Sporting Kansas City remains on the road this weekend as the team faces off against the Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field on Sunday night. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. CT and will be nationally televised on FS1 and FOX Deportes, as well as available to stream on Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass. The game will also be broadcast locally on the radio via Sports Radio 810 WHB.
1. TOUGH RUN CONCLUDES IN SEATTLE
Sporting Kansas City tough summer schedule continued this past weekend, falling to a 3-1 defeat against fourth-in-the-East Orlando City at Inter & Co Stadium on Saturday night following a three-hour weather delay. The task gets no easier this weekend as Sporting takes on fourth-in-the-West Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field on Sunday night.
Sporting is in the midst of a run that sees the team play nine straight games against teams currently above the playoff line. The four-game stretch the team will conclude in Seattle is particularly daunting, facing Vancouver (3rd in West), San Diego (1st in West), Orlando (4th in East) and the Sounders (4th in West) from July 26 through Aug. 24.
For a second consecutive match, Sporting started in a 4-4-2 formation this past weekend and again found plenty of joy in the attacking third. In the team’s last two games, Sporting put up 2.69 expected goals (xG) against San Diego and 1.98 xG against Orlando, both well above the team’s season average of 1.44 and the league average of 1.65.
Sporting’s playoff hopes remain slim as the team sits eight 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 (6-9-5 record).
2. LOOKING TO RECAPTURE MAGIC IN PNW
Sporting Kansas City heads to the Pacific Northwest this weekend to renew the club’s rivalry with the Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field on Sunday night. Sporting has enjoyed plenty of success on the Seattle turf in the past, winning four of their last six matches at Lumen Field dating back to 2019.
Sporting last visited Seattle on Sept. 15, 2024, falling to a 2-0 defeat. Jackson Ragen and Paul Rothrock each tallied in the first half to give the Sounders an unassailable lead, before Tim Melia saved a penalty kick from Albert Rusnak before halftime - the penultimate penalty save of Melia’s legendary career.
The two sides have already met once this season at Children’s Mercy Park, with Sporting suffering a 3-2 defeat on July 12, 2025. The Sounders came flying out of the blocks and took a 3-0 lead into the halftime interval following goals from Jordan Morris, Rusnak and Jesus Ferreira, but Sporting came roaring back in the second half. Dejan Joveljic and Santi Munoz each converted penalty kicks but Sporting’s comeback attempt ultimately fell just short.
Sporting narrowly trails the all-time series against Seattle 12-14-4, with identical 6-7-2 marks both at home and on the road.
3. JOVELJIC BACK ON THE SCORESHEET
Sporting Kansas City forward Dejan Joveljic got himself back on the scoresheet this past weekend, tallying the team’s equalizer in the eventual 3-1 defeat to Orlando City at Inter & Co Stadium on Saturday night.
With the team trailing 1-0 following an early Orlando goal, Joveljic played Mason Toye through on goal who rounded the goalkeeper before placing the ball on target where the Serbian stabbed the ball home on the line, making the score 1-1.
The goal was Joveljic’s team-leading 14th goal of the season, tied for the eighth best goalscoring season in club history with eight games remaining. Joveljic also snapped a three-game goalscoring drought, with his last goal coming in the 3-2 loss to Sunday’s opponents Seattle on July 12.
Joveljic’s 14 goals are second most by a Kansas City newcomer in a single regular season, only trailing club legend Preki’s 18 in the team’s inaugural 1996 season.
4. TOYE TALLIES ASSIST ON FIRST START
Sporting Kansas City forward Mason Toye made the most of his first start for the club this past weekend, proving to be a constant menace in the attacking third and recording an assist in the 3-1 loss to Orlando City at Inter & Co Stadium on Saturday night.
Making his 13th appearance this season but just his first start, Toye caused Orlando all sorts of problems in the first half. He narrowly missed the target when through one-on-one in the 20th minute before forcing a smart save from Pedro Gallese in the Orlando goal in the 23rd minute.
Toye’s enterprising play led to Sporting’s equalizer in the 25th minute as he latched on to Dejan Joveljic’s through ball, rounded Gallese and placed a shot on target that Joveljic tapped home on the line. It was Toye’s first assist for Sporting and his first since June 21, 2023 when he tallied an assist in a 1-0 CF Montreal win over Nashville SC.
Toye now has a goal and an assist for Sporting, and 21 goals and seven assists in his MLS career having also represented Minnesota, Montreal and Portland.
5. BASSONG DONS CAPTAIN’S ARMBAND
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Zorhan Bassong earned a new honor this past weekend, wearing the captain’s armband for the first time in Sporting Blue during the team’s 3-1 loss to Orlando City at Inter & Co Stadium on Saturday night.
With Erik Thommy out injured and Daniel Salloi starting the match from the bench, Bassong was called upon to lead the team out in Orlando. In the team’s previous 27 matches in all competitions this season, Thommy and Salloi have split captain’s duties, with Thommy captaining the team on 14 occasions and Salloi taking the armband 13 times.
Bassong arrived in Kansas City ahead of the 2024 season and was primarily deployed as a left back for the first half of the season before making the switch to central midfield in August of 2024. Since then, the 26-year-old’s passion and energy has proved a revelation as he has solidified a spot on the team, earned a recall to the Canadian National Team, become a fan favorite with the Sporting faithful and now captained the team for the first time.
