By The Numbers: Sporting KC at New York Red Bulls - Oct. 30, 2014

The eight-month regular season marathon has ended, but there is no rest for the weary as Sporting Kansas City visits the New York Red Bulls Thursday in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round (7 p.m. CT, ESPN2, Sports Radio 810 WHB). The two MLS charter members have squared off 51 times since 1996, but Thursday marks their first ever playoff meeting.

Bradley Wright-Phillips stamped his name on the 2014 regular season series between the clubs, notching four goals in three matches. The defending MLS champions, however, boast plenty of experience as they travel to Red Bull Arena, a venue in which New York has lost four straight playoff games.

Thursday could be the last battle between MLS All-Star Frenchmen Aurelien Collin and Thierry Henry. The latter, at 37 years of age, may retire at the end of the season and will want to end his heralded career on a winning note. Yet, of the two, it's defender Collin who has made a habit of scoring playoff goals—four, compared to Henry's one.

A final storyline worth mentioning is that the first goal in this series has proved particularly decisive. The team that scores first between Sporting KC and New York has not lost since 2007, a run of 18 matches.  Our By The Numbers preview takes a closer look at the matchup. 

Notable Sporting KC stats

• Sporting KC finished tied for the 2014 MLS lead with eight road wins.
• Sporting KC conceded 20 road goals in 2014, the fewest in MLS.
• Sporting KC is 2-12-1 all-time in road playoff games.
• Aurelien Collin has four postseason goals, tied for third most in Sporting KC history. Three came in the 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs.
• Seth Sinovic has two goals in 10 postseason appearances. He has 0 goals in 133 regular season appearances.
• Graham Zusi is Sporting KC's all-time postseason assists leader with five in 10 appearances.
• Five Sporting KC players—Matt Besler, Aurelien Collin, C.J. Sapong, Seth Sinovic and Graham Zusi—have 10 postseason appearances. For New York, Only Jamison Olave (14) and Dax McCarty (11) have more than eight career potseason appearances.

Notable New York stats

• New York ranked second in MLS with 38 home goals in 2014.
• New York's three home clean sheets in 2014 were second fewest in MLS.
• New York is 0-4-0 at Red Bull Arena in the postseason (since 2010).
• New York has not won a home playoff game since October 2005 (0-5-2 since then).
• Bradley Wright-Phillips tied the single-season MLS record with 27 goals—18 came at Red Bull Arena, four game against Sporting KC.
• Lloyd Sam led MLS with 44 successful crosses from open play, 10 more than any other player and most in a single season since Opta began tracking the statistic in 2011.
• Thierry Henry has one goal and two assists in eight postseason appearances.

2014 MLS regular season series breakdown

New York won 2-0-1

2014 head-to-head stats

Playoff History

*2013 MLS Cup counted as tie

Playoff performances & seeding since 2010