"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.
Hot off a 3-1 road win over Houston Dynamo FC last Saturday, Sporting Kansas City will take a four-game unbeaten streak to the West Coast this weekend by facing LAFC at 8 p.m. CT Sunday at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The rematch of last year's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final will be available to watch on Apple TV with an MLS Season Pass subscription, while local radio broadcasts will air on ESPN 94.5 FM and 1510 AM.
Sporting enters the summer with a 4-3-3 record since interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin took the helm at the start of April. Key to Kansas City's uptick has been an improvement in road performances, as Sporting has gone a respectable 2-2-2 away from home dating back to April 19. LAFC, meanwhile, continues to make BMO Stadium a fortress: the Hollywood heavyweights are 9-1-1 on home soil across all competitions and remain one of the premier teams in the Western Conference.
With Sunday's showdown just around the corner, we take a statistical look at the fixture in our newest edition of By The Numbers presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting and LAFC last met on March 22 at Children’s Mercy Park. LAFC earned a 2-0 road win behind goals from David Martinez and Aaron Long. Martinez and Long also scored in LAFC’s 3-0 road win over Sporting on Oct. 5, 2024.
- Sporting is 0-7-2 in its last nine meetings against LAFC across all competitions since September 2021.
- Sporting last beat LAFC on Aug. 4, 2021, cruising to a 4-1 road win in a game that saw forward Daniel Salloi record one goal and one assist. The three-goal defeat stands as the second-largest home loss in LAFC history.
- Sporting and LAFC notably met in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final last September at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. After Olivier Giroud and Erik Thommy traded second-half goals near the hour mark, LAFC struck through Omar Campos in the 102nd minute and Kei Kamara in the 109th minute to secure a 3-1 extra-time victory and the club’s first Open Cup title.
- Sporting trails the all-time regular season series with a 4-8-2 record in 13 meetings, including a 0-6-2 record since Sept. 3, 2021.
- Sporting has a 2-3-2 regular season road record at BMO Stadium with wins in August 2018 and August 2021.
- Sporting has a 2-5-0 regular season home record in the series. LAFC has prevailed in each of its last four visits to Children’s Mercy Park since 2022.
- Sporting won the first two MLS meetings between the clubs in 2018 prior to losing eight of the last 12.
- In all competitions, LAFC has scored 21 of its 30 goals against Sporting after halftime, including 10 past the 75th minute.
- Sporting forward Dejan Joveljic has four goals in 11 regular season appearances against LAFC, all as a member of the LA Galaxy from 2021-2024.
- Sporting forward Mason Toye had a brace against LAFC in Minnesota United FC’s 2-0 road win at BMO Stadium on Sept. 1, 2019.
- LAFC forward Jeremy Ebobisse has three goals in nine regular season appearances against Sporting, one as a member of Portland in 2019 and two as a member of San Jose in 2023.
- LAFC defender Aaron Long has 18 goal contributions in his MLS regular season career (14 goals and four assists), five of which have come against Sporting (three goals, two assists).
- Long has scored or assisted a goal in each of his last five regular season visits to Children’s Mercy Park since 2019.
- LAFC forward David Martinez has scored in each of the last two meetings between the clubs, both at Children’s Mercy Park. Two of his seven career MLS goals have come against Sporting.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2025 MLS record: 4-8-4, 16 points (12th in West | 25 GF, 28 GA)
- 2025 MLS away record: 1-5-2 (10 GF, 13 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 1-1-3, 6 points (L-T-T-T-W)
- Sporting earned a 3-1 comeback win at Houston Dynamo FC on May 31. It was Sporting’s first comeback road win in MLS play since prevailing 2-1 at CF Montreal on July 9, 2022.
- Sporting is unbeaten in four MLS matches (1-0-3 record) for the first time since opening the 2024 regular season with one win and three draws.
- Sporting’s four-game unbeaten run has seen the team come from behind to secure a result three times.
- Sporting has earned four results in its last six away matches (2-2-2 record) since April 19 after earning just two results in its previous 18 away matches (1-16-1 record) from April 2024 through March 2025.
- Sporting has scored 19 goals in 10 matches since April 1, tied for the second most in the Western Conference during that time.
- Sporting has scored multiple goals six times in its last 10 matches after doing so just once in its previous 13 matches across all competitions dating back to 2024.
- Sporting has scored three goals in back-to-back regular season matches for the first time since March 30 and April 7, 2024.
- Sporting has trailed by two goals at halftime three times this season. On each occasion, Kansas City has rallied to secure a point. Sporting trailed 2-0 at halftime (and 3-0 in the 46th minute) of a 3-3 home draw against Minnesota United FC on March 15, 2-0 at halftime of a 2-2 road draw at St. Louis City SC on May 14, and 2-0 at halftime of a 3-3 home draw against the New England Revolution on May 24.
- Sporting has received five goals from substitutes during the 2025 regular season, third most in MLS.
- Sporting has scored 16 of its 25 MLS goals in the second half this season, a clip of 64%.
- Kerry Zavagnin has a 4-3-3 record in 10 matches as Sporting’s interim head coach since the start of April. Kansas City opened the 2025 regular season with five losses and one draw.
- Zavagnin’s 15 points are the second most by a Kansas City head coach after their first 10 MLS matches in charge of the club. Curt Onalfo amassed 20 points in his first 10 games in 2007.
- Forward Dejan Joveljic was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday earlier this week after scoring two goals in Sporting’s 3-1 win at Houston on May 31. His second goal of the game, a side-volley that gave Sporting a 2-1 lead in the second half, was voted MLS Goal of the Matchday. He became Sporting’s first Goal of the Matchday winner since current assistant coach Roger Espinoza took the honor for a long-range goal in a 2-1 win at CF Montreal on July 9, 2022.
- Joveljic has scored in three straight MLS appearances, his longest regular season scoring streak since scoring in the first five games of the 2024 campaign.
- Joveljic has a team-leading nine goals during the 2025 regular season, tied for eighth most in MLS, and 50 goals in his MLS career (including playoffs). He has two braces this season and has four goals in his last three games.
- Joveljic is one of only four MLS players with 10 goal contributions in each of the last four regular seasons (2022-2025) alongside Cristian Espinoza, Carles Gil and Hany Mukhtar.
- Forward Santiago Munoz opened his MLS scoring account with Sporting’s final goal in the win over Houston. It was his first professional goal since scoring for Santos Laguna against Necaxa on Sept. 1, 2024.
- Forward Daniel Salloi assisted Munoz’s goal and is tied for the team lead with four assists this season alongside Manu Garcia and Shapi Suleymanov.
- Salloi has nine goal contributions this season (five goals, four assists), second most on the team behind Dejan Joveljic (nine goals, one assist) and already more than his seven goal contributions during the entire 2024 regular season (two goals, five assists).
- Midfielder Manu Garcia is tied for fourth in MLS in fouls suffered (36), sixth in progressive passes (128), eighth in successful passes into the penalty area (35), eighth in successful passes into the final third (109) and 10th in successful through balls (seven).
- Garcia is tied for the team lead with four assists and has 26 key passes, twice as many as any other Sporting player.
- At 19 years and 244 days (as of Sunday, June 8), midfielder Jacob Bartlett is the second youngest player to start at least 13 MLS matches this season behind only Philadelphia Union defender Frankie Westfield (19 years, 181 days). Bartlett has started in 11 straight matches for Sporting since March 29.
- Defender Jansen Miller has played the most regular season minutes (1,125) of any 2025 MLS SuperDraft selection this year. He has played every minute in each of Sporting’s last 12 games since March 22.
- Goalkeeper John Pulskamp had an MLS career-high eight saves in Sporting’s 3-1 win at Houston on May 31, the most by a Kansas City goalkeeper in a league match since Tim Melia produced eight saves in a 2-0 home win over Minnesota United FC on Aug. 25, 2018.
- Pulskamp is the only Sporting player to start in all 16 MLS matches and in all 18 matches across all competitions this season.
LAFC
- 2025 MLS record: 6-4-5, 23 points (6th in West | 27 GF, 22 GA)
- 2025 MLS home record: 5-1-1 (12 GF, 4 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 2-0-3, 9 points (W-T-W-T-T)
- LAFC secured a place in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup with a 2-1 extra-time win over LIGA MX side Club America on May 31 at BMO Stadium. Igor Jesus scored an 89th-minute equalizer and Denis Bouanga bagged a 115th-minute winner as LAFC prevailed in a dramatic playoff match that delivered LAFC a guaranteed $9.55 million for punching their ticket to the Club World Cup later this month.
- LAFC is on a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions since suffering elimination from the Concacaf Champions Cup with a 3-1 loss at Inter Miami CF on April 9. That stretch includes a 3-0-5 record in the regular season a 2-1 win over Club America on May 31.
- LAFC has scored multiple goals in each of its last nine matches and 11 of its last 12 matches across all competitions.
- Five of LAFC’s last eight MLS matches have resulted in draws in which both teams have scored two or more goals. Four of LAFC’s last six MLS matches have resulted in 2-2 stalemates.
- LAFC ranks sixth in MLS in goals per game (1.8) and fifth in expected goals per game (1.99).
- LAFC has a 5-1-1 regular season home record and a 9-1-1 home record across all competitions this year.
- LAFC has conceded just five goals in 11 home matches this season across all competitions, including seven shutouts.
- LAFC has scored 10 goals after the 75th minute during the 2025 regular season, tied for the most in MLS.
- LAFC is 6-0-1 when scoring the first goal and 0-4-4 when conceding the first goal during the 2025 regular season. Similarly, LAFC is 3-0-1 when leading at halftime and 0-2-2 when trailing at halftime.
- Forward Denis Bouanga leads MLS in shots (69) and ranks second in shots on target (32). Bouanga has a team-leading seven regular season goals and 10 goals in all competitions this year.
- Bouanga, who has scored 20 goals in each of the previous two MLS regular season campaigns, leads MLS this season in dribbles in to the penalty area (60), successful take-ons (50) and progressive passes received (191).
- Midfielder Mark Delgado and defender Sergi Palencia are tied for the team lead with 21 appearances this season across all competitions. Delgado has a team-best four assists during the 2025 regular season.
- Delgado, Palencia and forward Nathan Ordaz are the only LAFC players who have appeared in all 15 regular season matches this year. Ordaz is second on the team with five goals in all competitions.
- Palencia ranks fourth in MLS in both tackles (44) and tackles won (27).
- Defender Aaron Long leads MLS in aerial duel success rate (82.9%) while ranking third in pass completion (94.3%).
Milestones and Miscellany
- Forward Stephen Afrifa is one shy of his 50th professional club appearance, having played 37 matches for Sporting and 12 matches for Sporting KC II.
- Goalkeeper John Pulskamp ranks seventh in club history in both shutouts (nine) and wins (13) in the regular season. His next shutout will tie Mike Ammann for sixth most in club history.
