By The Numbers presented by Compass Minerals: Sporting KC at Vancouver Whitecaps FC | July 26, 2025

"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 travel north of the border to visit Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday at BC Place. The Western Conference clash is slated for 9:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV and Sports Radio 810 WHB.

Led by interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin, Sporting secured its fourth result in five games following a 1-1 stalemate with New York City FC last weekend. Next up is a formidable test against a Whitecaps side that has taken MLS by surprise in 2025. Indeed, Vancouver is competing near the top of the West and coming off a run to the Concacaf Champions Cup final last month.

With Saturday's battle 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 has a 12-8-5 record in 25 regular season meetings against Vancouver, scoring 46 goals (1.84 per match) and allowing 28 (1.12 per match).
• Sporting has a 5-5-3 regular season away record at Vancouver but hasn’t won at BC Place since Feb. 29, 2020. The Whitecaps are 3-0-1 in their last three home meetings against Sporting, including a 2-1 victory the last time the teams met on July 17, 2024.
• Vancouver is 5-1-1 in the last seven regular season meetings, including a sweep of Sporting in 2024 with two wins by a 2-1 scoreline.
• Sporting has gone 7-5-3 in the last 15 meetings with Vancouver across all competitions since 2018, scoring 30 goals and conceding 13.
• Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has five goal contributions (three goal and two assists) in 11 regular season appearances against Vancouver.
• Sporting midfielder Memo Rodriguez has four goal contributions (three goals and one assist) in just 266 regular season minutes against Vancouver, all as a member of Houston Dynamo FC. His three goals against Vancouver are tied for his most against any MLS opponent (FC Dallas).
• Sporting forward Dejan Joveljic has two goal contributions (one goal and one assist) in six regular season appearances against Vancouver, all as a member of the LA Galaxy.
• Sporting defender Khiry Shelton has four assists in 11 regular season appearances against Vancouver. His four assists against the Whitecaps are tied for his most versus any MLS opponent (Chicago and D.C. United).
• Vancouver forward Brian White has three goal contributions (one goal and two assists) in seven regular season appearances against Sporting. Aside from Ryan Gauld—who has missed most of the season through injury and will not play Saturday—White is the only current Whitecaps player who has scored an MLS goal against Sporting.

Sporting Kansas City

• 2025 MLS record: 6-11-6, 24 points (13th in West | 36 GF, 42 GA)
• 2025 MLS away record: 3-6-2 (16 GF, 18 GA)
• Last Five MLS Matches: 2-1-2, 8 points (W-T-W-L-T)
• Sporting secured its fourth result in five matches following a 1-1 home draw with New York City FC on July 19. Daniel Salloi scored a second-half equalizer as Sporting came from behind to secure a result for the sixth time (two wins, four draws) in 11 games dating back to May 14.
• Sporting has gained 11 points from losing positions (two wins, five draws) during the regular season, tied for fifth most in MLS.
• Kerry Zavagnin has a 6-6-5 record in 17 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.
• Sporting has scored multiple goals 10 times in its last 17 matches since the start of April after doing so just once in its previous 13 matches across all competitions dating back to 2024.
• Sporting has earned five results in the team’s last eight away matches (3-3-2 record) since the start of April after earning just two results in 18 away matches (1-16-1 record) from April 2024 through March 2025.
• Sporting in the midst of playing nine straight games against teams currently above the playoff line, facing Colorado and Seattle twice in addition to NYCFC, Vancouver, San Diego, Orlando and Austin between July 4 and Sept. 7.
• Sporting has a +9 goal differential after the 60th minute during the regular season, the second best mark in MLS behind only San Diego (+12).
• Sporting has scored exactly half of its goals after the 60th minute this season (18 of 36). Sporting’s 18 goals after the 60th minute are third most in MLS behind only San Jose (22) and San Diego (19).
• Forward Dejan Joveljic recorded a goal contribution in eight consecutive MLS appearances from May 14 to July 12, the longest streak of any MLS player this season and tied for the second longest streak in club history. His streak was snapped in Sporting’s 1-1 draw against New York City FC on July 19.
• Joveljic is tied for fifth in MLS with 13 goals this season, including eight goals in his last nine appearances since May 14 as well as goals in each of his last four road matches.
• Joveljic has 34 MLS goals (including playoffs) since the start of 2024, second most in the league behind Lionel Messi.
• Joveljic’s 13 goals are tied for the second most by a Kansas City newcomer in a single regular season. Preki had 18 goals in the club’s inaugural 1996 campaign.
• Goalkeeper John Pulskamp is tied for second in MLS with 81 saves. He recently earned three straight MLS Team of the Matchday selections in a stretch that saw Sporting secure two wins and one draw from June 25 to July 4.
• Pulskamp has two assists during the 2025 regular season. He is the first goalkeeper in club history with multiple assists in a single MLS campaign and joins Tony Meola as the only goalkeepers with multiple regular season assists for Kansas City all-time.
• Pulskamp is the only Sporting player to start in all 23 MLS matches and in all 25 matches this season across all competitions.
• Forward Daniel Salloi scored Sporting’s second-half equalizer in the 1-1 draw with New York City FC on July 19. With six goals and four assists on the season, Salloi has hit double-digit goal contributions in four of the last five MLS seasons since 2021.
• Salloi has 10 goal contributions this season, third most on the team behind Dejan Joveljic and Manu Garcia, after totaling seven goal contributions during the 2024 MLS campaign (two goals, five assists).
• Salloi ranks second on the team in both goals (six) and assists (four).
• Midfielder Manu Garcia is tied for eighth in MLS with nine assists and leads Sporting with 38 key passes, more than double the amount of any other Kansas City player. His 11 total goal contributions (two goals, nine assists) are second most on the team behind Dejan Joveljic (15).
• Garcia has five assists in his last seven MLS appearances after totaling four assists in his first 16 league games this season.
• Garcia ranks third in MLS in progressive passes (198), fourth in successful passes into the penalty area (52), fourth in successful passes into the final third (170), fourth in successful through balls (14) and fifth in fouls suffered (45).
• Forward Santiago Munoz has recorded a goal contribution in four of his last eight MLS appearances, tallying three goals and one assist since May 31. All four of his goal contributions have come as a second-half substitute.
• Forward Shapi Suleymanov is tied for second on the team with four assists. He ranks sixth in MLS in fouls suffered (44) and seventh in dribbles into the penalty area (36).
• At 19 years and 292 days (as of July 26), midfielder Jacob Bartlett is the youngest player to start at least 19 MLS matches this season.
• Defender Jansen Miller has played the most regular season minutes (1,755) of any 2025 MLS SuperDraft selection this year. He has played every minute in each of Sporting’s last 18 games since March 22.
• Defender Ian James recently earned his first career start for Sporting in a 1-1 draw against Real Salt Lake on June 28. At 17 years and 22 days, he became the youngest defender to start an MLS match and the second youngest player to start an MLS match in club history.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

• 2025 MLS record: 12-5-6, 42 points (2nd in West | 39 GF, 26 GA)
• 2025 MLS home record: 6-2-2 (22 GF, 13 GA)
• Last Five MLS Matches: 2-2-1, 7 points (W-L-L-W-T)
• Vancouver occupies second place in the Western Conference with a 12-5-6 record and 42 points, the most points 23 games into an MLS regular season in club history.
• Vancouver became the third Canadian club ever (2015 CF Montreal, 2018 Toronto FC) to reach the finals of the Concacaf Champions Cup, falling to Mexican side Cruz Azul in the 2025 CCC Final on June 1 after defeating Saprissa (Costa Rica), Monterrey (Mexico), Pumas (Mexico) and Inter Miami in the earlier rounds of the competition.
• Vancouver has played 34 competitive matches this season in all competitions—23 in the MLS regular season, nine in the Concacaf Champions Cup and two in the Canadian Championship.
• Vancouver had one loss in the team’s first 24 matches this season across all competitions, a span running from mid-February to the end of May. Since the start of June, Vancouver has suffered five losses in 10 games across all competitions.
• Vancouver lost four of five MLS matches from June 14 to July 12, conceding 13 total goals across those four defeats, to relinquish first place in the Western Conference.
• Vancouver concluded a five-game MLS road swing last week by taking four of a possible six points, earning a 3-0 win at Houston Dynamo FC and a 1-1 draw at first-place San Diego FC.
• Vancouver will play seven of its final 11 MLS matches at home. The Whitecaps have a 6-2-2 MLS record at BC Place this season and a 9-2-4 home record in all competitions.
• Vancouver ranks third in MLS in open play crossing accuracy (29.9%), second in successful open play crosses (58), third in successful balls into the box (91) and second in touches inside the attacking penalty area per game (26.2).
• Vancouver ranks fifth in goals conceded per game (1.13) and second in expected goals conceded per game (1.3).
• Vancouver ranks third in MLS in shots inside the box per game (9.6) and second in shortest average shooting distance (16.3 yards).
• Vancouver has converted just two of its five penalty kick attempts during the 2025 regular season.
• Vancouver has five wins and one loss in one-goal games during the regular season. Four of the team’s five MLS defeats have come by multiple goals.
• Vancouver is 11-0-1 when scoring first during the regular season and 14-1-4 when scoring first in all competitions. Vancouver’s lone loss when scoring first was a 2-1 defeat at Saprissa on Feb. 20 in the Concacaf Champions Cup, the team’s first competitive match of the season.
• Vancouver is 1-5-1 when allowing the first goal during the regular season and 2-6-3 when allowing the first goal across all competitions.
• Vancouver is 8-0-1 when leading at halftime and 0-4-1 when trailing at halftime during the regular season. Across all competitions, the team is 9-1-1 when up at half and 1-5-3 when down at half.
• Forward Brian White leads Vancouver with 11 MLS goals (seven more than any other Whitecaps player) and 17 goals in all competitions (12 more than any other Whitecaps player).
• White ranks third in MLS with 0.73 expected goals per 90 minutes played. He missed five games for international duty with the United States from June 8 to July 4, during which time the Whitecaps took two wins and three losses.
• Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter is tied for second on the team with five goals in all competitions alongside Emmanuel Sabbi. Berhalter also has a team-best 44 key passes during the regular season.
• Goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka leads MLS with 10 shutouts. He has started and played every minute in all 23 MLS matches this season.
• Defender Edier Ocampo is tied for sixth in MLS with 15 successful crosses into the penalty area from open play.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Forward Dejan Joveljic is two shy of 100 goal scored in his professional club career.
• Midfielder Memo Rodriguez is one shy of his 200th MLS regular season appearance.
• Midfielder Manu Garcia is one shy of 50 assists in his professional club career.
• Goalkeeper John Pulskamp is tied for sixth in club history with 15 regular season wins, one shy of passing Mike Ammann on the all-time charts.
• Forward Daniel Salloi has scored 66 career goals for Sporting in all competitions, fourth most in club history and one shy of tying both Dom Dwyer and Johnny Russell for second on the all-time chart.