"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 travel to face Orlando City SC for the first time in over six years when the clubs square off Saturday in an inter-conference clash at Inter&Co Stadium in Central Florida. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT with live coverage on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV and Sports Radio 810 WHB.
Navigating a daunting stretch of games against Supporters Shield contenders, Sporting will look to build off a positive performance that nevertheless ended in defeat against first-place San Diego FC last weekend. Free-scoring Orlando, meanwhile, is riding high after an emphatic 4-1 win over in-state rival Inter Miami CF and successful progression to the Leagues Cup quarterfinals.
With Saturday's contest just around the corner, we take a statistical look at the fixture in our newest edition of By The Numbers presented by Compass Minerals.
Head-to-Head
- Sporting has a 3-3-2 record in eight all-time meetings against Orlando, including a 0-2-1 record in three visits to Inter&Co Stadium.
- Sporting last visited Inter&Co Stadium on Aug. 14, 2019. A total of 2,194 days will have elapsed between Saturday’s match and Orlando’s 1-0 home win over Sporting just over six years ago.
- Two current Orlando players (defenders Robin Jansson and Kyle Smith) and zero current Sporting players featured in the most recent meeting at Inter&Co Stadium on Aug. 14, 2019.
- Sporting has visited Inter&Co Stadium on three previous occasions, falling 3-1 in September 2015, drawing 2-2 in May 17 and losing 1-0 in August 2019.
- Each of the last three meetings—one each in 2020, 2021 and 2024—have taken place at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City.
- Sporting and Orlando last met on Aug. 24, 2024, at Children’s Mercy Park. Kansas City cruised to a 3-0 home win behind goals from Jake Davis, Daniel Salloi and Remi Walter. Davis also recorded an assist in the match.
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has one goal and one assist in two previous appearances against Orlando.
- Sporting forward Mason Toye has one goal and one assist in 155 regular season minutes against Orlando (four total appearances).
- Sporting goalkeeper John Pulskamp made his Children’s Mercy Park debut with a start in Kansas City’s 1-1 draw against Orlando on April 23, 2021.
- Orlando midfielder Eduard Atuesta has four goal contributions (one goal and three assists) in seven regular season appearances against Sporting, all as a member of LAFC. No other Orlando player has scored or assisted against Kansas City in the MLS regular season.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2025 MLS record: 6-13-6, 24 points (13th in West | 36 GF, 47 GA)
- 2025 MLS away record: 3-7-2 (16 GF, 21 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 1-3-1, 4 points (W-L-T-L-L)
- Sporting in the midst of playing nine straight games against teams currently above the playoff line, facing Colorado and Seattle twice in addition to NYCFC, Vancouver, San Diego, Orlando and Austin between July 4 and Sept. 7.
- In a 2-0 home loss to San Diego last Saturday, Aug. 9, Sporting started in a 4-4-2 formation for the first time under interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin.
- Nine of Sporting’s 11 starters against San Diego were age 26 or younger. Only right back Khiry Shelton (32) and winger Daniel Salloi (29) were older than 26.
- Sporting has a +7 goal differential after the 60th minute during the regular season, the third best mark in MLS behind only San Diego (+13) and Chicago (+8).
- Sporting has scored exactly half of its goals after the 60th minute this season (18 of 36). Sporting’s 18 goals after the 60th minute are third most in MLS behind only San Jose (23) and San Diego (20).
- Sporting has been outscored 36-18 through the 60th minute while outscoring opponents 18-11 after the 60th minute this season.
- Sporting has gained 11 points from losing positions (two wins and five draws) during the regular season, eighth most in MLS.
- Sporting has earned five results in the team’s last nine away matches (3-4-2 record) since the start of April after earning just two results in 18 away matches (1-16-1 record) from April 2024 to March 2025.
- Sporting has received eight goals from substitutes this season, third most in MLS behind San Diego and San Jose with 11 each.
- Sporting has won six penalty kicks this season after winning three penalties during the entire 2024 regular season. Sporting’s five penalty kick goals this season are fifth most in MLS.
- Forward Dejan Joveljic is tied for ninth in MLS with a team-leading 13 goals this season.
- Joveljic recorded a goal contribution in eight consecutive MLS appearances from May 14 to July 12, the third longest streak of any MLS player this season and tied for the second longest streak in club history.
- Joveljic has 34 MLS goals (including playoffs) since the start of 2024, second most in the league behind Lionel Messi.
- Joveljic’s 13 goals are tied for the second most by a Kansas City newcomer in a single regular season. Preki had 18 goals in the club’s inaugural 1996 campaign.
- Goalkeeper John Pulskamp is tied for third in MLS with 86 saves.
- Pulskamp has two assists during the 2025 regular season. He is the first goalkeeper in club history with multiple assists in a single MLS campaign and joins Tony Meola as the only goalkeepers with multiple regular season assists for Kansas City all-time.
- Pulskamp is the only Sporting player to start in all 25 MLS matches and in all 27 matches this season across all competitions.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has recorded six goals and four assists this season, hitting double-digit goal contributions for the fourth time in the last five MLS seasons since 2021.
- Salloi has 10 goal contributions this season, third most on the team behind Dejan Joveljic and Manu Garcia, after totaling seven goal contributions during the 2024 MLS campaign (two goals and five assists).
- Salloi ranks second on the team in both goals (six) and assists (four).
- Forward Santiago Munoz has three goals and one assist this season, all of which have come as a second-half substitute.
- Forward Shapi Suleymanov is tied for second on the team with four assists. He ranks sixth in MLS in both fouls suffered (48) and dribbles into the penalty area (40).
- At 19 years and 313 days (as of Aug. 16), midfielder Jacob Bartlett is the youngest player to start at least 20 MLS matches this season.
- Defender Jansen Miller has played the most regular season minutes (1,935) of any 2025 MLS SuperDraft selection this year. He has played every minute in each of Sporting’s last 21 games since March 22.
- Three Sporting players are one yellow card away from serving a one-game suspension for caution accumulation: midfielders Zorhan Bassong, Jake Davis and Manu Garcia.
Orlando City SC
- 2025 MLS record: 12-6-8, 44 points (4th in East | 50 GF, 34 GA)
- 2025 MLS home record: 6-4-3 (28 GF, 20 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 3-1-1, 10 points (T-L-W-W-W)
- Orlando is tied for the MLS lead in goals scored (50) while ranking second in goals per game (1.92) and seventh in expected goals per game (1.89).
- Orlando leads MLS in both expected assists per game (1.41) and crossing accuracy from open play (32.3%) while ranking fifth in touches in the penalty area per game (25.0).
- Orlando leads MLS in shots per game (15.8) and shots inside the box per game (10.3) while ranking fourth in shots on target per game (5.7).
- Orlando has scored 10 goals from set pieces excluding penalty kicks, tied for fourth most in MLS.
- Orlando has more away points (23) than home points (21) this season. The Lions are 6-4-3 at home and 6-2-5 on the road.
- Orlando’s 6-2-5 road record is tied for the second best in MLS.
- Orlando’s +16 goal differential (50 scored and 34 conceded) is third best in MLS.
- Since July 19, Orlando has won three straight MLS matches and has a 5-0-1 record in all competitions. The Lions have outscored their opponents 18-6 during that six-game stretch.
- Orlando has advanced to the quarterfinals of Leagues Cup 2025 after posting a 2-0-1 record in the league phase with a 1-1 draw against Pumas, a 3-1 win over Atlas and a 5-1 win over Necaxa. The Lions will face Toluca in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, Aug. 20, in Carson, California.
- Orlando had four scoreless draws during a stretch of five straight shutouts from April 5 to May 3. However, both teams have scored in each of the club’s last 11 matches across all competitions.
- Orlando’s 564-minute shutout streak from March 20 to May 3 was the longest in MLS this season.
- Orlando has outscored opponents 14-6 in the first 30 minutes and 13-8 after the 75th minute this season.
- Eight of Orlando’s 12 MLS wins and 11 of the team’s 15 wins in all competitions have come by multiple goals this season.
- Orlando is 10-3-3 when scoring first and 2-3-1 when conceding first during the regular season.
- Orlando is 9-2-2 when leading at halftime and 1-2-1 when trailing at halftime during the regular season.
- Orlando completed a two-game regular season sweep of in-state rivals Inter Miami CF following a 4-1 home won on Sunday as Luis Muriel bagged a brace to go with goals from Martin Ojeda and Marco Pasalic. Orlando outscored Miami 7-1 in the two regular season meetings between the clubs this season.
- Attacking midfielder Martin Ojeda is the only MLS player with at least 13 goals and 13 assists during the regular season.
- Ojeda ranks second in MLS in both goal contributions (27) and assists (13), while his 14 goals are most on the team.
- Forward Marco Pasalic is second on the team with 11 goals and ranks seventh in MLS in shots (80). He is the only Orlando player to start in all 26 MLS matches this season.
- Ojeda (17 goals), Pasalic (13 goals) and Luis Muriel (11 goals) have combined for 41 goals this season across all competitions.
- Goalkeeper Pedro Gallese is tied for fourth in MLS with eight shutouts this season, the last of which came on June 14.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Forward Shapi Suleymanov is one shy of his 350th professional club appearance.
- Forward Dejan Joveljic is two shy of 100 goals scored in his professional club career.
- Defender Andrew Brody is one shy of his 100th career start in the MLS regular season.
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez is one shy of his 50th appearance for Sporting in all competitions.
- 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.
- Forward Daniel Salloi has scored 66 career goals for Sporting in all competitions, fourth most in club history and one shy of tying both Dom Dwyer and Johnny Russell for second on the all-time chart.
