“By The Numbers presented by Compass Minerals” is a season-long series that gives a statistical preview of every Sporting match. To visit the series archive, click here.

Sporting Kansas City will host New York City FC at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday as the visitors play at Children’s Mercy Park for the first time since 2018. Tickets are available online at SeatGeek, including the Coca-Cola Family & Friends 4-Pack featuring four Price Chopper South Stand tickets, four 20-ounce Coca-Cola products and four hamburgers for only $100. The cross-conference clash will also be available to watch on Apple TV with an MLS Season Pass subscription.

A late rally last weekend wasn’t enough for Sporting Kansas City to see its three-game unbeaten run end at the hands of Seattle Sounders FC. The schedule gets no easier from here as Kansas City now welcomes an upstart NYCFC side that earned a last-gasp win at Orlando City SC on Wednesday night.​​​​

With Saturday’s battle just around the corner, we take a statistical look at the fixture in our newest edition of By The Numbers presented by Compass Minerals.

  • Sporting and NYCFC are meeting for the first time since playing to a 0-0 draw on May 7, 2022, at Citi Field in Queens, New York.
  • Sporting is hosting NYCFC at Children’s Mercy Park for the first time since falling 2-0 in Week 1 of the 2018 MLS regular season on March 4, 2018. Both teams had one current player feature in that match: forward Daniel Salloi came off the bench for Sporting, while midfielder Maxi Moralez started and scored the opening goal for NYCFC.
  • Sporting has a 2-3-1 regular season record against NYCFC. Kansas City won each of the first two meetings in 2015 and 2016, while NYCFC has claimed three wins and a draw in the last four.
  • Sporting has not beaten NYCFC since prevailing 3-1 at home on July 10, 2016.
  • NYCFC is visiting Children’s Mercy Park for just the third time in the club’s 11-year history, having previously done so in 2016 (lost 3-1) and 2018 (won 2-0).
  • Sporting and NYCFC met once annually from 2015 to 2019 but only once in five seasons from 2020-2024.
  • Sporting forward Dejan Joveljic had one goal and one assist in his only previous appearance against NYCFC, helping the LA Galaxy to a 2-0 home win on June 19, 2024.
  • Sporting forward Mason Toye scored a goal to help CF Montreal to a 2-1 home win over NYCFC on July 7, 2021. It was Montreal’s last home game played in Orlando, Florida, during the 2021 season prior to the team’s return to Canada in the aftermath of Covid.
  • NYCFC midfielder Maxi Moralez scored a goal in his team’s 2-0 road win over Sporting to open the 2018 regular season on March 4, 2018.
  • Sporting defender Khiry Shelton spent his first three seasons with NYCFC from 2015-2017, where he had six goals and 10 assists in 56 MLS appearances (including playoffs).
  • 2025 MLS record: 10-8-4, 34 points (7th in East | 29 GF, 25 GA)
  • 2025 MLS away record: 2-5-4 (10 GF, 15 GA)
  • Last Five MLS Matches: 3-2-0, 9 points (W-L-W-L-W)
  • NYCFC earned a late 2-1 win at Orlando City SC on Wednesday for the team’s second road victory of the season. After falling behind in the 36th minute, the visitors equalized on an 87th-minute own goal and surged ahead on a 91st-minute tally from forward Alonso Martinez.
  • NYCFC occupies seventh place in the Eastern Conference, five points above the playoff line with 12 regular season matches still to play.
  • NYCFC has scored 22 of its 29 goals in the second half this season, a clip of 76%. NYCFC has outscored opponents 22-12 after halftime.
  • NYCFC has scored seven first-half goals this season, the fewest in MLS.
  • NYCFC has scored 12 goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half this season, most in MLS.
  • NYCFC is tied for fifth in MLS with a 1.14 goals against average, conceding 25 goals in 22 matches.
  • NYCFC is the only MLS team with at least five one-goal wins and five one-goal losses this season. Fifteen of the team’s 22 matches have been decided by one goal or fewer.
  • NYCFC is 7-1-0 when scoring first and 3-7-2 when conceding first this season.
  • NYCFC is 4-0-0 when leading at halftime and 2-5-1 when trailing at halftime this season. NYCFC’s two wins when trailing at halftime are tied for the most in MLS.
  • Forward Alonso Martinez is tied for the team lead with nine goals this season and is tied for second in MLS with five game-winning goals, including a 91st-minute strike in NYCFC’s 2-1 road win at Orlando on Wednesday. Martinez has bagged the match-winner in five of the team’s 10 league victories this season.
  • Martinez ranks second in MLS in expected goals per 90 minutes (0.73) and third in total expected goals (12.6).
  • Forward Hannes Wolf is tied for the NYCFC lead with nine goals and has a team-best 13 total goal contributions, adding four assists. Wolff has appeared in 56 consecutive regular season matches since joining NYCFC ahead of the 2024 campaign.
  • Wolf ranks fifth in MLS in both multi-goal games (three) and dribbles into the penalty area (38). He also ranks second in the league in progressive passes received (222).
  • Midfielder Maxi Moralez leads the team with five assists and has started in all 22 MLS matches this season. The 38-year-old Argentine has amassed 34 goals and 85 assists in 223 MLS appearances across nine seasons with NYCFC (including playoffs).
  • Moralez ranks third in MLS in successful passes into the penalty area (51), fifth in successful passes into the final third (157) and sixth in progressive passes (151).
  • Defender Justin Haak joins Moralez as the only two NYCFC players to start in all 22 MLS matches this season. Haak leads the team with 1,930 minutes played, 139 more than Moralez, and ranks second in MLS in blocks (40).

Milestones and Miscellany

  • Sporting is one victory shy of 300 home wins in all competitions in club history.
  • Midfielder Memo Rodriguez is one shy of his 200th MLS regular season appearance.
  • Forward Mason Toye is one shy of his 150th professional club appearance.
  • Midfielder Manu Garcia is one shy of 50 assists in his professional club career.
  • Goalkeeper John Pulskamp is tied for sixth in club history with 15 regular season wins, one shy of passing Mike Ammann on the all-time charts.
  • Midfielder Nemanja Radoja is 34 minutes shy of 5,000 minutes played in MLS competitions (regular season and playoffs combined).