"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.
After sinking St. Louis City SC by a 2-0 scoreline in early April, Sporting Kansas City will go for a season sweep against their hated archrivals with a cross-state visit to Energizer Park on Wednesday. The highly anticipated derby encounter is slated for 7:45 p.m. CT with live coverage on FS1, FOX Deportes, MLS Season Pass via Apple TV, ESPN 94.5 FM and 1510 AM.
Sporting has recovered from an early-season swoon by winning three of the team's last six games, including a three-point haul against St. Louis in Kerry Zavagnin's first match as interhim head coach. On the oppsite sideline, St. Louis is mired in an eight-game winless drought after opening the 2025 campaign with a 2-0-2 record.
As anticipation builds toward Wednesday, we take a statistical look at the fixture in our newest edition of By The Numbers presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting leads the all-time series with a 4-3-2 record in nine meetings across all competitions, including two wins in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs.
- The nine meetings between the clubs have produced 34 goals, an average of 3.78 goals per match.
- The nine matches between the clubs have produced just two total shutouts: a 4-0 St. Louis win in the inaugural meeting on May 20, 2023, and a 2-0 Sporting win in the most recent meeting on April 5, 2025.
- Louis has a 3-2-2 record in the regular season series, while Sporting has won both playoff meetings between the clubs.
- Louis has a perfect 3-0-0 regular season home record against Sporting, scoring 11 goals and conceding just two.
- Sporting’s lone win at Energizer Park was an emphatic 4-1 victory in Round One of the MLS Cup Playoffs on Oct. 29, 2023.
- Sporting is 3-0-2 in five home meetings against St. Louis, including a 2-0-2 mark in the regular season.
- The most recent meeting on April 5 saw Sporting prevail 2-0 behind a second-half brace from Dejan Joveljic at Children’s Mercy Park.
- The teams met three times last season, playing to a pair of draws at Children’s Mercy Park before St. Louis earned a 3-1 home win on Sept. 28, 2024.
- After St. Louis earned the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs, the expansion newcomers were humbled by Sporting in a two-game sweep in the Round One Best-of-3 Series. Kansas City cruised 4-1 at St. Louis in Game 1 on Oct. 29 and prevailed 2-1 at home on Nov. 5 to complete the series victory.
- The 2023 playoff series between the clubs marked the second time that teams from Kansas City and St. Louis have met in the playoffs across the five major men’s professional sports leagues in the U.S. (MLS, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL), following the 1985 World Series in which the Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has six goal contributions (two goals and four assists) in nine MLS appearances against St. Louis, including two goals and two assists in the 2023 playoffs.
- Sporting forward Dejan Joveljic has three goals in five regular season appearances against St. Louis, including a brace in the most recent meeting on April 5 at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Sporting midfielder Erik Thommy has three goal contributions (one goal, two assists) in six regular season appearances against St. Louis.
- Sporting midfielder Jake Davis has two assists in six regular season appearances against St. Louis.
- Sporting forward Stephen Afrifa scored in Kansas City’s most recent visit to St. Louis, a 3-1 defeat on Sept. 28, 2024.
- Sporting defender Logan Ndenbe scored a goal in both matches of Sporting’s two-game sweep against St. Louis in the 2023 playoffs.
- Louis midfielder Eduard Lowen has five goal contributions (two goals, three assists) in five regular season appearances against Sporting.
- Louis forward Joao Klauss has four goal contributions (three goals, one assist) in five regular season appearances against Sporting.
- Louis forward Cedric Teuchert has three goal contributions (one goal, two assists) in three regular season appearances against Sporting.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2025 MLS record: 3-8-1, 10 points (12th in West | 17 GF, 22 GA)
- 2025 MLS away record: 1-5-0 (8 GF, 11 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 2-3-0, 6 points (L-W-L-W-L)
- Sporting has won three of its last six matches since April 5 after a club-record 13-match winless streak across all competitions that began on Sept. 21, 2024.
- Sporting has scored multiple goals in three of its last six matches since April 5 after scoring multiple goals just once during the club’s 13-match winless streak.
- Sporting has scored 11 goals in its last six MLS matches since April 5. The team scored just six goals in its first six league games.
- All five of Sporting’s away losses this season have come by a single goal (1-5-0 road record).
- Sporting has been outscored 18-9 through the 60th minute this season while outscoring opponents 8-4 after the 60th minute.
- Sporting has conceded just three shots on target across its last two matches, a 1-0 home win over the LA Galaxy on May 4 and a 1-0 road loss at the Portland Timbers on Saturday.
- Sporting has conceded three total goals in its last three matches, two of which have been spectacular overhead kicks by Cincinnati’s Kevin Denkey and Portland’s Santiago Moreno.
- Sporting leads MLS in progressive dribbles per match (19.3) while ranking seventh in progressive passes per match (44.8). Progressive dribbles and passes are dribbles and passes that advance the ball at least 10 yards closer to the opponent’s goal line or into the penalty area.
- Sporting has won three penalty kicks this season, tied for third most in MLS, after winning three penalties during the entire 2024 regular season.
- Sporting ranks third in MLS in touches in the attacking third per game (181).
- Goalkeeper John Pulskamp is the only Sporting player to start in all 12 MLS matches this season. With a 1-0 win over the LA Galaxy on May 4, he moved to seventh place in club history in both shutouts (eight) and wins (12) in the regular season.
- Midfielder Manu Garcia leads Sporting in assists (four) and key passes (19) this season while ranking third in MLS in progressive passes (102), fourth in goal-creating actions (eight), fourth in successful passes into the final third (88), ninth in successful through balls (six) and 20th in distance covered (80.3 miles).
- Forward Dejan Joveljic leads Sporting with five goals this season, all of which have come at home.
- Joveljic has 12 goals in his last 11 MLS home appearances dating back to last season with the LA Galaxy, including playoffs.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has six goal contributions (four goals, two assists) in Sporting’s last nine matches since March 15 after totaling seven goal contributions (two goals, five assists) during the entire 2024 MLS season.
- Forward Shapi Suleymanov ranks third in MLS in fouls suffered (31), fourth in dribbles into the penalty area (24), fifth in progressive passes received (112) and 10th in progressive dribbles (43).
- Defender Logan Ndenbe ranks sixth in MLS in tackles won (20) and eighth in progressive dribbling distance (1,410 yards).
- Defender Jansen Miller has clocked the highest speed of any Sporting player this season at 21.4 miles per hour.
- Defender Robert Voloder earned MLS Team of the Matchday honors last week after a commanding backline performance in Sporting’s 1-0 win over the LA Galaxy on May 4. The center back won 100% of his tackles and ground duels, had 11 total defensive actions including eight clearances, and completed 28 of 31 passes (90.3%).
St. Louis City SC
- 2025 MLS record: 2-6-4, 10 points (13th in West | 9 GF, 14 GA)
- 2025 MLS home record: 2-1-2 (9 GF, 9 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 0-3-2, 2 points (L-T-T-L-L)
- St. Louis is on an eight-match MLS winless drought (0-6-2) since March 22 after opening the season with a 2-0-2 record. St. Louis last won on March 15 with a 1-0 home result against Seattle Sounders FC.
- St. Louis has a 1-3-2 home record with just one point in its last four home matches at Energizer Park.
- St. Louis has scored three goals in six home matches this season. Their three home goals are second fewest in MLS ahead of only Montreal, which has one goal in three home games.
- St. Louis matches have produced 1.92 total goals per game this season, the second fewest in MLS.
- St. Louis has scored multiple goals just twice in 12 games this season, both in LA. St. Louis earned a 3-0 road win over the Galaxy on March 9 and a 2-2 draw at LAFC on April 27.
- St. Louis has one shutout in its last eight matches after opening the season with four consecutive clean sheets.
- St. Louis has five assists this season, the fewest in MLS.
- St. Louis has been outscored 9-3 after the 60th minute this season.
- St. Louis has conceded one goal in the first 30 minutes of matches this season, tied for the fewest in MLS.
- St. Louis has faced 15.4 shots per game, second most in MLS.
- St. Louis is 2-2-1 when scoring first and 0-4-0 when conceding first this season. The has scored the first goal three times during its eight-game winless skid.
- St. Louis is 2-0-0 when leading at halftime and 0-2-0 when trailing at halftime this season.
- Midfielder Marcel Hartel leads St. Louis in starts (12), minutes (1,073), shots (23), shots on target (10), expected goals (2.67) and key passes (26) this season. Despite his 26 key passes ranking 10th in MLS, he has zero assists.
- Hartel has two MLS goals this season, tied for the team lead alongside forward Cedric Teuchert.
- Defender Kyle Hiebert scored a goal in St. Louis’ 2-1 home loss to San Diego FC on Saturday. He and Hartel are the only two St. Louis players to start in all 12 MLS matches this season.
- Hiebert ranks sixth in MLS with 22 blocks.
- Midfielder Conrad Wallem ranks fourth in MLS with 24 fouls committed.
- Forward Joao Klauss ranks sixth in MLS with 33 aerial duels won.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Defender Tim Leibold is one shy of 350 appearances in his professional club career.
- Defender Khiry Shelton is one shy of 250 appearances in his professional club career.
- Forward Daniel Salloi is one shy of 100 career goal contributions in MLS competitions (56 goals and 43 assists in the regular season and playoffs combined).
- 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.
- Defender Logan Ndenbe is 69 minutes shy of 5,000 minutes played for Sporting in all competitions.
- Goalkeeper John Pulskamp is one shy of 100 saves in his MLS regular season career.
