Preview: Sporting back home Wednesday to host high-flying LAFC

Sam Kovzan

Sporting Kansas City vs. Los Angeles Football Club
Wednesday, July 3, 2019 | 7:30 p.m. CT
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
2019 MLS Regular Season | Match 18 of 34

A month-long road swing that covered five cities has come and gone for Sporting Kansas City, who will make their highly anticipated return to Children’s Mercy Park on Wednesday for a battle with MLS Supporters’ Shield leaders Los Angeles Football Club.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT as Sporting (4-6-7, 19 points) look to begin their climb up the Western Conference standings at the expense of first-place LAFC (11-2-4, 37 points).

Tickets for Wednesday’s pivotal clash remain available at SeatGeek.com, and the first 5,000 fans through the stadium gates will receive a free fanny pack courtesy of Mainstreet Credit Union. FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO will provide three hours of live coverage starting at 7 p.m. CT, while Sports Radio 810 WHB and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM will carry local radio broadcasts with The Final Whistle postgame show immediately following on 810 WHB.

In celebration of the Fourth of July, all supporters in attendance are invited to stay at Children’s Mercy Park for a postgame fireworks show that will begin approximately 15 minutes after Sporting and LAFC exit the field. Fans will also have the chance to purchase the new Men’s Americana Top at SportingStyle locations inside the stadium while supplies last.

Led by 11th-year manager Peter Vermes, who will coach his 400th Sporting match in all competitions on Wednesday, Sporting ended a grueling road stretch on Saturday with a 2-0 loss to rivals Real Salt Lake. The result dropped Vermes’ men to 12th place in the West and five points below the playoff line heading into the second half of the regular season. Sporting have progressed to the playoffs every year since 2011—the third-longest active streak in MLS—and the team will view Wednesday as a momentum-building opportunity on home soil.

Seven of Sporting’s next 11 matches will unfold at Children’s Mercy Park, opening the door for a potential summertime surge over the next several weeks. The prolific trio of Felipe Gutierrez, Krisztian Nemeth and Johnny Russell are tied for the team lead with seven MLS goals apiece—marking the first time ever that a Sporting trio has bagged seven goals each before the end of June—but Russell’s status for Wednesday is questionable. The Scottish international is overcoming a hamstring strain and is one of four players deemed day-to-day alongside Botond Barath (chest), Jimmy Medranda (hamstring) and MLS All-Star Graham Zusi (adductor).

On the opposite sideline, LAFC have been sensational since earning a Week 1 win over Sporting on March 3 at Banc of California Stadium. Head coach Bob Bradley’s men are on pace for 74 points, which would set an MLS record for a 34-game regular season. They also lead the league in scoring offense, scoring defense, shots, fewest shots faced and chances created. Perhaps most remarkably, LAFC’s plus-25 goal differential (39 GF, 14 GA) is 15 goals better than any other team in MLS.

LAFC and Mexican international star Carlos Vela is the undeniable MLS MVP front runner. He leads the Golden Boot race with 16 goals and ranks second with 10 assists, having been involved in exactly two-thirds of LAFC’s 39 goals this year. Fellow forward Diego Rossi has eight goals of his own, while indefatigable midfielder Latif Blessing—who plied his trade for Sporting in 2017—places among the MLS leaders in duels won, tackles won and fouls suffered.

As mentioned above, Blessing is set to make his return to the stadium where he scored in Sporting’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship victory over the New York Red Bulls almost two years ago. Meanwhile, Sporting midfielder Benny Feilhaber will face the team he suited up for last season. Feilhaber was a regular starter for LAFC in 2018, helping the side to one of the best expansion campaigns in MLS history.

LAFC are the first MLS opponent Sporting have played twice this season. The Week 1 battle saw Nemeth fire the visitors into an early lead, but LAFC equalized through Rossi just after halftime and bagged a 94th-minute winner courtesy of Adama Diomande.

Sporting swept the 2018 regular season series, prevailing 2-0 on the road behind Gerso Fernandes and Ilie Sanchez goals before claiming a 2-1 home win on Decision Day, which saw strikes from Roger Espinoza and Daniel Salloi overcome a Vela penalty kick.

As strong as LAFC have performed throughout the year, the club will be forced to account for a few notable absences. U.S. international goalkeeper Tyler Miller and center back Walker Zimmerman are currently on Gold Cup duty. Bradley's side will also be four days removed from a 1-0 road loss to the Colorado Rapids. Interestingly enough, LAFC's two losses this season have come against the 10th and 11th-placed teams in the West, with the Colorado setback preceded by a defeat at Vancouver Whitecaps FC in April.

Sam Kovzan -

@skovzan

Preview: Sporting back home Wednesday to host high-flying LAFC

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