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Preview: First-Place Sporting KC Welcomes Whitecaps on Friday

April 19, 2018 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release


Four points clear atop the Western Conference standings, Sporting Kansas City (4-1-2, 14 points) will put a six-game unbeaten run on the line Friday when Vancouver Whitecaps FC (3-3-1, 10 points) visits world-class Children's Mercy Park at 8 p.m. CT. Tickets for the matchup are available via SeatGeek.com, and the first 10,000 fans through the stadium gates will receive a Tim Melia bobblehead courtesy of match sponsor Mark One Electric.

FOX Sports Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports GO will provide three hours of live coverage on Friday beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT. Local radio broadcasts will air on Sports Radio 810 WHB (English) and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM (Spanish), while the Sporting KC Uphoria app will deliver live updates and an exclusive offer for free Ben & Jerry's ice cream at Kansas City area Price Chopper locations. Friday also serves as Sporting KC College Night, featuring ticket and scarf packages for students at local colleges and universities.

Manager Peter Vermes' men face a quick turnaround this week after drawing Seattle Sounders FC 2-2 on Sunday afternoon. Ilie gave the hosts a 34th-minute lead with his second successful penalty kick of the season, but Seattle soared ahead with goals in either half from Will Bruin and Cristian Roldan. Sporting KC landed the final punch, however, as Graham Zusi equalized with 12 minutes left to deny the Sounders their first victory of 2018. Sunday marked the third time this year that Sporting KC has earned a win or draw from a losing position, having done so just four times in all of 2017.

Friday's fixture pits two of the top three teams in the Western Conference, with leaders Sporting KC four points ahead of both Vancouver and the LA Galaxy. Vermes' side hasn't lost since its season-opening setback to New York City FC and has taken four points from its previous two matches despite the absence of influential midfielder Felipe Gutierrez, the MLS Player of the Month for March who still leads the league with five goals. Gutierrez is listed as questionable against Vancouver as he continues to recover from a hip injury.

Vancouver has lost two straight matches - including a 2-0 home defeat to expansion club LAFC last Friday - but head coach Carl Robinson's team will be encouraged by its recent run of results against Sporting KC. The sides last met on Sept. 30, 2017, at Children's Mercy Park when Vancouver used a 53rd-minute Erik Hurtado goal to snap Sporting KC's club-record 24-game home unbeaten streak in the MLS regular season. The result came four months after the Whitecaps prevailed 2-0 at BC Place.

A potential Children's Mercy Park reunion with Kei Kamara was dashed when the former Sporting KC forward suffered a groin injury the day before his team's loss to LAFC. Kamara's first season with Vancouver has started brightly with three goals and two assists, but the visitors will have to cope without him as he is set to miss a second straight game. Fellow striker and newcomer Anthony Blondell was also sidelined last week with a concussion, but could return to the fold in Kansas City.

Sporting KC holds a 6-3-3 all-time regular season record versus Vancouver, including a 4-1-1 mark at Children's Mercy Park. Yet the Whitecaps are no strangers to success away from home, leading MLS with 19 regular season road wins since the start of 2015. The hosts will also be wary of the danger presented by winger Brek Shea - the MLS veteran is tied for the team lead with three goals - as well as 17-year-old wunderkind Alphonso Davies, who has not only tallied a goal and two assists but ranks among the MLS leaders in duels won and dribbles completed.

The Sporting KC record books are likely to be rewritten Friday night by club captain Matt Besler. The defender is one shy of tying current assistant coach Kerry Zavagnin for most regular season starts in team history at 228. The Kansas City-born center back is also 55 minutes shy of passing Zavagnin for most regular season minutes played at the club, a number that presently stands at 20,515.

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