"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's penultimate home match of the 2025 regular season will take place Saturday when Vancouver Whitecaps FC visits Children's Mercy Park. The Western Conference clash will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT with tickets available via SeatGeek and live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV and ESPN 94.5 FM.
Led by MLS Golden Boot contender Dejan Joveljic and bolstered by the returns of midfield plamakers Manu Garcia and Erik Thommy, Sporting will look to play spoiler against a Vancouver side that is fighting for the Supporters' Shield. With Saturday'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.
Playoff Scenarios
Sporting Kansas City will be eliminated from 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs contention with:
- LOSS/DRAW vs. Vancouver AND San Jose Earthquakes WIN vs. St. Louis CITY SC OR
- LOSS/DRAW vs. Vancouver AND Real Salt Lake WIN at LAFC OR
- LOSS vs. Vancouver AND FC Dallas WIN vs. Colorado Rapids
Head-to-Head
- Sporting has a 12-9-5 record in 26 regular season meetings against Vancouver, scoring 46 goals (1.77 per match) and allowing 31 (1.19 per match).
- Sporting and Vancouver last met on July 26 when the Whitecaps claimed a 3-0 home win behind goals from Emmanuel Sabbi, JC Ngando and Mathias Laborda.
- Sporting has a 1-6-1 record against Vancouver in the last eight regular season meetings dating back to October 2021, including three straight losses since the start of 2024.
- Sporting has a 7-3-2 regular season home record against Vancouver, outscoring the Whitecaps 25-11 in those matches.
- Vancouver won the most recent meeting at Children’s Mercy Park by a 2-1 scoreline on May 29, 2024. Ryan Gauld scored a brace for the Whitecaps before Marinos Tzionis salvaged a late consolation goal for Sporting.
- Sporting last defeated Vancouver by a 3-0 scoreline on July 1, 2023, at Children’s Mercy Park.
- Sporting has a 0-4-1 record in its last five regular season away matches at Vancouver and has not wont at BC Place since Feb. 29, 2020.
- Sporting has a 7-6-3 record against Vancouver in the last 16 meetings across all competitions since 2018, scoring 30 goals and conceding 16.
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has five goal contributions (three goal and two assists) in 12 regular season appearances against Vancouver.
- Sporting midfielder Memo Rodriguez has four goal contributions (three goals and one assist) in just 271 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 seven regular season appearances against Vancouver, both as a member of the LA Galaxy.
- Sporting midfielder Erik Thommy has two goal contributions (one goal and one assist) in three regular season appearances against Vancouver.
- 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 eight regular season appearances against Sporting.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2025 MLS record: 7-17-6, 27 points (13th in West | 45 GF, 61 GA)
- 2025 MLS home record: 4-7-4 (25 GF, 30 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 1-4-0, 3 points (L-L-W-L-L)
- Sporting occupies 13th place in the Western Conference, eight points below the playoff line with four regular season matches still to play.
- Sporting has gained 14 points from losing positions (three wins and five draws) during the regular season, fifth most in MLS.
- Sporting has been outscored 44-23 through the 60th minute while outscoring opponents 22-17 after the 60th minute this season.
- Sporting has scored 22 of 45 league goals after the 60th minute this season, a clip of 49%. Sporting’s 22 goals after the 60th minute are third most in MLS.
- Forward Dejan Joveljic has a team-leading 17 goals this season, tied for fourth most in MLS and third most in a single regular season in club history behind only Preki in 1996 (18 goals) and Dom Dwyer in 2014 (22 goals).
- Joveljic’s 17 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 38 MLS goals (including playoffs) since the start of 2024, second most in the league behind Lionel Messi (40 goals).
- 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 is the second player in MLS history with back-to-back 16-goal seasons in MLS play (regular season and playoffs combined) with different clubs, joining Raul Diaz Arce (17 with DC in 1997, 18 with NE in 1998). His next goal will see him become the first player in MLS history with back-to-back 18-goal seasons in MLS play with different clubs.
- Goalkeeper John Pulskamp is tied for second in MLS with a career-high 104 saves.
- 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 30 MLS matches and in all 32 matches this season across all competitions.
- With seven goals and four assists this season, forward Daniel 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 (19). Salloi also ranks second on the team in both goals (seven) and assists (four).
- Defender Jansen Miller has played the most regular season minutes (2,209) of any 2025 MLS SuperDraft selection this season. He started 23 straight games from March 22 to Aug. 24 before coming off the bench in two of the last three matches.
- Midfielder Jacob Bartlett is the youngest player to appear in at least 26 MLS matches this season (19 years and 348 days as of Sept. 20). Bartlett has started in 22 of 26 MLS appearances during his first professional season.
- Forward Shapi Suleymanov is tied for second on the team with four assists. He ranks second in MLS in dribbles into the penalty area (53) and fifth in fouls suffered (59).
- Salloi and Suleymanov are the only Sporting field players to appear in all 30 regular season matches this season.
- Midfielder Erik Thommy has three goal contributions (two goals, one assist) in his last four appearances and has eight goal contributions (four goals, four assists) for the season, fourth most on the team behind Dejan Joveljic (19), Manu Garcia (11) and Daniel Salloi (11).
- Forward Mason Toye has a goal contribution in three of his last five matches (two goals and one assist) dating back to Aug. 16.
- Midfielder Manu Garcia leads the team in assists (nine) and key passes (41). His 11 total goal contributions (two goals, nine assists) are tied with Daniel Salloi for second most on the team behind Dejan Joveljic (19).
- Garcia ranks sixth in MLS in successful through balls (14), seven in MLS in progressive passes (210), seventh in successful passes into the penalty area (56) and seventh in successful passes into the final third (185). He has missed five of Sporting’s last seven matches with a quad injury and has not started since July 19.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
- 2025 MLS record: 15-6-7, 52 points (3rd in West | 54 GF, 31 GA)
- 2025 MLS away record: 6-4-4 (18 GF, 15 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 3-1-1, 10 points (W-T-L-W-W)
- Vancouver occupies third place in the Western Conference with a 15-6-7 record and 52 points, four points behind leaders San Diego FC with two games in hand.
- Vancouver is one win shy of tying the club record for wins in a regular season (16 wins in 2015) and setting a new club record for points in a regular season (53 points in 2015).
- Nine of Vancouver’s 15 league wins this season have come by multiple goals.
- Vancouver set a club record for goals in an MLS match and margin of victory in an MLS match by cruising to a 7-0 win over Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union last Saturday at BC Place.
- German World Cup winner Thomas Muller scored his first MLS hat trick, Emmanuel Sabbi bagged a brace, Mathias Laborda struck early and 18-year-old Ryan Elloumi opened his MLS scoring account in the 7-0 rout of Philadelphia last weekend.
- Vancouver has advanced to the 2025 Canadian Championship Final and will play for a fourth straight tournament title on Oct. 1. Earlier this season, the Whitecaps reached the Concacaf Champions Cup Final for the first time, falling 5-0 to Cruz Azul on June 1 after eliminating Saprissa, Monterrey, Pumas and Inter Miami in the earlier rounds.
- In all competitions, Vancouver has scored 13 consecutive goals without reply since Aug. 23. That run spans a 3-2 win over St. Louis on Aug. 23, a 7-0 win over Philadelphia on Sept. 13 and a 4-0 win over Forge FC on Tuesday in the Canadian Championship.
- Vancouver leads MLS with a goal differential of +23. The team’s previous all-time best goal differential in a regular season was +9 in 2015.
- Vancouver leads MLS in expected goals per game (2.26) while ranking second in goals scored per game (1.93).
- Vancouver has scored 12 goals from set pieces (fourth most in MLS) while conceding just four goals from set pieces (fewest in MLS).
- Vancouver ranks second in MLS in expected goals conceded per game (1.36) and third in goals conceded per game (1.11).
- Vancouver leads MLS in shots from inside the box per game (10.5) while ranking third in open-play crossing accuracy (29.7%), fifth in successful open-play crosses (69) and third in successful balls into the box (113).
- Vancouver ranks second in MLS in both touches inside the box per game (26.9) and average shot distance (16.1 yards is second shortest).
- Vancouver has outscored opponents 22-7 from the 16th minute until halftime this season.
- Vancouver has a 6-4-4 regular season road record, the fifth best in MLS.
- Vancouver is 13-0-2 when scoring first and 2-6-1 when conceding first during the regular season.
- Vancouver is 10-0-2 when leading at halftime and 0-4-1 when trailing at halftime during the regular season.
- Goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka leads MLS with 12 shutouts and is one shy of the league lead with 15 wins. Takaoka has started and played the full 90 minutes in all of the team’s 28 MLS matches this season.
- Forward Brian White leads Vancouver in MLS goals (14) and total goals (20) this season across all competitions.
- Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter leads Vancouver with a career-high eight assists during the regular season. His 66 key passes in MLS play are double the amount of any other Whitecaps player.
- Defender Tristan Blackmon leads Vancouver field players in minutes (2,070) and starts (23) during the regular season.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Forward Dejan Joveljic has scored 17 goals this year, third most in a single regular season in club history behind only Preki in 1996 (18 goals) and Dom Dwyer in 2014 (22 goals).
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez is one shy of his 50th career appearance for Sporting in all competitions.
- Defender Andrew Brody is one shy of his 100th career start in the MLS regular season.
- Defender Tim Leibold is 65 minutes shy of 5,000 minutes played for Sporting in all competitions.
- Midfielder Manu Garcia is one shy of 50 assists in his professional club career.
- 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 ranks sixth in club history with 239 regular season appearances, one shy of tying Davy Arnaud in fifth on the all-time chart.
