Countdown to Cup: Can Sporting KC capitalize on extra day of rest?

Sporting Kansas City will look to write another glorious chapter in club history on Wednesday when the New York Red Bulls visit Children’s Mercy Park for the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final, slated for 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
In our 21-day Countdown to Cup, SportingKC.com is highlighting the most relevant storylines, historical narratives and statistical trends surrounding the Open Cup Final, U.S. Soccer’s National Championship.

A quick look at this weekend's MLS schedule raises one particular talking point about the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on Wednesday.

Sporting Kansas City hosts the New England Revolution at 7:30 p.m. CT Saturday and will have three full days of rest before welcoming the Red Bulls to Children's Mercy Park.

New York, on the other hand, doesn't play until Sunday — a noon kickoff against the Philadelphia Union at Red Bull Arena — and will have just two full days of rest, plus a flight to Kansas City, ahead of Wednesday's championship bout.

Consequently, it appears that the MLS fixture list has created an advantage for Sporting Kansas City. But a simple analysis of previous Open Cup Finals would suggest something different.

• Since 2003 — the first year the Open Cup Final was consistently played before the end of the MLS regular season — the tournament winner has averaged 2.64 full days of rest before the final, while the runner-up has averaged 2.57 full days of rest.
• During the same time period, seven Open Cup finals have featured a matchup in which one team had an extra day of rest on its opponent. Those clubs with the extra day of rest posted a 4-3 record in the final.

So what do these numbers mean? 

While Sporting Kansas City will gladly welcome an extra rest day, the difference between 48 and 72 hours of recovery may not be as crucial as one would think — unless certain players are facing late fitness tests to be ready for the match.

A much more pronounced advantage, as examined on day seven of our Countdown to Cup, is home-field advantage: the home team has won 13 of 20 Open Cup finals since 1995.

Manager Peter Vermes' men have been on both sides of the coin in this specific scenario. Ahead of the 2015 U.S. Open Cup Final, Sporting KC had just two days' rest between a Sunday home game against Seattle Sounders FC and Wednesday's championship in Philadelphia. The Union, meanwhile, played the previous Saturday and had an extra 24 hours to prepare for the final on their home turf.

In 2012, Sporting KC rested three days before hosting Seattle in the final. The Sounders had just two days' rest following a home game.

Sporting Kansas City, of course, won both finals on penalty kicks.

U.S. OPEN CUP FINALS: 2003 - PRESENT
(Full rest days leading up to final in parenthesis)