By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #COLvSKC

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Two familiar Western Conference foes square off Saturday as fifth-place Sporting Kansas City (8-9-4, 28 points) visits the second-place Colorado Rapids (9-2-7, 34 points) at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. CT on 38 The Spot, SKCTV, 99.3 FM and La Grande 1340 AM

Colorado owns four straight wins over Sporting KC and brings a club-record 13-game unbeaten run into Saturday's contest. The Rapids began their historic streak with a 2-1 victory at Children's Mercy Park on April 13. Pablo Mastroeni's men have the best home record in MLS and will host a Sporting KC side that is winless in eight consecutive road games. We take a statistical look at the matchup in our By The Numbers preview.

Head-to-head

• Colorado has won both meetings against Sporting KC this season, earning a 2-1 road win on April 13 and a 1-0 home win on May 11.
• Sporting KC went 11 games unbeaten against Colorado in all competitions between 2009 and 2015 (6-0-5), but the Rapids have won each of the last four fixtures dating back to last August.
• Sporting KC will meet Colorado for the 72nd time in all competitions on Saturday, making the Rapids the most frequent opponent in Kansas City history. Sporting KC leads the series 29-26-16, including a 23-21-13 regular season mark.
• Colorado holds a 16-5-8 record at home in the regular season series, including wins in the last two fixtures at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
• Sporting KC winger Graham Zusi has three goals and four assists in 13 MLS appearances against Colorado (including postseason).
• Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer has three goals in seven MLS appearances against the Rapids, including a 92nd-minute winner in a 3-2 victory in March 2014 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Colorado Rapids

• 2016 MLS record: 9-2-7, 34 points (2nd in West)
• 2016 MLS home record: 7-0-2 (12 GF, 4 GA)
• Last five games: 1-0-4, 7 points (T-W-T-T-T)
• Colorado has the best home record in MLS at 7-0-2, having allowed just four goals in those nine games.
• Colorado has conceded 13 goals this season, five fewer than any other team, and leads MLS with a 0.72 goals against average.
• Last Saturday's 2-2 draw at Vancouver extended Colorado's club record to 13 league games without defeat (7-0-6). Their previous high for a single season was nine in 2013.
• Colorado has scored 21 goals this season, but only five have come in the first half, and none in the first 15 minutes. They are the only MLS team without a goal in the opening quarter-hour.
• Colorado is second in MLS with 5.3 shots on goal per game.
• Colorado is 5-0-3 this season when midfielder Jermaine Jones plays.
• Midfielder Micheal Azira is second in MLS with 69 interceptions.
• Defender Axel Sjoberg is fifth in MLS with 90 clearances and tied for sixth with 40 aerial duels won.
• Forward Shkelzen Gashi leads the Rapids with 44 shtos and 31 chances created (14th most in MLS).

Sporting Kansas City

• 2016 MLS record: 8-9-4, 28 points (5th in West)
• 2016 MLS road record: 2-5-3 (7 GF, 10 GA)
• Last five games: 3-1-1, 10 points (W-T-W-W-L)
• SKC is winless in eight straight MLS road games (0-5-3) after winning their first two of the season. The club's last road victory came on April 9 at the New York Red Bulls.
• SKC is 3-1-1 since June 19 after going just 1-7-3 from April 13 to June 2.
• SKC leads MLS in shots per game (14.6) while also facing the fewest shots per game (9.0).
• SKC leads MLS with 10.4 chances created per game and has scored 10 goals in its last five matches, having scored just seven in their previous 11.
• Midfielder Benny Feilhaber has four goals and three assists in his last six matches across all competitions.
• Midfielder Roger Espinoza is second in MLS in duels won (137), sixth in tackles (45) and eighth in successful passes (732).
• Since May 20, defender Jimmy Medranda leads MLS with 36 interceptions and 33 tackles.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Roger Espinoza is one shy of his 150th regular season appearance for Sporting KC, which would move him into sole possession of 10th place in club history.
• Graham Zusi is one shy of his 150th start for Sporting KC in the MLS regular season.
• Benny Feilhaber is one shy of his 150th MLS start (including playoffs).
• Lawrence Olum is one shy of his 100th appearance for Sporting KC in all competitions.
• Jacob Peterson is one shy of his 100th career substitute appearance in the MLS regular season. He would be the fifth MLS player to reach the century mark in regular season substitute appearances.
• Tim Melia is one shy of his 50th appearance for Sporting KC in all competitions.

Team stats (2016 regular season)

MLS rank in parenthesis (source: WhoScored.com)

Recent #COLvSKC regular season meetings

• Regular season record vs. Colorado: 23-21-13
• Regular season road record at Colorado: 5-16-8 (36 GF, 48 GA)