Sporting Kansas City and the Vancouver Whitecaps will meet at Children's Mercy Park on Saturday for the first time since the 2021 Major League Soccer postseason, when the Wizards won by a score of 3-1.
Vancouver won their first game of the 2022 season against KC, 1-0 back in April at BC Place Stadium, though they have not beaten them away from home since 2017.
Match preview
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A team that we have become accustomed to seeing near the top of the table almost every season are gradually improving, with Sporting KC earning four points from their previous two domestic encounters.
Peter Vermes was more than pleased with the effort that his players gave against the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday, picking up just their second point on the road this season.
While the effort was evident at PayPal Park, the Wizards still squandered a pair of points, conceding just a minute after taking the lead, as they have now failed to win four of their last five domestic matches in which they have scored first.
Since suffering what some players called an embarrassing defeat, 7-2 to the Portland Timbers, this group have responded well, beating the Colorado Rapids and drawing a much-improved Goonies team.
The month of May has been demanding for KC to say the least, playing in their seventh match in all competitions this week, all in 22 days between May 7 and 28.
They head into this encounter unbeaten in their last five home matches in all competitions, having outscored Vancouver 10-1 in their previous three regular-season meetings in Kansas City.
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Vanni Sartini saw his Caps team put forth a valiant effort in the North Carolina heat on Sunday, but ultimately, they could not maintain an early advantage, losing 2-1 to Charlotte FC.
It was the third time all season in which they had come away with nothing despite scoring first, having now suffered three road defeats by a single goal this season.
Health and safety protocols left Sartini scrambling to find some last-minute replacements a week ago, as their top three goalkeepers were forced out because of COVID or injuries.
Given everything that was thrown at them ahead of their previous fixture, the Whitecaps performed as well as can be expected under the circumstances and were unlucky to come away empty-handed against Charlotte, conceding the winner to Daniel Rios in the 85th minute.
Their manager cannot have too many complaints about his team's second-half performances of late, though he would like to see them be a little sharper from the start, notching only one first-half tally over their previous eight MLS affairs.
They have not put as much pressure on opposing teams' centre-backs as their coach would have liked throughout the campaign, allowing a lot of space in transition, while struggling to contend with diagonal balls.
Although they have conceded multiple goals in every one of their road matches this season, Vancouver were able to win the majority of their duels, while looking fairly composed against the Crown in transition, as they have been a lot sharper behind the ball this month.
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Team News
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KC striker Johnny Russell moved into a tie for the team lead in goals with Daniel Salloi last weekend, notching his fourth of the campaign, Cameron Duke collected his second assist and Tim Melia stopped four of the five shots that he faced.
Russell had a brace in midweek at the U.S. Open Cup, helping his team advance to the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo.
In their last game, Robert Voloder made his second start at the back for KC, while Andreu Fontas and Salloi sat out with red-card suspensions, with the Wizards incurring three expulsions in their previous three regular-season encounters.
Injuries remain an issue for Peter Vermes's side heading into this fixture, with Gadi Kinda and Alan Pulido lost for the season after both undergoing knee surgery, while Ozzie Cisneros and Khiry Shelton are question marks with hamstring strains.
Nicolas Isimat-Mirin is questionable due to a concussion, Graham Zusi has a thigh problem and Nikola Vujnovic could miss this match with a calf issue.
The Whitecaps could be missing as many as three players because of health and safety protocols, as Pedro Vite, Isaac Boehmer and Brian White, are all trying to recover from a positive COVID test, while Cody Cropper returned to the lineup at the Canadian Championship on Wednesday, starting in goal when his side defeated Cavalry to advance to the semi-finals.
Cristian Gutierrez fired home the winning penalty in that encounter as the Caps won 5-3 in the shootout after the match ended 1-1 over 120 minutes.
First-choice goalkeeper Thomas Hasal has a left-hand injury, Tristan Blackmon is out with a right knee strain and Caio Alexandre has a left-hand fracture.
Leading goalscorer Lucas Cavallini is eligible to return, following his yellow-card suspension over the weekend, and Luis Martins will be keen to make his first appearance in a Whitecaps uniform after the former SKC defender signed with Vancouver earlier this month.
Before their match against Charlotte was two minutes old, Tosaint Ricketts fired home his second of the season, the fastest goal for this team from kickoff since March 2017, as Cristian Dajome picked up his second assist of the year.
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Melia; Ndenbe, Voloder, Ford, Sweat; Hernandez, Rosell, Walter, Duke; Shelton, Russell
Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:
Cropper; Martins, Jungwirth, Veselinovic; Baldisimo, Teibert, Berhalter, Owusu; Gauld; Cavallini, Dajome
We say: Sporting Kansas City 1-2 Vancouver Whitecaps
They have the joint-worst record in MLS, but Vancouver have looked a lot better in recent matches and could be due for a break.
Kansas City have struggled with consistency all season, and have not looked nearly as dangerous in the final third as a season ago, so we expect the Caps to end their road woes this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
