"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 4-2 home win over the Colorado Rapids, Sporting Kansas City will host Austin FC on Sunday in the club's annual Kick Childhood Cancer theme night at Children's Mercy Park. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. CT with tickets available via SeatGeek and live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV and ESPN 94.5 FM.
Dejan Joveljic continued his torrid 2025 campaign with a brace last weekend as Sporting bounced into the win column, keeping the team's playoff hopes alive as the season enters its all-important home stretch. Austin, meanwhile, sits six points above the playoff line after suffering just one loss in its last seven league games and will look to halt Sporting's momentum as the calendar turns to September.
With Sunday's contest 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 3-6-1 all-time record against Austin. All 10 meetings between the clubs have come in the MLS regular season.
- Sporting has a 3-1-1 home record against Austin, which secured its lone win at Children’s Mercy Park in July 2022.
- Austin has won six of the last eight meetings in the series, including a Week 1 victory that saw Osman Bukari score the lone goal in a 1-0 home result on Feb. 22.
- The teams last met at Children’s Mercy Park on June 29, 2024, when Sporting secured a 2-0 home win behind goals from defender Tim Leibold and forward Stephen Afrifa.
- Sporting has lost all five road matches at Austin since 2021, scoring seven goals and conceding 13.
- In 10 previous meetings, Austin has outscored Sporting 18-16 yet been outshot 159-106.
- Sporting forward Dejan Joveljic has seven goal contributions (four goals and three assists) in seven regular season appearances against Austin, six of which came as a member of the LA Galaxy.
- Sporting defender Andrew Brody has three goal contributions (one goal and two assists) in six regular season appearances against Austin.
- Sporting defender Tim Leibold has two goal contributions (one goal and one assist) in three regular season appearances against Austin.
- Austin forward Diego Rubio, who played for Sporting from 2016-2018, has four goals in 13 regular season appearances against his former club.
- Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver has started in each of the club’s first 10 matches against Sporting, posting a 6-3-1 record with one shutout and a 1.6 goals against average.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2025 MLS record: 7-15-6, 27 points (13th in West | 43 GF, 57 GA)
- 2025 MLS home record: 4-6-4 (24 GF, 28 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 1-4-0, 3 points (L-L-L-L-W)
- Sporting staged a second-half comeback to secure a 4-2 home win over the Colorado Rapids last Saturday, Aug. 30. It was the club’s 300th home victory in all competitions and snapped a six-match winless run that began following Kansas City’s 2-1 road win over Colorado on July 4.
- Sporting has gained 14 points from losing positions (three wins and five draws) during the regular season, fifth most in MLS.
- After trailing 2-1 at halftime last weekend, Sporting scored three goals in an eight-minute span from the 73rd to 81st minutes to prevail 4-2. It marked the third time this season that Sporting has scored three goals in the space of eight minutes, following a 5-3 road win over San Jose on April 19 and a 3-3 draw against the New England Revolution on May 24.
- Last weekend marked Sporting’s second game of the season with at least four goals. The team scored five at San Jose on April 19. Sporting has bagged four goals in its last two home games against Colorado, having previously earned a 4-1 win over the Rapids on Sept. 18, 2024.
- Sporting has scored 21 of 43 league goals after the 60th minute this season, a clip of 49%. Sporting’s 21 goals after the 60th minute are third most in MLS.
- Sporting has received nine goals from substitutes this season, third most in MLS.
- Sporting ranks third in MLS with 175 touches per game in the attacking third.
- Sporting ranks third in MLS with 17.8 progressive dribbles per game. Progressive dribbles are dribbles that advance the ball 10 yards closer to the opponent’s goal line or into the penalty area.
- With an average weighted age of 26.5, Sporting has the seventh youngest team in MLS this season based on playing time. The team had an average weighted age of 28.6 last season, which was the fourth oldest in MLS.
- Forward Dejan Joveljic eclipsed 100 goals in his professional club career by scoring twice in Sporting’s 4-2 win over Colorado last weekend, recording his third multi-goal game of the season.
- Joveljic has a team-leading 16 goals this season, tied for third most in MLS and tied for third most in a single regular season in club history alongside Dom Dwyer (2016) and Daniel Salloi (2021).
- Joveljic’s 16 goals this season are the most by a Kansas City newcomer since Preki scored 18 in the club’s inaugural 1996 campaign.
- Joveljic has scored 37 MLS goals (including playoffs) since the start of 2024, second most in the league behind Lionel Messi.
- Sporting has three headed goals this season, all of which have been scored by Joveljic.
- Joveljic recorded a goal contribution in eight consecutive MLS appearances from May 14 to July 12, the third longest streak of any MLS player this season and tied for the second longest streak in club history.
- Joveljic has hit 15 goals for the second straight regular season after scoring 15 times for the LA Galaxy last year. He is the third player in MLS history to score 15 goals in consecutive regular seasons with different clubs after Raul Diaz Arce (DC in 1996, NE in 1997) and Evander (POR in 2024, CIN in 2025).
- Goalkeeper John Pulskamp ranks second in MLS with 97 saves. He made the second penalty kick save of his MLS career—his first since September 2022—by thwarting Rafael Navarro from the spot in Sporting’s win over Colorado last weekend.
- 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 28 MLS matches and in all 30 matches this season across all competitions.
- Forward Daniel Salloi marked his 250th MLS appearance with his seventh goal of the season in Sporting’s win last weekend. He has now scored 67 career goals for Sporting in all competitions, tying both Dom Dwyer and Johnny Russell for second most in club history.
- With seven goals and four assists this season, Salloi has eclipsed double-digit goal contributions for the fourth time in the last five MLS seasons since 2021.
- Salloi has 11 goal contributions this season, tied with Manu Garcia for second on the team behind Dejan Joveljic (18). Salloi also ranks second on the team in both goals (seven) and assists (four).
- Forward Mason Toye came off the bench to score Sporting’s winning goal in the victory over Colorado last weekend. He has goals in back-to-back games for the fourth time in his MLS career and goal contributions in three straight matches for the third time in his MLS career.
- Defender Jansen Miller recorded his first career MLs assist on Salloi’s goal last weekend. He has played the most regular season minutes (2,110) of any 2025 MLS SuperDraft selection this season and started 23 straight games prior to coming off the bench last Saturday to record his first assist.
- Midfielder Jacob Bartlett recorded his first career MLS assist on Joveljic’s second goal last weekend. At 19 years and 335 days (as of Sept. 7), Bartlett is the third youngest player to start at least 20 MLS matches this season. He is one of just two teenagers, alongside NYCFC’s Jonathan Shore, to make at least 24 regular season appearances in 2025.
- Forward Santi Munoz assisted Toye’s winning goal last weekend and now has five goal contributions this season (three goals and two assists). His assist to Toye was his first goal contribution as a starter this year.
- Forward Shapi Suleymanov is tied for second on the team with four assists. He ranks fourth in MLS in dribbles into the penalty area (48) and seventh in fouls suffered (53).
Austin FC
- 2025 MLS record: 10-9-8, 38 points (7th in West | 29 GF, 33 GA)
- 2025 MLS away record: 3-7-4 (16 GF, 27 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 2-1-2, 8 points (W-T-T-L-W)
- Austin occupies seventh place in the Western Conference with a 10-9-8 record and 38 points, six points above the playoff line.
- Austin has scored 14 goals in its last six matches (2.33 per game) after scoring just 15 goals in its first 21 matches (0.71 per game) of the regular season.
- Austin ranks fifth in MLS in open-play crossing accuracy (28%) and 10th in successful crosses from open play (59). Austin also ranks 10th in successful balls into the box, excluding crosses (92).
- Austin ranks seventh in MLS with a 1.22 goals against average. The team has allowed three or more goals just three times in 27 MLS matches this season.
- Austin has scored seven of its 29 regular season goals off set pieces.
- Austin has one loss in its last eight matches across all competitions since July 8.
- Austin has advanced to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals for the first time in club history. The team will visit Minnesota United FC in the semis on Sept. 17.
- Austin has won three of its last five MLS away matches since the start of June. The team has a 5-7-1 road record this season.
- Seven of Austin’s 10 league wins this season have come by one goal.
- Austin is 10-0-2 when scoring the first goal and 0-9-3 when conceding the first goal during the regular season. In Austin’s 27 MLS matches this year, the team that has scored first is 19-0-5.
- Similarly, Austin is 7-0-1 when leading at halftime and 0-6-1 when trailing at halftime during the regular season.
- Midfielder Owen Wolff has four goals in his last six MLS matches after scoring three goals in his first 109 league appearances (including playoffs).
- Wolff is tied for the Austin lead with 10 goal contributions during the regular season (four goals and six assists) and has a team-best 49 key passes.
- Winger Osman Bukari is tied for the Austin lead with 10 goal contributions, including three goals and a team-best seven assists.
- Midfielder Myrto Uzuni leads Austin with five goals this season. He will miss Sunday’s match while on international duty with Albania.
- Midfielder Besard Sabovic ranks fourth in MLS with 49 fouls committed.
- Goalkeeper Brad Stuver has started all 27 matches for Austin this season and has 107 consecutive regular season starts for the team dating back to July 30, 2022. In the club’s five-year history, he has started 159 of a possible 163 regular season matches.
- Stuver ranks third in MLS with 96 saves.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Sporting is one shy of 300 competitive home matches played at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Midfielder Erik Thommy is one shy of his 100th MLS appearance (including playoffs).
- Defender Andrew Brody is one shy of his 100th career start in the MLS regular season.
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez is one shy of his 50th appearance for Sporting in all competitions.
- Midfielder Manu Garcia is one shy of 50 assists in his professional club career.
- Forward Dejan Joveljic has scored 16 goals this season, tied for third most in a single regular season in club history behind only Preki in 1996 (18 goals) and Dom Dwyer in 2014 (22 goals).
- Forward Daniel Salloi has scored 67 career goals for Sporting in all competitions, tied with Dom Dwyer and Johnny Russell for second most in club history.
- Salloi is tied with current interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin for sixth in Sporting history with 237 regular season appearances for the club.
