With Sporting Kansas City's bye week in the rearview mirror, the club embarks on a two-game road trip that begins Wednesday with a pivotal Western Conference clash against the Portland Timbers. The match at Providence Park will be televised on KMCI-TV 38 The Spot and SKCTV with three hours of live coverage beginning at 9 p.m. CT.
Sporting KC (11-7-7) and Portland (11-9-7) are level on 40 points in the MLS standings and currently occupy the final two playoff spots in the West. Peter Vermes' men will look to snap a three-game losing streak, while the Timbers hope to extend their nine-game home unbeaten run dating back to the start of May. We take a closer look at the matchup in our By The Numbers preview...
Head-to-head
- Sporting KC has a 2-1-0 all-time record at Portland, including a 1-0 win on their last visit to Providence Park in June 2014. The Timbers have mustered just two goals in those three matches combined.
- The away team in the #PORvSKC series has won four of seven meetings since 2011 (all competitions).
- In the all-time #PORvSKC regular season series, 11 of the 14 goals scored have come in the first half.
- The teams last met on March 21, playing to a 0-0 draw at Sporting Park, and will square off once more on Oct. 3 when Sporting KC makes another trek to Providence Park.
Portland Timbers
- 2015 MLS record: 11-9-7, 40 points (6th in West)
- 2015 MLS home record: 7-1-5 (19 GF, 9 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 2-1-2, 8 points (D-W-W-D-L)
- Portland is currently on a nine-game home unbeaten streak dating back to May 2 with a 6-0-3 record.
- Over the last 15 MLS matches, Portland has gained the second-most points of any team in the league entering this week's fixtures (8-4-3, 27 points). Only the LA Galaxy (29 points) have faired better over that span.
- Portland is third in MLS with 379 total shot attempts but ranks second-to-last with 29 goals.
- Fourteen of Portland's 29 regular season goals have come after the 75th minute, tied for most in MLS.
- Portland is 11-0-2 when scoring first (second-best mark in MLS) but 0-9-1 when conceding the first goal (second-worst mark in MLS).
- Darlington Nagbe leads MLS with 52 chances created from open play. No player has suffered more fouls since the start of 2013 than Nagbe (48 more than any other player).
- Fanendo Adi leads Portland with 10 MLS goals. No other Timbers player has more than three.
- Adam Kwarasey leads MLS with 11 cleans sheets this season, including seven at Providence Park.
Sporting KC
- 2015 MLS record: 11-7-7, 40 points (5th in West)
- 2015 MLS road record: 3-6-3 (17 GF, 20 GA)
- Last five MLS matches: 2-3-0, 6 points (W-W-L-L-L)
- SKC is unbeaten in two previous trips to the Pacific Northwest this season, earning a 0-0 draw at Seattle (May 23) and a 1-0 win at Vancouver (July 12).
- SKC is averaging 1.6 goals per game, fifth in MLS and on pace to be the team's fourth highest scoring season in club history behind 1996, 1997 and 2005.
- Eighteen of SKC's 35 goals allowed have been conceded over the last eight games. In contrast, SKC allowed just 17 goals through their first 17 MLS matches.
- Since 2011, SKC is the only MLS club with a winning regular season road record (31-30-19).
- Benny Feilhaber is second in MLS with 13 assists and leads the league with nine big chances created.
- Matt Besler ranks third in MLS with 172 clearances and has played in every minute of SKC's last 27 matches in all competitions.
- Kevin Ellis is tied for the lead among MLS defenders with three goals.
- Soni Mustivar (questionable for Wednesday's match with a groin strain) has a 13-2-3 record as a starter in all competitions and leads MLS with 5.9 interceptions per 90 minutes played.
Milestones and miscellany
- Graham Zusi ranks third in club history with 53 assists across all competitions, one shy of tying Chris Klein for second.
- Benny Feilhaber has recorded 18 assists across all competitions in 2015, one shy of breaking the single-season club record he currently shares with Preki (2003).
Team stats (2015 regular season)
MLS rank in parenthesis (Opta stats as of Sept. 8, 2015)
<strong>Category (per game)</strong> |
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<b>Portland</b> |
Goals scored |
1.60 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(5th)</span> |
1.07 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(t-18th</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
Goals conceded |
1.40 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(12th</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
1.19 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(8th)</span> |
Shots |
12.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(10</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">t</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">h)</span> |
14.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(3rd</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
Shooting accuracy |
42.2% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(17</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
47.0% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(12th)</span> |
Assists |
1.84 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(t-2nd)</span> |
1.04 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(t-15th)</span> |
Chances created |
9.7 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(9th)</span> |
10.8 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(3rd</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
Crosses/corners |
16.2 <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> |
24.4 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(2nd)</span> |
Fouls committed |
13.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(10</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
11.9 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(17th</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
Fouls suffered |
11.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(18th)</span> |
13.2 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(3rd)</span> |
Successful passes |
269 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(20</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
314 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(8</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Passing accuracy |
73.7% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(20</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
79.3% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(5th)</span> |
Possession |
48.9% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(13</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
50.7% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(8</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Tackles won |
18.4 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
15.9 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(6th)</span> |
Duels won |
55.6 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(2nd)</span> |
53.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(5</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Interceptions |
25.1 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
16.1 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(18th)</span> |
Shots faced |
10.1 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
12.2 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(11th)</span> |
Saves |
2.9 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(11th</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
2.5 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(17</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Recent #PORvSKC regular season meetings
- Regular season record vs. Portland: 3-2-1 (8 GF, 6 GA)
- Regular season road record at Portland: 2-1-0 (3 GF, 2 GA)
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Score</strong> |
<strong>Location</strong> |
<strong>Scorers</strong> |
4/21/12 |
L 0-1 |
Providence Park |
<span style="font-size: 10px;">KC: none<br>
POR: own goal</span> |
4/27/13 |
L 2-3 |
Sporting Park |
<span style="font-size: 10px;">KC: Myers 1, 29</span><br><span style="font-size: 10px;">POR: Johnson 24, Nagbe 33, Wallace 58</span> |
6/27/14 |
W 1-0 |
Providence Park |
<span style="font-size: 10px;">KC: Olum 24</span><br><span style="font-size: 10px;">POR: none</span> |
3/21/15 |
T 0-0 |
Sporting Park |
<span style="font-size: 10px;">KC: none<br>
POR: none</span> |