start to 2024 and will look to stay hot in the sweltering south of Texas after beating rivals Houston Dynamo FC at midweek. We take a statistical look at the compelling matchup in our newest edition of By The Numbers, presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Austin has won four of the last five meetings in the series, including the most recent matchup by a 2-1 scoreline on July 15, 2023. Gyasi Zardes and Ethan Finlay gave Austin an early 2-0 lead at home before Dany Rosero grabbed a goal back before halftime on a Daniel Salloi assist.
- Sporting’s lone win in the last five meetings against Austin was a 4-1 victory at Children’s Mercy Park on June 10, 2023. Forward Alan Pulido had a brace to go with goals from defender Robert Castellanos and Austin native Khiry Shelton. Midfielder Sebastian Driussi scored for Austin.
- Austin leads the all-time series with a 4-2-1 record. All seven meetings have come in MLS regular season play.
- Sporting has lost all three road meetings against Austin at Q2 Stadium, conceding nine goals and scoring five.
- The seven meetings between the clubs have produced just one total shutout, when Austin won 2-0 in Kansas City on July 30, 2022.
- Driussi has scored a goal in four of his five regular season appearances against Sporting dating back to Nov. 3, 2021.
- Across seven meetings, Sporting has outshot Austin 118-80 yet been outscored 14-12.
- Austin is led by head coach Josh Wolff and assistant Davy Arnaud, both of whom spent long portions of their MLS playing careers in Kansas City. Wolff and Arnaud are two of 12 members in the Sporting Legends hall of honor, which commemorates the club’s all-time greats.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2024 MLS record: 2-5-5, 11 points (13th in West | 19 GF, 21 GA)
- 2024 MLS away record: 1-2-2 (5 GF, 5 GA)
- Last five matches: 0-4-1 (L-T-L-L-L)
- Sporting leads MLS with five goals from outside the box and has taken 50% of its shot attempts from outside the box, the highest percentage in MLS.
- Sporting has scored seven goals off set pieces this season, tied for the third most in MLS.
- From March 16 to April 20, Sporting scored two or more goals in six straight regular season matches for the first time since the inaugural MLS season in August 1996.
- Sporting has conceded five goals in five away matches and 16 goals in seven home matches during the 2024 regular season.
- Forward Daniel Salloi opened his 2024 scoring account last Saturday in a 2-1 home loss to Houston, passing Chris Klein for fourth most goal contributions in club history across all competitions. Salloi has 98 goal contributions (59 goals, 39 assists) in 227 career appearances for the club.
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez assisted Salloi’s goal last Saturday and has a team-best three assists this season.
- Forward Alan Pulido has scored a goal in three of his last five matches and is tied for the team lead with four goals this season in all competitions.
- Midfielder Erik Thommy missed last Saturday’s match against Houston. He had appeared in each of the club’s previous 57 regular season matches since making his MLS debut on July 23, 2022.
- Thommy is tied with Pulido for the team lead with four goals this season in all competitions. He also ranks fourth in MLS with 52 progressive carries (dribbles that advance the ball 10 yards closer to goal or into the box).
Austin FC
- 2024 MLS record: 5-4-4, 19 points (6th in West | 16 GF, 15 GA)
- 2024 MLS home record: 4-1-2 (14 GF, 10 GA)
- Last five matches: 3-1-1 (W-W-T-L-W)
- Austin is 5-2-1 in its last eight MLS matches after opening the season winless in five (0-2-3).
- Austin has won four straight home matches at Q2 Stadium after taking two draws and a loss from its first three home games this season.
- Austin has scored 14 of its 16 goals at home this season. The team is averaging 2.0 goals per home game and 0.33 goals per away game.
- Austin went 307 minutes without allowing a goal from April 20 to May 4, the second longest shutout streak in MLS this season.
- Austin has scored 13 of its 16 goals in the second half this season. Austin has been outscored 6-3 in the first half and outscored opponents 14-10 in the second half, including a 9-5 advantage in the final 30 minutes
- Austin’s three first-half goals are the fewest in MLS
- Eleven of Austin’s 13 matches this season have been decided by one or fewer goals. The team has four wins and three losses in one-goal games.
- Austin has been outshot 215-112 this season, the worst shot discrepancy in MLS at -103.
- Austin ranks last in MLS in shot attempts per game (8.6) and shots on target per game (2.9). Their 16.5 shots faced per game are second most in MLS.
- Austin ranks last in MLS with an expected goal total of 13.06.
- Goalkeeper Brad Stuver is tied for the MLS lead in shutouts (five) and leads the league in saves (65).
- Defender Julio Cascante has received six yellow cards this season, tied for the most in MLS.
- Midfielder Sebastian Driussi leads Austin with four goals this season, including goals in each of his last two matches.
- Midfielder Alex Ring leads Austin in assists (four) and key passes (16).
- Stuver, Ring and defender Jon Gallagher have started all 13 matches for Austin this season. Stuver has played all 1,170 minutes, while Gallagher leads Austin field players with 1,137 minutes played.
- Forward Diego Rubio is second on the team with three goals this season. Rubio had 20 goals and 10 assists in a three-year stint for Sporting from 2016-2018.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Forward Johnny Russell has 56 regular season goals for Sporting, one shy of tying Dom Dwyer for second most in club history.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has appeared in 64 straight regular season matches since June 2022, one shy of passing Ilie Sanchez for the fourth longest streak in club history (Chris Brown 80, Mark Chung 74, Davy Arnaud 67, Ilie Sanchez 64).
- Forward Alan Pulido is tied for ninth in Sporting history with 31 regular season goals alongside Benny Feilhaber, Mo Johnston and Graham Zusi.
