As Canadians from coast-to-coast celebrate the nation's 156th birthday on Saturday, the Vancouver Whitecaps will be at Children's Mercy Park with a chance to extend their MLS unbeaten run to five matches when they battle Sporting Kansas City for the second time this year.
KC are winless in three successive games in this competition, falling 1-0 at the Chicago Fire last weekend, while the Caps picked up their first road victory of the regular season, edging past Los Angeles FC 3-2.
Match preview
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A trio of poor second-half performances has put Sporting on the outside of the playoff picture, four points behind Vancouver for that final spot in the Western Conference, claiming 21 points in 21 games.
While they have failed to capture three straight league contests despite scoring first in two of those encounters, SKC have come a long way from where they began 2023, with five victories and 18 points since May, more than any Western Conference side over that span.
Peter Vermes has seen his group show much more precision in the attacking third over that time frame, as Kansas City are tied with the Philadelphia Union for the most goals scored in the league since May (20).
KC were fast out of the gate in June, scoring the opener before the 20-minute mark in four of their five matches, including in Vancouver when they played to a 1-1 draw.
Their 10 goals scored in the opening 30 minutes of a match is tied for the most in MLS this season, although they have given up eight before the half-hour mark, which is also a league-high.
They have not conceded an opening half goal in four successive matches at Children's Mercy Park, though this team have allowed a goal in the 90th minute or later in two of their previous four home fixtures.
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Of all places to pick up your first road victory of the season, the Caps managed to do it at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, a venue where they had never tasted victory before last Saturday, conceding six times in two separate matches played there years ago.
There were questions coming into this season about who could step up and score goals for them following the departure of Lucas Cavallini.
While that question may not be answered just yet, as a unit, this group have put away plenty of scoring opportunities, notching the second-most goals in the Western Conference (30) while also second out west regarding goals per game (1.67).
Although they have suffered two defeats when leading at the half this year, those losses came in their opening two regular season contests, with the Caps winning their only other two fixtures in which they had the lead at the interval.
Before the 2021 campaign, the Caps had gone winless in seven straight matches versus SKC but will go into this encounter with at least a point in four consecutive regular-season fixtures against them, the longest run for Vancouver in this regular-season series.
Should they emerge victorious on Saturday, it would mark the first time that Vanni Sartini has won multiple road contests in a single regular season campaign, while it would also be the first time the Caps will have captured back-to-back away fixtures in this competition since August 2018.
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Team News
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Last Saturday, KC were without Kayden Pierre, Graham Zusi and Logan Ndenbe with hamstring strains, Willy Agada is still suffering from a tibia stress fracture, Cameron Duke has a concussion, Kortne Ford continues to recover from Achilles surgery and Tim Melia is dealing with a quad injury.
Alan Pulido leads the league with seven goal contributions since the beginning of June, though the Mexican saw his four-match goalscoring streak end against the Fire, while Daniel Salloi is one of three Western Conference players with seven goals and seven primary assists since the start of August 2022, with the others being Cristian Espinoza and Carlos Vela.
Pulido can reach the half-century mark for regular season appearances with Kansas City this weekend, Salloi has a chance to draw even with Josh Wolff and Davy Arnaud for the sixth-most regular season goals in franchise history, currently on 42, while Erik Thommy has the second-most assists in the league since May (five) and Remi Walter leads MLS field players with 154 recoveries in 2023.
Tristan Blackmon missed the previous Vancouver outing with a right heel contusion, Russell Teibert was sidelined due to left knee pain, while Ali Ahmed, Julian Gressel and Javain Brown are at the Gold Cup representing Canada, the USA and Jamaica, respectively.
Since May 31, Ryan Gauld has been massive for the Caps, scoring in four successive MLS appearances, with a total of seven goal contributions and leading the team with 37 key passes this season, while Brian White has seven goals this year to lead them in that department and Andres Cubas is first for Vancouver regarding interceptions (33), tackles won (28) and recoveries (135).
White and Gauld were on the mark when they defeated LAFC last weekend, with Ranko Veselinovic scoring his first of the regular season and Yohei Takaoka making seven stops to preserve the victory.
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
McIntosh; Davis, Castellanos, Fontas, Leibold; Thommy, Espinoza, Walter; Russell, Pulido, Salloi
Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:
Takaoka; Laborda, Veselinovic, Martins; Raposo, Cubas, Berhalter, Vite; Gauld; White, Becher
We say: Sporting Kansas City 1-2 Vancouver Whitecaps
The Caps seem to have found their groove as their top attacking players, namely Gauld, have stepped up in a big way, while KC have not been quite as consistent in recent outings.
Overall, Vancouver have a deeper team than Kansas City, plus they have momentum on their side right now, and when you put those two things together it is usually a solid recipe for success.
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
