Sporting Kansas City kicks off the 2014 Major League Soccer regular season on Saturday as they travel to face Western Conference side Seattle. The two teams have been very successful in the last five seasons with a combined five trophies (four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups and one MLS Cup). Saturday marks the ninth meeting between the two sides in MLS play.
The series has been in Seattle's favor with six wins in eight matches. Sporting KC's lone victory was the first meeting in April 2009 when an 80th minute Davy Arnaud goal was the difference. Overall, the matchup has produced close and low-scoring matches in which over 50% of the goals scored have been in the 15 minutes of the second half. The most recent meeting at CenturyLink Field was on June 20, 2012 when the teams exchanged first half goals before settling for a 1-1 draw.
Below is a closer look at the two teams in this match's By The Numbers preview.
A few in-depth stats (2013 regular season)
- Sporting KC led all MLS teams with 14 headed goals
- Seattle led MLS with 716 tackles
- Both teams were first and second in interceptions (SKC - 794, SEA - 751) and duels won (SKC - 2032, SEA - 1996)
- Sporting KC created 87 chances from set pieces, the most in MLS
- Seattle had a +14 goal difference and seven clean sheets in 10 home matches
Head To Head (MLS regular season)
Overall: 1-6-1
- Home Matches: 0-4-0 (four goals scored, eight goals conceded)
- Away Matches: 1-2-1 (two goals scored, three goals conceded)
Team Leaders (2013 regular season)
<u>Sporting KC</u> |
<u>Stat</u> |
<u>Seattle Sounders FC</u> |
Claudio Bieler 10 |
<strong>GOALS</strong> |
Eddie Johnson 9 |
Graham Zusi 8 |
<strong>ASSISTS</strong> |
Mauro Rosales 8 |
Claudio Bieler 70 |
<strong>SHOTS</strong> |
Lamar Neagle 61 |
Oriol Rosell 66 |
<strong>FOULS</strong> |
Alonso/Neagle 54 |
Jimmy Nielsen 68 |
<strong>SAVES</strong> |
Michael Gspurning 76 |
Jimmy Nielsen 0.88 |
<strong>GAA</strong> |
Michael Gspurning 1.27 |
Team Stats (2013 regular season)
<u>Sporting KC</u> |
<u>Seattle Sounders FC</u> |
|
Shots (on goal) |
477 (144) |
382 (122) |
Fouls Committed (Suffered) |
482 (416) |
360 (388) |
Duels Success (Avg) |
50.41% |
50.60% |
Passes (Avg) |
406 |
412 |
Passing Accuracy (Avg) |
77.61% |
77.64% |
Possession (Avg) |
55% |
52.01% |
Recent regular season meetings
<u>Date</u> |
<u>Score</u> |
<u>Result</u> |
<u>Location</u> |
05/21/2011 |
1-0 |
L |
CenturyLink Field |
08/06/2011 |
2-1 |
L |
Sporting Park |
06/20/2012 |
1-1 |
T |
CenturyLink Field |
05/08/2013 |
1-0 |
L |
Sporting Park |
