Preview: Sporting KC and Colorado Rapids square off Sunday at Children's Mercy Park

A pair of MLS originals square off Sunday at Children’s Mercy Park when unbeaten Sporting Kansas City (1-0-3, 6 points) hosts the Colorado Rapids (1-1-1, 4 points) in a nationally televised battle on FS1 and FOX Deportes. The match will kick off at 6 p.m. CT and tickets are available at SeatGeek.com, including a limited-time Family 4 Pack consisting of four game tickets, four hot dogs, four Coca-Cola products and four bags of chips for $125.

Listeners can follow Sunday’s action live on Sports Radio 810 WHB, ESPN 99.3 FM and La Grande 1340 AM, while mobile users can watch on FOX Sports GO and receive live updates through Sporting KC Uphoria. Supporters are encouraged to stop by the Sporting Plaza on the west side of the stadium before kickoff to sign the last steel beam to be installed at the nearby National Training and Coaching Development Center later this month.

One of three MLS clubs yet to lose in 2017, Sporting Kansas City enters the weekend with just one goal conceded through four games. A high-pressure approach coupled with continuity has resulted in the league’s stingiest defense, as goalkeeper Tim Melia, holding midfielder Ilie and defenders Matt Besler, Ike Opara, Graham Zusi and Seth Sinovic have started all four matches together. Melia, who leads MLS with three shutouts and ranks second in save percentage at 86.7, has allowed a single goal in his last six league appearances dating back to 2016.

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A week removed from a hard-earned 0-0 draw at Toronto FC, Sporting Kansas City hopes to rewrite the record books on Sunday by extending their home unbeaten streak to 12 regular season matches. Manager Peter Vermes’ men are 8-0-3 at home since last June, and a win or draw against Colorado would see his side equal the all-time club record set in 2015. World-class Children’s Mercy Park is poised to welcome its 90th consecutive sellout crowd in MLS competition, a run that began five years ago today.

Colorado sits seventh in the Western Conference table, two spots below Sporting Kansas City but with a game in hand on most of its conference rivals. Due to an international break followed by a rearranged fixture with FC Dallas, the Rapids haven’t played since March 18 — a 2-2 home draw against expansion outfit Minnesota United FC. Dominique Badji opened the scoring on 17 minutes with his team-leading second goal of the campaign, but Minnesota struck twice shortly after the interval to prompt a 59th-minute equalizer from Marlon Hairston.

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Guided by 2016 MLS Coach of the Year finalist Pablo Mastroeni, the Rapids are coming off a fantastic season highlighted by a second-place finish in the West. Colorado used an opportunistic attack and a resolute backline — no team allowed fewer goals in 2016 than the Rapids’ 32 — to come within three points of winning the Supporters’ Shield.

Two veterans who regularly started for Colorado in 2016 were traded to Minnesota last Friday, as midfielder/captain Sam Cronin and left back Marc Burch joined the Loons in exchange for midfielder Mohammed Saeid, winger Josh Gatt and an international roster spot. Sunday will be Rapids’ first test without Cronin and Burch, who were valuable contributors to the team’s defensive success.

Sporting Kansas City has dropped five straight regular season meetings to the Rapids since 2015, tied for the second-longest losing streak to a single opponent in club history. Colorado swept the 2016 series with three one-goal victories, scoring the game-winner after the 75th minute on each occasion. The current five-game draught comes after Sporting KC went 11 MLS matches unbeaten against Colorado (6-0-5) from 2009-2015, including two playoff wins in 2011.

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Dom Dwyer was the lone Sporting KC player to score against the Rapids in 2016, doing so in a 2-1 defeat at Children’s Mercy Park last April. The next two meetings at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park — on May 11 and July 16 — were decided by 78th-minute goals from Dillon Serna and Hairston, respectively, giving Colorado successive 1-0 triumphs.

Standout midfielder Benny Feilhaber is questionable for Sunday’s match as he continues to recover from a thigh strain, while long-term absentee Diego Rubio remains sidelined with an ACL tear. 

Colorado, meanwhile, will be without 2016 MLS Best XI selection Axel Sjoberg. The 6-foot-7 center back injured his hamstring in a 1-0 loss at the New York Red Bulls on March 11 and is set to miss another few weeks.