KC Reporter

Sporting Kansas City will return to Major League Soccer action this Saturday, hosting San Diego FC at Children’s Mercy Park. The match is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. CT and will be broadcast nationally on FS1 and FOX Deportes, with streaming available through MLS Season Pass. Local radio coverage will be provided by Sports Radio 810 WHB, and tickets can be purchased via SeatGeek.com.

The team returns home after a week off from league play due to the start of the Leagues Cup involving LIGA MX teams, an event Sporting did not participate in following their finish in the 2024 season. In their last outing, Sporting lost 3-0 away to Vancouver Whitecaps on July 26. The current stretch of matches has Sporting facing nine consecutive opponents who are above the playoff line.

Sporting currently sits six points behind the final postseason spot in the Western Conference standings. Since interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin took over at the end of March, Sporting has collected 23 points with a record of six wins, seven losses, and five draws. If that pace were maintained throughout a full season, it would put Sporting above the playoff line.

Saturday’s game marks the first time San Diego FC visits Kansas City since joining MLS as an expansion team this year. The two clubs previously met on May 17 at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, where they played to a scoreless draw. During that match, Shapi Suleymanov nearly scored for Sporting when his shot hit the underside of the crossbar; it remains Sporting’s most recent clean sheet.

Historically, Sporting holds a record of 21 wins, 10 losses, and 11 draws against teams in their inaugural MLS campaigns. Against St. Louis SC—the previous expansion club—Sporting went one win and two losses during regular season play in 2023 before defeating them in the playoffs.

San Diego FC currently leads the Western Conference with a record of 14 wins, seven losses, and six draws. Their road performance includes seven victories out of eleven away matches this season.

On August 1st, Sporting announced they have acquired defender Alan Montes on loan from Club Necaxa for the remainder of the season. Montes’ deal includes an option for a permanent transfer at year’s end and he will occupy an international roster spot pending his P1 visa approval. Montes has scored ten goals across his professional career with stints at Necaxa and Monterrey and recently helped Necaxa finish fifth in Mexico’s Clausura tournament.

Montes is also known as the younger brother of Cesar Montes—a veteran center back for Monterrey who now plays for Lokomotiv Moscow.

Forward Santiago Munoz continues to contribute off the bench since joining on loan from Santos Laguna earlier this year. Munoz has scored three goals and provided one assist—all as a substitute—in limited appearances totaling just over five full matches’ worth of minutes played this season.

When Munoz is on the field, Sporting averages more frequent shots compared to when he is not playing: one every 5.48 minutes versus one every 9.41 minutes without him.

Defender Jansen Miller has become a fixture in Sporting’s defense during his rookie campaign after being selected eighth overall in January’s MLS SuperDraft out of Indiana University. Miller leads all rookies from his draft class in minutes played (1,845) and has started each of Sporting’s last twenty games since March 22nd.

Miller was recognized as Second-Team All-Big Ten last fall while helping Indiana University reach three straight NCAA tournaments during his collegiate career.