Sporting Kansas City begin a three-game homestand on Sunday when they host the Portland Timbers at Children's Mercy Park in the seventh match of the MLS campaign for both sides.
In their previous league fixture, Kansas City defeated Toronto by a score of 3-1, while the Timbers were beaten 3-2 by the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Match preview
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Fresh off squandering a 2-0 advantage and losing 3-2 to the Los Angeles Galaxy, we saw a much more poised and organised Kansas City team in Toronto.
Last weekend was their first away win of the season, putting them at nine points in 2024, six more than they accumulated after six league contests a year ago.
Rarely have Sporting had to fight their way back into a match of late, trailing for a total of 17 minutes this year, the second-fewest behind CF Montreal (six), while they have scored first in 22 of their previous 32 matches in all competitions dating back to 2023.
Sporting are one of only five MLS sides that have never been behind at the interval this season, with the others being FC Cincinnati, CF Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
If there is something Peter Vermes might want his side to clean up, it could be their frequent lapses in concentration late in matches, as SKC have been outscored 6-1 from the 69th minute onward this season, while outscoring the opposition 8-1 through until the 68th minute.
Their biggest regular season triumphs in each of the past two campaigns have come at home against the Timbers, beating them 4-1 in 2022 and 2023.
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A month which began with plenty of promise ended in disappointment for Portland, who claimed four points from their opening two March fixtures, but ended on a three-match losing run.
Scoring goals is not the issue for Phil Neville's men, netting the joint third-most in MLS (11), but preventing them is another story as they, along with St Louis City and Inter Miami, are the only sides in the league to score and concede double-digits in goals.
Opponents tend to be overaggressive when playing Portland, with the Timbers suffering more fouls per match than anyone in Major League Soccer (17), while their +32 discrepancy in fouls suffered to fouls committed is the second largest in MLS this season.
Their towering presence has been evident throughout the domestic campaign as they rank second in aerial duel success rate this year (50.6%).
When the Timbers take the field, there is a good chance the back of the net will bulge a few times, as their six matches have produced 22 goals, which breaks down to a clip of 3.67 goals per match, tied for the most in MLS.
They have not beaten SKC at Children's Mercy Park since the second leg of their 2018 MLS Cup playoff tie (3-2), while Sunday will mark 10 years to the day of their last and only regular season victory in Kansas City (3-2 in April 2013).
Team News
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KC came away with a comfortable victory last weekend despite being without three key contributors in Johnny Russell, Alan Pulido and Andreu Fontas, all of whom sat out due to hamstring strains.
Khiry Shelton is dealing with an ankle issue for Sporting, and Logan Ndenbe sat out of their previous encounter because of a knee injury.
Remi Walter scored his team-leading second of the MLS campaign a week ago, with Jake Davis and Alenis Vargas netting for the first time this season.
In their defeat to the Whitecaps, Portland were without Larrys Mabiala who has an issue in his leg, while Marvin Loria and Claudio Bravo were sidelined because of left knee injuries.
Maxime Crepeau was back in goal last week after being replaced by James Pantemis while on international duty the week before that, while Kamal Miller also returned to the lineup after the international break.
Evander netted for the second time in the 2024 MLS campaign last week, while Felipe Mora scored his first of the season in a losing effort.
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Melia; Davis, Rosero, Voloder, Leibold; Walter, Radoja, M. Rodriguez; Thommy, Agada, Salloi
Portland Timbers possible starting lineup:
Crepeau; Mosquera, McGraw, K. Miller, E. Miller; Williamson, Chara; Asprilla, Evander, Antony; J. Rodriguez
We say: Sporting Kansas City 2-2 Portland Timbers
Both sides have their share of quality attacking pieces, though neither are particularly sharp on the back end, thus we expect to see an open match with chances at either end, but no one with a decisive edge.
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