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A pair of MLS charter members will go head-to-head Saturday when Sporting Kansas City visits D.C. United to kick off the 2017 regular season. The match is set for 6 p.m. CT at historic RFK Stadium, with three hours of live television coverage beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT on FOX Sports Kansas City and Fox Sports Midwest. Listeners can also follow the action live on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish).
Sporting Kansas City and D.C. United have a remarkably frequent history of squaring off in season openers, having done so seven previous times. We take a statistical look at the interconference matchup in our By The Numbers preview.
Head-to-head
- The sides last met on May 27, 2016 at Children's Mercy Park. Alhaji Kamara scored just 33 seconds into his MLS debut, beating goalkeeper Tim Melia in the 86th minute to give D.C. the 1-0 road win.
- Sporting KC has faced D.C. seven times in its MLS season opener, more than any other opponent. SKC has won each of the last five such meetings (2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012), two of which were at RFK Stadium (2007 and 2012).
- Sporting KC has just one loss in its last six visits to RFK Stadium since 2011 (2-1-3). SKC has conceded just three goals during that six-game stretch.
- Sporting KC was unbeaten in seven straight meetings against D.C. from 2011-2013 (6-0-1), but has gone winless in the last five (0-3-2) with just one goal during that stretch.
- In 10 of the last 12 meetings, neither team has scored more than one goal.
- D.C. has a narrow 21-20-12 advantage in the all-time regular season series.
D.C. United
- 2016 MLS record: 11-10-13, 46 points (4th in West)
- 2016 MLS home record: 9-4-4 (35 GF, 18 GA)
- 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs: Lost 4-2 vs. Montreal in Knockout Round
- D.C. ranked second in MLS with 35 home goals in 2016 (2.06 per game). Their plus-17 goal difference at RFK Stadium was the third best home goal differential in the league.
- D.C. scored 20 goals in its first 21 regular season matches through last July (0.95 per game). From August to October, D.C. exploded for 33 goals in its final 13 matches (2.54 per game).
- D.C. finished the 2016 season with a 6-2-6 record, including a 5-0-3 home mark with 23 goals at RFK Stadium (2.88 per game).
- D.C. acquired forward Patrick Mullins last July and went 6-1-5 in games he started. Mullins scored eight goals from July 31 until the end of the regular season, fourth most in MLS during that time.
- Midfielder Luciano Acosta led D.C. with 11 assists and 48 chances created.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2016 MLS record: 13-13-8, 47 points (6th in West)
- 2016 MLS away record: 3-9-5 (12 GF, 22 GA)
- 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs: Lost 1-0 at Seattle in Knockout Round
- SKC leads all MLS teams with 13 season-opening wins, going 13-5-3 all-time in Week 1.
- SKC led MLS in 2016 with 14.1 shots per game while facing a league-low 9.5 shots per game.
- SKC conceded 1.29 goals per road game in 2016, second fewest in MLS.
- SKC scored 12 road goals in 2016, their fewest since 2010 and the third fewest in club history.
- In 2016, midfielder Benny Feilhaber became the second player to hit double digit assists in multiple regular seasons with 13. Feilhaber's 28 regular season assists since 2015 are second in MLS behind Sacha Kljestan.
- Forward Dom Dwyer led SKC with 16 goals in 2016, becoming the first player in team history to score at least 12 goals in three straight regular seasons. His 50 league goals are second most in MLS behind Bradley Wright-Phillips.
- Midfielder Roger Espinoza led Sporting KC in 2016 with 35 chances created from open play.
Milestones and Miscellany
- SKC reached the MLS Cup Playoffs for a club-record sixth straight season in 2016.
- SKC notched its sixth straight 13-win season in 2016, becoming just the third club in MLS history to accomplish the feat (LA, SEA).
Team stats (2016 regular season)
MLS rank in parenthesis (source: Opta)
<strong>Category (per game)</strong> |
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<strong>D.C. United</strong> |
Goals scored |
1.24 (17th) |
1.56 (5th) |
Goals conceded |
1.21 (6th) |
1.38 (11th) |
Shots |
14.1 (1st) |
13.9 (4th) |
Shots on goal |
4.3 (15th) |
4.8 (8th) |
Passing accuracy |
78.2 (7th) |
72.6 (20th) |
Possession |
54.9 (2nd) |
46.5 (17th) |
Duels won |
47.8 (8th) |
53.3 (2nd) |
Tackles won |
14.0 (3rd) |
13.9 (4th) |
Interceptions |
19.3 (6th) |
18.6 (7th) |
Fouls committed |
12.4 (11th) |
14.9 (1st) |
Shots faced |
9.5 (1st) |
13.3 (13th) |
Recent #DCvSKC regular season meetings
- Regular season record vs. DC: 20-21-12 (74 GF, 68 GA)
- Regular season road record at DC: 6-13-7 (27 GF, 36 GA)
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Result</strong> |
<strong>H/A</strong> |
<strong>Details</strong> |
05/31/2014 |
L 0-1 |
A |
Fabian Espindola scores 28th-minute winner |
08/23/2014 |
L 0-3 |
H |
Espindola, Chris Rolfe and Perry Kitchen score in first half |
10/03/2014 |
T 0-0 |
A |
Andy Gruenebaum makes seven saves for SKC |
05/09/2015 |
T 1-1 |
A |
Roger Espinoza assists Dom Dwyer's equalizer |
04/24/2016 |
L 0-1 |
A |
Alhaji Kamara scores 86th-minute winner |
