Preview: Sporting KC Visits Toronto FC
Published on March 29, 2024 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
Sporting Kansas City returns to the road with a trip across the Canadian border to take on Toronto FC for the first time in five seasons on Saturday.
The cross-conference clash is set to kick off at 6:40 p.m. CT at BMO Field, which - like Kansas City - will host six matches during FIFA World Cup 2026. Saturday's showdown will be streamed live on Apple TV for MLS Season Pass subscribers in addition to local radio coverage on ESPN KC 94.5 FM and 1510 AM as well as La Grande 1340 AM.
Pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network will also show all of the action, including a watch party at No Other Pub in the Kansas City Power and Light District. Food and drink specials will start at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, including $4 domestics, $5 wells and 50% off nachos.
After playing every season from 2007 -- when Toronto FC entered MLS as an expansion club and hosted SKC in the inaugural match at BMO Field - to 2019, a total of 1,758 days have passed since the two clubs last met on June 7, 2019 which marks the longest period of time between match-ups with an opponent in Sporting Kansas City history.
Sporting is unbeaten in the last 10 regular season meetings (6-0-4) and has enjoyed success at BMO Field, where the team is 4-0-4 under Peter Vermes with four shutouts. In fact, Vermes is 11-1-6 in the regular season against Toronto with the lone loss coming on March 9, 2013 at the Rogers Centre.
Led by first-year head coach John Herdman, Toronto has equaled the club's best five-game start to a regular season with a 3-1-1 record after recording just four wins during the entire 2023 regular season. Toronto has conceded the fewest goals in MLS this season and leads the League with four shutouts in five matches in 2024.
Herdman's roster is headlined by UEFA Euro 2020 champions Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi as well as club captain Jonathan Osorio, however Insigne has been ruled out for Saturday with a thigh injury after exiting at halftime in Toronto's 2-0 win over Atlanta last weekend. Goalkeeper Sean Johnson has missed the team's last three matches with a thigh injury and is questionable on Toronto's player availability report for Saturday, which also lists Nicksoen Gomis (wrist), Richie Laryea (thigh), Raoul Petretta (thigh) and Brandon Servania (knee) as out.
Sporting Kansas City will be without at least three players -- Logan Ndenbe (knee), Johnny Russell (hamstring) and Khiry Shelton (ankle) -- on Saturday, while Andreu Fontas (hamstring) and Alan Pulido (hamstring) are both questionable. Pulido memorably played an instrumental role in both legs of a thrilling Concacaf Champions Cup final against Toronto FC in 2018, scoring a free kick in a 2-1 first-leg win at BMO Field that was named Goal of the Tournament before converting a penalty kick in the second leg's shootout after the series finished tied on aggregate.
Sporting Kansas City will be looking to bounce back from a 3-2 loss to the LA Galaxy last weekend that went into the record book as the first time in club history in which the team lost a regular season match when leading 2-0 after 70 minutes. Nemanja Radoja and Willy Agada each struck in the first half as Daniel Salloi assisted both goals and now has 97 goal contributions for SKC in all competitions (58 goals, 39 assists) to tie Chris Klein for fourth most in club history.
Saturday will mark the return of match officials represented by the Professional Soccer Referees Association following the finalization of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Professional Referee Organization. Guido Gonzales Jr., who officiated Sporting Kansas City's controversial 1-0 loss in last year's Western Conference Semifinals, has been assigned as the match official for TORvSKC.
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