For the first time since 2019, Toronto and Sporting Kansas City will meet in Major League Soccer action on Saturday at BMO Field.
The Reds are coming off an impressive 2-0 victory over Atlanta United last weekend, while KC suffered their first defeat of the domestic campaign, 3-2 at home to the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Match preview
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From the 2023 campaign until the early stages of this one, it has been a night and day transformation for Toronto, who are currently in a four-way tie for second in the Eastern Conference after five MLS fixtures, accumulating 10 points so far, four more than they had at this same stage a season ago.
A victory on Saturday versus KC would be their fourth domestically in 2024, matching their total from the previous domestic campaign.
Under John Herdman, this team have improved in virtually every category from their 2023 MLS season, most notably on the defensive side, with Toronto posting a league-best four clean sheets, one fewer than they managed in the 2021 and 2022 domestic campaigns combined.
Their strong defensive showings thus far has been complimented by their ability to take the lead early, scoring first in four of their five league contests, while only being behind for 25 minutes when they squandered a 1-0 advantage and lost 2-1 to New York City FC.
TFC have yet to concede a goal at BMO Field this year, posting consecutive clean sheets at home in the same regular season for the first time since beating the Vancouver Whitecaps twice in August 2020 (3-0 and 1-0).
Toronto are unbeaten in their last three meetings with Kansas City, but it has been over a decade since they last earned three points against them in this competition (2-1 win at Rogers Centre in March 2013).
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We have seen Sporting get off the mark quickly throughout the domestic campaign, scoring first in all but one of their games in which at least one goal was scored, but once again, they failed to hold their nerve in the latter stages last week.
Kansas City have dropped seven points when leading in the second half of an MLS fixture this year, having been behind for a mere 17 minutes altogether this season, the fourth fewest in MLS behind FC Cincinnati (zero), CF Montreal (one) and the Columbus Crew (seven).
While they walked away empty-handed against the Galaxy, Peter Vermes will be encouraged by the amount of chances they created, with an expected goals of 3.07 per Sportec, which was more than this team managed in their opening four MLS contests of 2024 (2.76).
The other encouraging sign is that they find themselves in a playoff spot, currently ninth in the Western Conference with six points, four more than they had after five league fixtures a year ago.
SKC have only conceded once in the opening half this season but went on to win that game versus the San Jose Earthquakes (2-1), but they are winless in their three matches played this year when giving up a goal in the final 45 minutes.
Vermes has an impressive 11-1-6 record all-time versus the Reds and has never lost to them as a head coach at BMO Field, with his team claiming at least a point in five successive visits to Toronto.
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Team News
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Last weekend, the Reds were missing Brandon Servania with a sore knee, Nicksoen Gomis sat out with a wrist issue, while Raoul Petretta, Richie Laryea and Sean Johnson were all unavailable because of thigh injuries.
Deybi Flores did not feature against Atlanta as he was on international duty with Honduras, while Deandre Kerr made his first start of the new MLS campaign.
Tyrese Spicer, the first overall selection at the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, made his first career MLS start and notched his first goal, while Prince Owusu netted for the first time in his TFC career.
KC were missing Johnny Russell, Andreu Fontas, and Memo Rodriguez in their defeat to the Galaxy because of sore hamstrings, though they may each be available this weekend.
Khiry Shelton sat out last week due to an ankle issue, Logan Ndenbe has a knee injury, while Alenis Vargas was on international duty with Honduras.
Last week, Nemanja Radoja notched his first professional goal since 2019, Willy Agada scored his first of the new campaign, Daniel Salloi is just three goal contributions away from 100 with SKC, while Remi Walter can reach the century mark for appearance in all competitions for this club on Saturday.
Toronto possible starting lineup:
Gavran; O'Neill, Long, Rosted; Marshall-Rutty, Coello, Longstaff, Spicer; Bernardeschi, Insigne; Owusu
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
Melia; Davis, Rosero, Voloder, Leibold; Radoja, Walter, Rodriguez; Russell, Pulido, Salloi
We say: Toronto 1-0 Sporting Kansas City
Toronto have a new energy this year, and we believe their newfound confidence and solid defensive structure should enable them to frustrate SKC and eventually sneak a goal in to earn a rare victory against them.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
