Sporting Kansas City is back in action this weekend when the team plays host to San Diego FC at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. CT and will be nationally televised on FS1 and FOX Deportes, as well as available to stream on MLS Season Pass. The game will also be broadcast locally on the radio via Sports Radio 810 WHB. Tickets are available via SeatGeek.com.
1. BACK HOME AFTER WEEK OFF
Sporting Kansas City is back after a weekend off when the team welcomes 2025 MLS expansion side San Diego FC to Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night. No MLS regular-season matches took place last weekend as the league kicked off Leagues Cup with LIGA MX, with Sporting not participating in the tournament due to the club’s league finish in 2024.
Sporting’s most recent outing saw the team fall 3-0 on the road against the second-place Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place on July 26, and the schedule does not get much kinder as the team now hosts first-place San Diego this weekend. In fact, Sporting is in the midst of a run that sees the team play nine straight games against teams currently above the playoff line.
Sporting sits six points out of the ninth and final postseason spot. Since taking the helm at the end of March, interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin has picked up 23 points (6-7-5 record). The team’s 1.28 points per game since Zavagnin took charge would currently have the team above the playoff line if extrapolated across a full season.
2. HOSTING SAN DIEGO FOR FIRST TIME
Sporting Kansas City returns to action this weekend when the team plays host to 2025 MLS expansion side San Diego FC on Saturday night at Children’s Mercy Park, marking the first time that Sporting has hosted the Californian newcomers in Kansas City.
The inaugural meeting between the two sides took place on May 17, 2025 at Snapdragon Stadium down in San Diego. Each team’s backline dominated much of the match leading to a 0-0 draw as Sporting went closest when Shapi Suleymanov hit the underside of the crossbar in the second half. That shutout remains Sporting’s most recent clean sheet this season.
Sporting is 21-10-11 overall against teams that are in the midst of their expansion campaign, having gone 1-2-0 in the regular season against the second most recent expansion team, St. Louis, in 2023 and 0-0-1 so far against San Diego in 2025.
Much like St. Louis in 2023 - prior to being thrashed by Sporting in the postseason - San Diego are off to a flying start in MLS, currently topping the Western Conference with a 14-7-6 record and a 7-4-0 mark on the road, leaving them tied for the second most road wins in MLS this season.
3. SPORTING ADDS ALAN MONTES ON LOAN
Sporting Kansas City announced on Friday, Aug .1 that the club has acquired 24-year-old center back Alan Montes on loan from LIGA MX side Club Necaxa for the remainder of the 2025 season.
Montes’ loan comes with an option for Sporting to exercise a permanent transfer at the end of 2025. He will occupy an international spot on the club’s roster, pending the receipt of his P1 visa.
Montes has scored 10 goals in 119 club appearances, including four goals in 57 LIGA MX matches across stints with Necaxa and Monterrey. The 6-foot-4 defender will make his first professional move outside of Mexico, joining Sporting KC after making 59 competitive appearances for Necaxa and helping the team to a fifth-place finish in the 2025 Clausura spring season.
Montes is the younger brother of Cesar Montes, the longtime Monterrey center back and Mexican World Cup veteran who now plays for Lokomotiv Moscow in the Russian Premier League.
4. MUNOZ FINDS WAYS TO MAKE AN IMPACT
Sporting Kansas City forward Santiago Munoz continues to have a positive impact on the field this season, consistently helping the club both off the bench and as a starter since joining back in April.
The Mexican American striker has three goals and one assist this season, all of which have come as a second-half substitute. Munoz has only made two starts for the club, including his first start in the reverse fixture at San Diego FC on May 17, 2025, with Designated Player Dejan Joveljic consistently leading the line for SKC.
Munoz, who typically enters the game with Sporting chasing an equalizer or a winning goal, routinely has a positive impact on the game state when he enters. In the 334 minutes that Munoz has played in 2025, Sporting averages a shot taken every 5.48 minutes. In the 1,826 minutes that Munoz has not been on the field this season, Sporting averages a shot every 9.41 minutes.
The 22-year-old joined Sporting on loan from LIGA MX club Santos Laguna back in April, with Sporting holding an option to buy at the conclusion of the season.
5. MILLER CONTINUES EXCELLENT ROOKIE SEASON
Sporting Kansas City defender Jansen Miller has enjoyed a terrific rookie season in Sporting Blue, becoming a mainstay in the heart of the club’s backline after being selected eighth overall in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft out of Indiana University.
Miller has played the most regular season minutes (1,845) of any 2025 SuperDraft selection this year, while he has also played every minute in each of Sporting’s last 20 games since March 22. The 23-year-old leads the team in a host of categories, including aerial duels won and clearances, while he has recorded the fourth highest top speed on the team (21.4 mph).
Miller played 77 total matches in four college seasons, logging 27 appearances (26 starts) at Xavier University in 2021 before transferring to Indiana University and featuring in 50 games (40 starts) for the Hoosiers from 2022-2024. He was a Second-Team All-Big Ten selection last fall, concluding his collegiate career with a third straight NCAA tournament berth and scoring a golden goal against Akron in the second round of the postseason.
