By The Numbers presented by KDOT: #COLvSKC | Aug. 29, 2020

"By The Numbers" is a season-long series presented by the Kansas Department of Transportation that gives a statistical preview of every Sporting match. To visit the series archive, click here.
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3,631  People involved in an alcohol-related crash in 2018 in Kansas.

On the heels of a midweek home loss to the Houston Dynamo, Western Conference leaders Sporting Kansas City (5-2-0, 15 points) will aim to bounce back Saturday when the club visits fellow MLS original Colorado Rapids (2-3-1, 7 points) at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. CT with live coverage on FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports GO, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.

Saturday's showdown will serve as the rematch of a wild encounter between the sides in the MLS is Back Tournament group stage on July 17, which saw Sporting prevail in a 3-2 thriller. Manager Peter Vermes' men have maintained an impressive scoring clip since then, leading the league with 17 goals, while the Rapids are currently mired in a four-game winless drought since opening the campaign with consecutive wins.

As both teams prepare for the 80th all-time meeting in the series, we take a statistical look at Saturday's showdown in our newest edition of By The Numbers, presented by the Kansas Department of Transportation.

Head-to-Head

• Sporting and Colorado have squared off 79 times in all competitions, making the Rapids the most frequent opponent in Kansas City history.
• Sporting holds a narrow advantage with 32 wins, 29 losses and 18 ties, including a 26-24-15 record in the regular season. 
• Sporting went 6-0-5 against Colorado from 2009-2015, but the Rapids have gone 7-3-2 in the series since August 2015.
• Sporting has a 5-18-10 regular season road record in the series, winning just three times at Colorado this millennium (2000, 2004, 2014).
• Sporting are 0-4-2 in their last six visits to Dick's Sporting Goods Park since 2015.
• The sides most recently met in the MLS is Back Tournament group stage on July 17, when Khiry Shelton, Alan Pulido and Graham Zusi scored second-half goals in Sporting's 3-2 victory. Kellyn Acosta and Jonathan Lewis scored for Colorado in their losing effort.
• Defender Graham Zusi has four goals and four assists against Colorado in his MLS career (including playoffs).

Colorado Rapids

• MLS record:2-3-1, 7 points (8th in Western Conference)
• MLS home record: 1-1-0 (3 GF, 5 GA)
• Last five regular season matches: 1-3-1 (W-L-L-T-L)
• Last Match: Lost 4-1 vs. Real Salt Lake on Saturday, Aug. 22
• After opening the season 2-0-0 for the first time since 2012, Colorado has gone 0-3-1 and conceded 11 goals in its last four matches.
• Colorado's 2.17 goals conceded per match are the most in MLS.
• Colorado has allowed six goals after the 75th minute this season, tied for the most in MLS.
• Colorado has two losses this season when allowing the first goal, tied for the most in MLS. The Rapids are also 0-2-0 when leading at halftime.
• Forward Jonathan Lewis has a team-high three goals this season despite starting just one of his six appearances.
• Former Sporting forwards Kei Kamara and Diego Rubio combined for 25 regular season goals last year but have combined for just two in 2020.
• Midfielder Younes Namli leads Colorado with 10 chances created and ranks 10th in MLS with 45 duels won.
• Defender Lalas Abubakar ranks fifth in MLS with 34 interceptions.

Sporting Kansas City

• MLS record:5-2-0, 15 points (1st in Western Conference)
• MLS away record: 2-0-0 (5 GF, 2 GA)
• Last five regular season matches: 3-2-0 (L-W-W-W-L)
• Last Match: Lost 5-2 vs. Houston Dynamo on Tuesday, Aug. 25
• Sporting leads MLS with 17 goals scored and ranks second with 2.43 goals per game.
• Sporting has won two straight true road matches (Feb. 29 at Vancouver and Aug. 21 at Minnesota). Sporting hasn't claimed three straight away wins in the regular season since July 2014.
• Eight different Sporting players have scored a goal this season, the most in MLS.
• Sporting leads MLS in shot conversion rate (17.9%) and ranks third in shooting accuracy (56.3%).
• Sporting conceded five goals in Tuesday's loss to the Houston Dynamo, tied for the second-most in a home game in club regular season history.
• Forward Alan Pulido is tied for third in MLS with seven combined goals (three) and assists (four). His four assists are tied for second in MLS.
• Midfielder Gadi Kinda has scored in each of his last four regular season appearances outside of the MLS is Back Tournament.
• Pulido and Kinda are two of eight MLS players with at least three goals and two assists this season.
• Defender Graham Zusi is the only Sporting player to feature in all 630 minutes of the regular season.
• Tuesday against Houston, Sporting fielded five Homegrown Players in a competitive match for the first time ever as Gianluca Busio, Cameron Duke, Felipe Hernandez, Jaylin Lindsey and Daniel Salloi took the field.

Milestones and Miscellany

• Defender Matt Besler is one shy of his 300th career MLS start for Sporting (including playoffs).
• Midfielder Ilie Sanchez is one shy of his 100th career regular season start for Sporting.

Recent #COLvSKC meetings

• Regular season record vs. Colorado: 26-24-15
• All-competitions record vs. Colorado: 32-29-18

Team Stats (2020 regular season)

(Per Opta; MLS rank in parenthesis)