Sporting Kansas City plays their penultimate match of the regular season on Saturday night as they face the Philadelphia Union at PPL Park. The match kicks off at 6 p.m. CT (38 The Spot, SKCTV) with the road team winning four of the last five matches in the head-to-head series. The Union were eliminated from playoff contention last week after a 3-2 loss to the Columbus while Sporting KC are battling for positioning in the Eastern Conference standings.
Our By The Numbers preview takes a closer look at the matchup.
Sporting KC
- Tied for the MLS lead with eight road wins.
- Tied for the MLS lead with five road clean sheets.
- Has allowed 18 goals on the road this season, fewest in MLS.
- Has allowed the fewest shots (323) and fewest shots on goal (121) in MLS.
- Leads MLS with 66 chances created from set plays.
- Leads MLS in average possession per game (57.1 %).
- Dom Dwyer is tied for the MLS lead with five multi-goal games.
- Graham Zusi ranks first with 68 successful crosses/corners and second with 121 corner kicks.
- Aurelien Collin ranks fourth with 98 aerial duels won and fourth among MLS defenders with 176 normal duels won.
- Benny Feilhaber ranks third with 73 fouls suffered and is fifth among MLS midfielders with 191 duels won.
- Igor Juliao leads MLS defenders with 39 dribbles completed and 52 fouls suffered.
- Lawrence Olum ranks second among MLS midfielders with 59 aerial duels won.
Philadelphia Union
- Has the second-fewest home wins in MLS (five).
- Has allowed the third most goals (25) at home in MLS.
- Leads the Eastern Conference with seven penalty kick goals.
- Leads MLS with 200 corner kicks taken.
- Ranks third with 54 chances created from set play.
- Leads the Eastern Conference with 15.3 tackles won per game.
- Has the fewest yellow cards (35) of any team in MLS.
- Sebastien Le Toux has a team-high 12 goals and ranks fourth in MLS in shot conversion rate (30.8 %).
- Ray Gaddis ranks fourth with 83 tackles won.
- Maurice Edu is first among MLS midfielders with 18 blocks and sixth among MLS midfielders with 59 interceptions.
Head-to-head (MLS regular season)
Overall: 4-3-4 (7 GF, 6 GA)
- Home games: 2-2-2 (7 GF, 6 GA)
- Away games: 2-1-2 (6 GF, 7 GA)
Team leaders (MLS regular season)
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<strong>Statistic</strong> |
<b>Philadelphia Union</b> |
Dom Dwyer 21 |
<strong>GOALS</strong> |
Sebastien Le Toux 12 |
Graham Zusi 8 |
<strong>ASSISTS</strong> |
Cristian Maidana 9 |
Dom Dwyer 107<br>
Dom Dwyer 46 |
<strong>SHOTS<br>
(ON GOAL)</strong> |
Vincent Nogueira 58<br>
Andrew Wenger 55 |
Dom Dwyer 60<br>
Benny Feilhaber 73 |
<strong>FOULS<br>
(SUFFERED)</strong> |
Maurice Edu 46<br>
Vincent Nogueira 42 |
Eric Kronberg 46<br>
Andy Gruenebaum 34 |
<strong>SAVES</strong> |
Zac MacMath 74 |
Eric Kronberg 1.00<br>
Andy Gruenebaum 1.14 |
<strong>GAA</strong> |
Zac MacMath 1.56 |
Team stats (MLS regular season)
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<b>Philadelphia Union</b> |
|
Goals Scored (Conceded) |
47 (37) |
48 (48) |
Shots (on goal) |
447 (157) |
443 (140) |
Chances Created per game |
9.8 |
9.9 |
Crosses/Corners per game |
19.1 |
24.1 |
Fouls Committed per game |
14.9 |
12.1 |
Fouls Suffered per game |
14.6 |
12.3 |
Duel Success |
49.51% |
49.45% |
Passes per game |
433 |
388 |
Passing Accuracy |
79.96% |
77.06% |
Average Possession |
57.11% |
47.98% |
Recent regular season meetings
<u>Date</u> |
<u>Score</u> |
<u>Result</u> |
<u>Location</u> |
03/02/2013 |
3-1 |
W |
PPL Park |
09/27/2013 |
1-0 |
L |
Sporting Park |
10/26/2013 |
2-1 |
W |
PPL Park |
05/14/2014 |
2-1 |
L |
Sporting Park |
08/01/2014 |
1-1 |
D |
Sporting Park |
