By The Numbers: Sporting KC at D.C. United - May 9, 2015

A trip to the nation's capital beckons as Sporting Kansas City faces D.C. United at 6 p.m. CT Saturday at RFK Stadium. The match will be televised locally on KMCI 38 The Spot and across the Midwest on SKCTV with three hours of on-site coverage beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT. Fans can also catch the action on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and La Grande 1340 AM (Spanish).

Sporting KC (3-2-4, 13 points) has three wins over Eastern Conference foes this year and will look for a fourth against the division's first place team. Peter Vermes' side went 6-0-1 against D.C. United from 2011-2013, including two victories at RFK Stadium, but failed to win any of three meetings between the clubs in 2014.

Last year's first place finisher in the East, D.C. United (5-1-2, 17 points) is off to their best eight-game start in club history. The success of Ben Olsen's team revolves around stout defending—especially at home, where the team is unbeaten in 16 straight games across all competitions with nine clean sheets. We examine the matchup in our By The Numbers preview...

Head-to-head

• Sporting KC and D.C. United meet Saturday for the 52nd time in the regular season with the series tied 20-20-11.
• Despite holding a 6-13-6 all-time record at RFK Stadium, Sporting KC has just one loss in their last five trips to the venue since 2011 (2-1-2 record).
• Sporting KC has recorded three shutouts and allowed just two goals in their last five games at D.C. United.
• D.C. United recorded a shutout in all three matches against Sporting KC last year (2-0-1 record with four goals scored).
• Neither team has scored more than one goal in each of the last five meetings at RFK Stadium.
• Graham Zusi has one goal and four assists in 11 regular season matches against D.C.
• Matt Besler's last MLS goal came at RFK Stadium in a 1-0 win on Oct. 22, 2011.
• Fabian Espindola has scored five goals in 13 regular season matches against Sporting KC, including two game-winners in 2014 (May 31 and Oct. 3).
• Jairo Arrieta has scored three goals in seven regular season matches against Sporting KC, all as a member of Columbus.
• Bill Hamid has a 0.80 goals against average and 38 saves in 10 regular season matches against Sporting KC (3-5-2 record).

Sporting KC

• Has a 3-0-1 record against Eastern Conference teams this season.
• Leads MLS with 30 road wins since the beginning of 2011.
• Is one of two MLS teams (Seattle Sounders FC) with a winning road record since the beginning of 2011 (30-28-18).
• Is tied for 1st in MLS with six goals scored after the 60th minute.
• Has conceded the 2nd fewest shots in MLS (10.1 per game).
• Ranks 3rd in MLS with 10.8 chances created per game and 1.44 assists per game.
• Leads MLS with 28 chances created from set pieces and five assists from set pieces.
• Ranks 2nd-to-last in MLS in shooting accuracy (33.3%).
• Benny Feilhaber is tied for 1st in MLS with five assists and ranks 5th with 22 chances created.
• All three of Krisztian Nemeth's shots on target this season have resulted in goals.

D.C. United

• Is unbeaten in 16 straight homes games across all competitions (12 regular season, 1 postseason, 3 CCL) dating back to July 2014.
• Is off to the best eight-game start in club history with 17 points.
• Has recorded three shutouts in five home games this season (3-0-2 record).
• Has not lost since March 22, an unbeaten streak of six games.
• Despite allowing the most shots per game in MLS (15.9), D.C. United leads the league with just 0.75 goals conceded per match.
• Ranks 2nd in MLS in shooting accuracy (52.7%).
• Among goalkeepers with at least three appearances this season, Bill Hamid leads MLS with 4.2 saves per game, a 0.67 goals against average, and save percentage of 83.33%. He is tied for second with four clean sheets.
• Davy Arnaud and Chris Rolfe are two of eight MLS players with multiple game-winning assists (two each).
• Jairo Arrieta leads MLS with 14 offsides.

Milestones and miscellany

• Manager Peter Vermes’ 79 regular season wins are 12th most in MLS history. With a win Saturday, he will move into a tie for 11th with Octavio Zambrano.
• Dom Dwyer's 30 goals in all competitions are tied for 9th in KC history, one behind Digital Takawira (1996-99) and two behind Mo Johnston (1996-2001).
• Benny Feilhaber is tied with Kei Kamara for 10th in KC history with 21 assists in all competitions, one behind Jack Jewsbury (2003-10) in 9th.
• Seth Sinovic is 14 minutes shy of passing Josh Wolff for 14th place on the club’s all-time chart with 12,877 minutes played in all competitions.
• D.C. midfielder Davy Arnaud played for Kansas City from 2002-2011. His 240 appearances for the club rank 1st in KC regular season history, while his 43 goals and 35 assists rank 2nd and 4th, respectively.

Team stats (2015 regular season)

MLS rank in parenthesis (stats as of May 7, 2015)

Recent MLS meetings

• KC all-time MLS record vs. D.C. United: 20-20-11
• KC all-time at D.C. United: 6-13-6 (26 GF, 35 GA)