"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.
On the heels of consecutive road results, Sporting Kansas City returns to Children's Mercy Park on Saturday to host the New England Revolution at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets for the cross-conference clash are available on SeatGeek and can be purchased at a discounted rate as part of the Rally Pack or East Coast Pack. The game will be available to watch with an Apple TV+ or MLS Season Pass subscription in addition to local radio coverage on 810 AM and 103.7 FM.
Sporting has shown vast defensive improvement during the month of May, posting two shutouts and conceding just three goals in its last four matches. The Revolution, meanwhile, boast one of the league's stingiest backlines and haven't lost a league game since early April. Something has to give when the MLS originals lock horns Saturday night in the Soccer Capital of America.
As the cross-conference clash approaches, 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 New England last met on April 22, 2023, when the Revolution earned a 2-1 home win behind Giacomo Vrioni’s first-half brace. Sporting grabbed a goal back on a 50th-minute Johnny Russell strike assisted by Daniel Salloi.
- Sporting and New England last met at Children’s Mercy Park on June 12, 2022, when the Revolution earned a 2-1 road win for their first victory at the stadium since 2014. Gustavo Bou and Emmanuel Boateng scored on either side of Johnny Russell’s second-half equalizer.
- Sporting leads the regular season series with a 25-20-12 record, including a 14-8-6 home mark and a 4-2-3 record at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Sporting’s four regular season home wins over New England have all come by multiple goals.
- Sporting notably beat the New England Revolution in the 2013 Eastern Conference Semifinals en route to winning MLS Cup. Kansas City lost the first leg 2-1 at Gillette Stadium before earning a 3-1 extra-time win in the second leg at home to prevail 4-3 on aggregate.
- Since eliminating New England from the 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs, Sporting is 2-7-1 in 10 regular season meetings against the Revolution with 23 goals conceded and zero shutouts.
- New England has scored in each of the last 10 regular season meetings, while Sporting has scored in eight of those 10.
- Prior to its 10-game scoring streak in the series, New England went five straight meetings without scoring against Sporting from 2012 to 2013.
- The last nine regular season meetings between Sporting and New England have produced 38 goals, a clip of 4.22 per match.
- Sporting defender Khiry Shelton is the only Kansas City player who has scored a regular season goal against New England, doing so as a member of New York City FC on Oct. 15, 2017.
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi is the only Kansas City player who has recorded a regular season assist against New England, doing so in the last meeting between the teams on April 22, 2023.
- New England forward Maxi Urruti has seven goal contributions (three goals, four assists) in 19 regular season appearances against Sporting, having previously played for Toronto (2013), Portland (2013-2015), Dallas (2016-2018), Montreal (2019-2020), Houston (2021) and Austin (2022-2023) before joining the Revolution this year.
- New England forward Leonardo Campana scored twice as a member of Inter Miami CF in a 3-2 home win over Sporting on Sept. 9, 2023.
- New England goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic has conceded 10 goals in three regular season appearances against Sporting, all as a member of the Portland Timbers from 2022-2023.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2025 MLS record: 3-8-3, 12 points (13th in West | 19 GF, 24 GA)
- 2025 MLS home record: 2-3-1 (9 GF, 11 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 1-2-2, 5 points (L-W-L-T-T)
- Sporting earned back-to-back road results last week, tying 2-2 at St. Louis City SC on May 14 and 0-0 at San Diego FC on May 17.
- Sporting’s 0-0 draw at San Diego on May 17 was the club’s first road shutout since a 0-0 stalemate at LAFC on March 9, 2024. San Diego had scored 14 goals in its previous five home matches at Snapdragon Stadium before failing to score against Sporting.
- Sporting erased a two-goal halftime deficit to secure a 2-2 draw at rivals St. Louis City SC on May 14, receiving a 71st-minute goal from Tim Leibold and a 77th-minute equalizer from Dejan Joveljic. Prior to this game, Sporting had lost 24 straight regular season away matches when trailing by multiple goals in the 70th minute. The last time Sporting had rescued a road result when trailing by multiple goals in the 70th minute was more than a decade ago on April 25, 2015, in a 4-4 draw at Houston Dynamo FC.
- Sporting had 1.76 expected goals in the 2-2 draw against St. Louis—its second most in an away game this season—and finished with season-highs in shots (17), shots inside the box (13) and successful passes into the penalty area (19).
- Sporting has been outscored 20-9 through the 60th minute while outscoring opponents 10-4 after the 60th minute this season.
- Sporting has won three penalty kicks this season, tied for fifth most in MLS, after winning three penalties during the entire 2024 regular season.
- Kerry Zavagnin has a 3-3-2 record in eight 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.
- Defender Robert Voloder was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday presented by Audi for Matchday 14 after helping Sporting to a 0-0 draw at San Diego FC on May 17. He led all players in the game in possessions won (nine) and clearances (eight), earning MLS Team of the Matchday honors for the second time this month after doing so following a 1-0 home win over the LA Galaxy on May 4.
- Defender Jansen Miller has been Voloder’s center back partner in each of Sporting’s last six matches since April 19. Miller has played every minute in each of Sporting’s last 10 matches since March 22 and has the fastest top speed of any Sporting player this season (21.35 mph).
- Forward Dejan Joveljic scored a 77th-minute equalizer in Sporting’s 2-2 draw at St. Louis on May 14. It was his first away goal since June 2024 with the LA Galaxy and his team-leading sixth goal of the season. Three of Joveljic’s six goals this year have come against St. Louis after he had a brace in Sporting’s 2-0 home win over their rivals on April 5.
- Forward Shapi Suleymanov came off the bench to assist Joveljic’s equalizer with a free kick delivery. He is tied for the team lead with four assists this season while ranking fourth in MLS in fouls suffered (35), fifth in dribbles into the penalty area (24) and seventh in progressive passes received (123).
- Defender Tim Leibold came off the bench to score Sporting’s opening goal against St. Louis on May 14. Sporting now has four goals from substitutes this season, second most in MLS.
- Forward Daniel Salloi assisted Leibold’s goal against St. Louis and now has seven goal contributions (four goals, three assists) this season, already matching his total from the 2024 regular season (two goals, five assists).
- Goalkeeper John Pulskamp is the only Sporting player to start in all 14 MLS matches this season. He equaled a season-high with five saves in a 2-2 draw at St. Louis on May 14—all of which came in the second half—before earning his second shutout of the month in a 0-0 result at San Diego on May 17.
- At 19 years and seven months, midfielder Jacob Bartlett is the second youngest player to start at least 11 MLS matches this season behind only Philadelphia Union defender Frankie Westfield (19 years, five months). Bartlett has started in nine straight matches for Sporting since March 29.
- Midfielder Manu Garcia is tied for the team lead in assists (four) and leads the team in key passes (23), 12 more than any other Sporting player.
- Garcia ranks fourth in MLS in progressive passes (115), fifth in successful passes into the final third (96), sixth in successful passes into the penalty area (31), seventh in fouls suffered (30), eighth in goal-creating actions (eight), ninth in successful take-ons (25) and 10th in successful through balls (six).
New England Revolution
- 2025 MLS record: 5-4-3, 18 points (11th in East | 12 GF, 10 GA)
- 2025 MLS away record: 3-2-2 (8 GF, 6 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 3-0-2, 1 points (W-W-W-T-T)
- New England is unbeaten in six MLS matches since April 12, earning four wins and two draws after opening the season with a 1-4-1 record.
- New England’s six-match unbeaten run is its longest in the MLS regular season since going seven unbeaten from May 27 to July 1 in 2023.
- New England is tied for second in MLS with six shutouts, including five clean sheets in the team’s last six matches since April 12.
- New England has outscored opponents 9-3 during the team’s six-game unbeaten streak. The only game in which the Revolution have conceded during this streak was a 3-3 draw at Orlando City SC on May 10.
- New England is 3-0-1 with three shutouts in its last four MLS away matches since April 12. Prior to this streak, the Revolution went 0-8-1 away from home from Aug. 31, 2024, to April 5, 2025.
- New England’s four-game road unbeaten run in MLS is tied for the team’s longest since May and June 2022. On Saturday, the Revolution will play for their first five-game road unbeaten run in a single regular season since winning the Supporters’ Shield in 2021.
- New England has a 3-2-2 road record this season, conceding just six goals in seven MLS away games.
- New England is 4-0-1 in its last five away games across all competitions, including a 2-1 road win at USL Championship side Rhode Island FC on May 7 in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32.
- New England was eliminated from the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with a 3-1 home loss to Chicago Fire FC on Tuesday. The result snapped New England’s seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
- New England’s 12 league matches this season have produced 22 total goals at an average of 1.83 goals per game, the second lowest of any MLS team in 2025.
- New England has scored eight of its 12 MLS goals in the first half. The Revolution’s four second-half goals are the fewest in MLS.
- New England has conceded one goal in the opening 30 minutes of matches this season, the fewest in MLS.
- New England occupies 11th place in the Eastern Conference despite having a winning record at 5-4-3. The Revolution have played two fewer games than most other teams in the league.
- New England ranks second in MLS with a 0.83 goals against average despite facing the second most shots per game (15.8) and the most shots inside the box per game (10.8).
- New England has conceded just one goal from set pieces this season, tied for the fewest in MLS.
- New England ranks 29th in MLS with 1.09 expected goals per game.
- New England is 5-1-0 when leading at halftime and 0-3-1 when trailing at halftime this MLS season.
- New England is the only MLS team that has yet to trail at halftime during the regular season. Nine of the Revolution’s 12 matches have been tied at halftime.
- Midfielder Carles Gil leads New England with six goals this season, all of which have come in the last eight matches. Three of his six goals have been penalty kicks.
- Gil has amassed 120 goal contributions (45 goals, 75 goals) in 171 regular season appearances since joining New England ahead of the 2019 campaign.
- Gil leads MLS in penalty kick goals (three) and successful passes into the penalty area (48) while ranking second in game-winning goals (four), second in fouls suffered (36), third in progressive passes (126), fourth in progressive dribbles (58), fourth in successful take-ons (30), sixth in successful crosses into the penalty area (10), seventh in shot-creating actions (64) and 10th in key passes (30).
- Goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic leads MLS in saves (111) and save percentage (80.9%) while ranking second in shutouts (six) and goals against average (0.83).
- Defender Ilay Feingold ranks eighth in MLS in both successful crosses into the penalty area (nine) and blocks (22).
Milestones and Miscellany
- Sporting will play its 250th MLS match at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday (including playoffs).
- Forward Daniel Salloi ranks eighth in club history with 223 regular season appearances, one shy of tying Nick Garcia for seventh on the all-time chart.
- Salloi has 40 regular season assists for Sporting, tied with former teammate Johnny Russell for sixth most in club history. With an assist in Sporting’s 2-2 draw at St. Louis City SC on May 14, Salloi became the third player in club history to hit 50 goals and 40 assists in the regular season alongside Preki (71 goals, 98 assists) and Johnny Russell (60 goals, 40 assists).
- 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 39 minutes shy of 5,000 minutes played for Sporting in all competitions.
