"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 the Colorado Rapids on Saturday at Children's Mercy Park with kickoff slated for 7:30 p.m. CT and tickets available via SeatGeek. The Western Conference clash will stream live on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV in addition to airing locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB.
Mason Toye etched his name onto the scoresheet in a loss at Seattle Sounders FC last weekend that saw Sporting create plenty of danger but struggle to put out fires defensively. The Rapids, meanwhile, are just north of the playoff line in the Western Conference and will be looking to bounce back from a three-goal road loss to the LA Galaxy.
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 and Colorado last met on July 4 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Forward Dejan Joveljic and midfielder Erik Thommy scored goals to give Kansas City a 2-1 road win over the Rapids, who gained a late consolation goal from Rafael Navarro’s penalty kick.
- The most recent meeting on July 4 saw Sporting prevail in Colorado for the first time since 2014, snapping an 11-game winless skid at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
- Sporting last hosted Colorado on Sept. 18, 2024. Thommy and forward Alan Pulido both scored braces to propel Sporting to a 4-1 win at Children’s Mercy Park, with Colorado receiving a late consolation goal from defender Michael Edwards.
- Sporting and Colorado have met 91 times in all competitions, making the Rapids the most frequent opponent in Kansas City history.
- Sporting holds a series advantage with 37 wins, 32 losses and 22 ties, including a 31-27-19 record in 77 regular season meetings.
- Sporting’s 31 regular season wins over Colorado are the team’s most against any opponent.
- Sporting has a 24-7-6 regular season home record against the Rapids, the team’s best home record against any MLS charter member.
- Sporting is 4-1-1 in the team’s last six home meetings against Colorado since 2020, scoring 14 goals and conceding four.
- Colorado last won at Children’s Mercy Park on April 8, 2023, prevailing 1-0 on a 68th-minute goal from former Sporting forward Diego Rubio.
- Sporting forward Daniel Salloi has eight goal contributions (five goals and three assists) in 11 regular season appearances against Colorado. All eight of his goal contributions in the series have come at home.
- Sporting midfielder Erik Thommy has five goal contributions (three goals and two assists) in five regular season appearances against Colorado.
- Midfielder Memo Rodriguez has four goal contributions (one goal and three assists) in 15 regular season appearances against Colorado.
Sporting Kansas City
- 2025 MLS record: 6-15-6, 24 points (13th in West | 39 GF, 55 GA)
- 2025 MLS home record: 3-6-4 (20 GF, 26 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 0-4-1, 1 point (T-L-L-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.
- Sporting has scored 46% of its goals after the 60th minute this season (18 of 39). Sporting’s 18 goals after the 60th minute are sixth most in MLS.
- Sporting has been outscored 40-21 through the 60th minute while outscoring opponents 18-15 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 is 3-0-0 when leading at halftime and 1-9-5 when trailing at halftime during the 2025 regular season.
- Sporting is one of three MLS teams with a perfect record when leading at halftime this season alongside San Diego and Toronto.
- Sporting has an average shooting distance of 16.7 yards, the fourth shortest in MLS.
- Sporting ranks eighth in MLS with 23.9 touches in the opponent’s box per game.
- Sporting has received eight goals from substitutes this season, fourth most in MLS.
- 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.
- Sporting has utilized 28 different starting lineups in the club’s first 29 matches of the 2025 season in all competitions.
- Forward Dejan Joveljic is tied for seventh in MLS with a team-leading 14 goals this season.
- Joveljic has 35 MLS goals (including playoffs) since the start of 2024, second most in the league behind Lionel Messi.
- Joveljic’s 14 goals are the second most by a Kansas City newcomer in a single regular season. Preki had 18 goals in the club’s inaugural 1996 campaign.
- 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.
- Goalkeeper John Pulskamp ranks second in MLS with 92 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 27 MLS matches and in all 29 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 Santi 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 fourth in MLS in dribbles into the penalty area (47) and seventh in fouls suffered (50).
- At 19 years and 327 days (as of Aug. 30), midfielder Jacob Bartlett is the third youngest player to start at least 20 MLS matches this season. He is one of just two teenagers, alongside NYCFC’s Jonathan Shore, to make at least 23 regular season appearances in 2025.
- Defender Jansen Miller has played the most regular season minutes (2,080) of any 2025 MLS SuperDraft selection this year. He has started in each of Sporting’s last 23 games since March 22.
- Defender Ian James earned his first career start for Sporting on June 28 against Real Salt Lake. At 17 years and 22 days, he became the youngest defender to start an MLS match and the second youngest player to start an MLS match in club history.
- Midfielder Erik Thommy has three goal contributions (two goals, one assist) in his last two appearances and has eight goal contributions (four goals, four assists) for the season, fourth most on the team behind Dejan Joveljic (16), Manu Garcia (11) and Daniel Salloi (10).
- With goals on June 28 and July 4, Thommy has scored goals in back-to-back MLS matches for the second time in his career, having first done so in April 2024. He has missed each of Sporting’s last six matches with a hip injury.
Colorado Rapids
- 2025 MLS record: 10-12-6, 36 points (7th in West | 36 GF, 44 GA)
- 2025 MLS away record: 3-7-4 (16 GF, 27 GA)
- Last Five MLS Matches: 2-2-1, 7 points (T-L-W-W-L)
- Colorado ranks 21st in MLS in goals per game (1.29) despite ranking 10th in expected goals per game (1.74).
- Colorado ranks 27th in MLS in passing accuracy (80.3%) and 28th in average possession (44.4%).
- Colorado ranks 28th in MLS in shots faced per game (15.5) and 30th in shots faced on target per game (5.7).
- Colorado has scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of matches this season, the fewest in MLS.
- Colorado is 10-3-2 when scoring first and 0-9-3 when conceding first during the 2025 regular season.
- Colorado is 5-2-1 when leading at halftime and 0-10-3 when trailing at halftime during the 2025 regular season.
- Forward Rafael Navarro leads the team in goals (11), total goal contributions (15) and key passes (29) during the regular season. He has 10 total goal contributions in his last nine appearances across all competitions.
- Forward Darren Yapi is second on the team with a career-high seven goals this season. He has four goals in his last five MLS matches since July 16 after bagging five goals in his first 81 league appearances since 2022.
- Defender Andreas Maxso leads Colorado in starts (26), appearances (26) and minutes (2,340) during the regular season.
Milestones and Miscellany
- Sporting is one shy of 300 home wins in all competitions in club history.
- Forward Dejan Joveljic is one 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 13 minutes shy of 5,000 minutes played in the MLS regular season.
- 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.
- Salloi is one shy of 250 appearances in MLS competitions (regular season, playoffs and MLS is Back).
- Salloi ranks seventh in club history with 236 regular season appearances, one shy of tying current interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin in sixth.
