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A heated playoff race drags into the final month of the MLS regular season as Sporting Kansas City (12-12-7, 43 points) opens October with a trip to the New England Revolution (9-13-9, 36 points) on Saturday. Kickoff at Gillette Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m. CT as 38 The Spot and SKCTV air three hours of live coverage beginning at 6 p.m. CT. Listeners can follow the action on ESPN 99.3 FM (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish) as a pair of MLS charter members square off for the first time in 2016.
No Other Pub in the Kansas City Power & Light District (1370 Grand Blvd.) will host an official watch party for the match, offering $7 specialty cocktails from Till Vodka. Both teams approach the fixture with urgency, knowing that three points would greatly help their respective bids for a playoff spot. We take a look at Sporting KC's final interconference matchup in our By The Numbers preview...
Head-to-head
- The clubs last met in May 2015 when Sporting KC cruised to a 4-2 win at Children's Mercy Park. Benny Feilhaber led the way with a goal and two assists, while Dom Dwyer added a goal of his own. Juan Agudelo and Scott Caldwell struck for the visitors.
- New England has won each of the last three meetings played at Gillette Stadium, prevailing 2-1 in the 2013 playoffs before claiming a pair of two-goal wins in the 2014 regular season.
- Sporting KC's all-time record (24-16-11) and road record (11-9-6) vs. New England are both their best against any MLS charter member in the regular season.
- Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer has scored in each of his last two MLS appearances vs. New England.
- New England midfielder Lee Nguyen has three goals and two assists in 11 MLS appearances vs. Sporting KC (including playoffs). All three goals came in 2014.
- New England winger Teal Bunbury has scored in each of New England's last two home fixtures in the series, a 2-0 win in April 2014 and a 3-1 win in September 2014.
- In three regular season appearances against Sporting KC, New England goalkeeper Brad Knighton is 0-2-1 with a 3.00 goals against average.
New England Revolution
- 2016 MLS record: 9-13-9, 36 points (7th in East)
- 2016 MLS home record: 7-4-4 (20 GF, 18 GA)
- Last five games: 3-2-0, 9 points (L-W-W-W-L)
- Last MLS match: Lost 2-0 at Columbus Crew SC on Sept. 25
- New England has won three of its last four MLS matches (3-1-0) after winning none of its previous six (0-5-1).
- New England is second in MLS with 10.7 chances created per game and has hit the woodwork 18 times, most in the league.
- New England ranks 18th in both scoring offense (1.19 goals per game) and scoring defense (1.65 goals allowed per game).
- New England has conceded a league-high nine penalty kicks in 2016.
- Midfielder Lee Nguyen is third in MLS with 70 chances created. He leads the team in goals (six) and assists (eight).
- Midfielder Kelyn Rowe has an assist in each of his last three MLS matches. He also scored twice in his last league appearance on Sept. 17, a 3-1 victory at Montreal.
- Forward Kei Kamara has just one goal in eight MLS home appearances for New England this season.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2016 MLS record: 12-12-7, 43 points (5th in West)
- 2016 MLS road record: 3-8-4 (11 GF, 19 GA)
- Last five games: 2-1-2, 8 points (W-L-T-T-W)
- Last MLS match: Won 2-1 at San Jose Earthquakes on Sept. 24
- SKC snapped a 12-game road winless skid in MLS with a 2-1 victory at San Jose last Saturday.
- SKC has conceded 19 road goals this season, the fewest in MLS.
- SKC leads MLS with 71 chances created from set pieces and ranks second with 10 assists from set pieces.
- SKC is tied for last in MLS with 11 away goals, having been shut out in seven of their last 10 road games.
- SKC leads MLS with 5.9 corners per game while also allowing a league-low 3.1 corners per game.
- Forward Dom Dwyer is tied for fourth in MLS with 15 goals and ranks third with 108 shot attempts. He has scored in three straight league games.
- Midfielder Benny Feilhaber has seven assists in his last eight appearances. He is tied for fourth in MLS with 11 assists on the season.
- Defender Saad Abdul-Salaam is tied for the lead among MLS defenders with six assists.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Midfielder Paulo Nagamura is one shy of his 250th career appearance in the MLS regular season.
- Forward Dom Dwyer is one shy of his 100th career MLS start (including playoffs).
- Defenders Ike Opara and Saad Abdul-Salaam are one shy of their 50th regular season appearances for Sporting KC.
Team stats (2016 regular season)
MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)
<strong>Category (per game)</strong> |
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<strong>New England</strong> |
Goals scored |
1.26 (15th) |
1.19 (18th) |
Goals conceded |
1.23 (4th) |
1.65 (18th) |
Shots |
14.5 (1st) |
13.7 (6th) |
Shots on goal |
4.4 (14th) |
4.7 (9th) |
Passing accuracy |
78.3 (6th) |
76.8 (13th) |
Possession |
55.7 (1st) |
48.4 (14th) |
Duels won |
47.7 (8th) |
46.4 (14th) |
Tackles won |
13.7 (5th) |
11.7 (17th) |
Interceptions |
19.1 (6th) |
17.9 (9th) |
Fouls committed |
12.6 (10th) |
12.9 (7th) |
Shots faced |
9.2 (1st) |
13.5 (15th) |
Recent #NEvSKC regular season meetings
- Regular season record vs. New England: 24-16-11 (81 GF, 64 GA)
- Regular season road record at New England: 11-9-6 (40 GF, 36 GA)
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Result</strong> |
<strong>H/A</strong> |
<strong>Details</strong> |
04/26/2014 |
L 0-2 |
A |
Lee Nguyen and Teal Bunbury score in second-half stoppage time |
09/03/2014 |
L 1-3 |
A |
Bunbury nets equalizer before Nguyen bags brace |
09/26/2014 |
L 2-3 |
H |
Paulo Nagamura and Dom Dwyer score in losing effort at home |
05/20/2015 |
W 4-2 |
A |
Dom Dwyer scores; Benny Feilhaber tallies goal and two assists |
