A marquee Western Conference showdown beckons as third-place Sporting Kansas City (5-2-6, 21 pts.) hosts first-place Seattle Sounders FC (8-3-2, 26 pts.) at 7:30 p.m. CT Saturday at Sporting Park. The match will air live locally on KMCI 38 The Spot and across the Midwest on SKCTV, with additional broadcasts on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Sporting KC and Seattle meet for the second time in 14 days after playing to a scoreless draw on May 23. The Sounders have held a distinct edge in the regular season series (7-1-2), including a perfect 4-0-0 record in Kansas City where they have come away with four consecutive one-goal wins. Peter Vermes' men are scoreless in 352 regular season minues against Sigi Schmid's side dating back to 2012 but enter Sunday as the top-scoring club in MLS with 21 goals, bagging four in each of their last two home games. We take a closer look at the matchup in our By The Numbers preview...
Head-to-head
- In the regular season, Sporting KC has suffered four straight one-goal losses at home to Seattle.
- Sporting KC is 1-7-2 all-time against Seattle in the regular season with the lone victory coming in the teams' first meeting on April 11, 2009, at CenturyLink Field.
- Sporting KC's nine-game regular season winless run against Seattle is the longest versus any team in club history.
- In eight meetings since 2010, Seattle has scored five game-winning goals in second half stoppage time.
- Neither team has won by more than one goal in all 10 regular season meetings. In those 10 games, the clubs have combined for more than three goals just once (10/17/09).
- Eight of Seattle's 12 goals scored against Sporting KC have come after the 75th minute.
- Jacob Peterson is the only player on Sporting KC's current roster to score an MLS goal against Seattle. He scored in the eighth minute of a 1-1 draw on June 20, 2012—the last time Seattle conceded a goal to Kansas City.
Sporting KC
- SKC is riding a six-game unbeaten streak and has lost fewer games (two) than any team in MLS.
- SKC leads MLS in goals (21) and assists (26).
- Sporting KC has three of the 10 four-goal games in MLS this season. No other team has scored four goals more than once.
- SKC leads the Western Conference with 10.9 chances created per game.
- SKC leads MLS with eight assists from set plays, 37 chances created from set plays (nine more than any other team) and eight headed goals.
- SKC has conceded 9.5 shots per game and 3.2 shots on goal per game, both the fewest in MLS.
- SKC is the only MLS team to have three players with four or more goals (Krisztian Nemeth 6, Dom Dwyer 4, Benny Feilhaber 4).
- Benny Feilhaber leads MLS with seven assists and ranks fourth with 33 chances created.
- Jalil Anibaba is tied for the lead among MLS defenders wth four assists.
- Tim Melia has an unbeaten 3-0-2 record through his first five starts, including three clean sheets and a 0.60 goals against average.
Seattle Sounders FC
- Seattle leads MLS with a plus-10 goal differential (20-10)
- Despite ranking 18th in MLS in shots per game (10.5) and 16th in chances created per game (7.9), Seattle boasts the league's second-best scoring offense with 20 goals.
- Seattle has outscored opponents 8-1 after the 60th minute.
- Despite facing the most shots per game (14.9) in MLS, Seattle has conceded a league-low 10 goals and owns a league-best seven shutouts.
- Seattle leads MLS in passes per game (503) and successful passes per game (404), while ranking second in average possession (54.9%).
- Seattle is tied for the MLS lead with three road wins (3-2-1 record) and leads the league with a plus-4 road goal differential (10-6).
- Clint Dempsey ranks third in MLS in both goals (7) and assists (6).
- Stefan Frei boasts an MLS-best 0.77 goals against average among keepers with 500 minutes played. He also leads the league in saves (52) and save percentage (83.9).
Milestones and miscellany
- Graham Zusi is one shy of his 125th career regular season start for Sporting KC. If he plays 53 minutes on Saturday, he will pass Jimmy Nielsen for 12th place on the club's regular season minutes chart (currently at 11,445).
- Tim Melia is one game shy of becoming the first goalkeeper in Kansas City history to go unbeaten in his first six starts. He is currently tied with Andy Gruenebaum for a club-record five.
Team stats (2015 regular season)
MLS rank in parenthesis (stats as of June 4, 2015)
<strong>Category (per game)</strong> |
<strong>Sporting KC</strong> |
<b>Sounders FC</b> |
Goals scored |
1.62 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
1.54 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(3</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">rd)</span> |
Goals conceded |
1.15 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(t-</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">8</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
0.77 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
Shots |
12.9 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">8</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">t</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">h)</span> |
10.5 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">8</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Shots on goal |
3.8 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(t-15t</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">h)</span> |
4.8 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(6th</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
Shooting accuracy |
29.2% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(19</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
45.3% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
Assists |
2.00 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
1.46 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(4th)</span> |
Chances created |
10.9 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(4th)</span> |
7.9 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(16th)</span> |
Crosses/corners |
18.2 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(15</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">t</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">h</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">)</span> |
18.3 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(14th)</span> |
Fouls committed |
12.4 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(15</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
11.7 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">8</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Fouls suffered |
11.6 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(16th)</span> |
12.8 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(6th)</span> |
Passes per game |
385 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(13th)</span> |
503 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
Passing accuracy |
75.4% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(15th)</span> |
80.4% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(3rd)</span> |
Possession |
49.6% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(11</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
54.9% <span style="font-size: 10px;">(2nd)</span> |
Tackles won |
18.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(3</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">rd)</span> |
17.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(t-7th)</span> |
Duels won |
59.1 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(2nd)</span> |
53.5 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">8</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
Interceptions |
24.6 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
13.9 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(20th)</span> |
Shots faced |
9.5 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(1st)</span> |
14.9 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(20th)</span> |
Saves |
2.1 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(20</span><span style="font-size: 10px;">th)</span> |
4.0 <span style="font-size: 10px;">(3rd)</span> |
Recent #SKCvSEA meetings
- All-time regular season record vs. Seattle: 1-7-2
- Regular season record at Sporting Park: 0-4-0 (4 GF, 8 GA)
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Score</strong> |
<strong>Result</strong> |
<strong>Location</strong> |
5/21/11 |
0-1 |
L |
CenturyLink Field |
8/6/11 |
1-2 |
L |
Sporting Park |
6/20/12 |
1-1 |
T |
CenturyLink Field |
8/8/12 |
1-1<br><span style="font-size: 10px;">(3-2)</span> |
T<br><span style="font-size: 10px;">(SOW)</span> |
Sporting Park<br><span style="font-size: 10px;">2012 U.S. Open Cup Final</span> |
5/8/13 |
0-1 |
L |
Sporting Park |
3/8/14 |
0-1 |
L |
CenturyLink Field |
5/23/15 |
0-0 |
T |
CenturyLink Field |
