Caps out for payback after massacre in Kansas City
Sporting Kansas City (15-8-8, 3rd West) at Vancouver Whitecaps (12-12-7, 8th West)
Today, 7 p.m.
B.C. Place Stadium
TSN, TSN1040
KEY MATCHUP
Felipe vs. Roger Espinoza
They are each team’s pistons, the players that squeeze the ball into spaces to create offensive explosions.
Felipe, third on the Whitecaps in assists, will get his chance to show his forward passing skills with Alphonso Davies and Yordy Reyna (11 each) missing from the lineup. Espinoza’s nine assists are tied for the team lead on SKC, and he’ll have a larger role with Johnny Russell likely watching this one from the bench.
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH
1
Old school headmaster
Kei Kamara played two seasons for Kansas back when they were the Wizards, and another three in the Sporting years (2009-13), scoring 27 goals and racking up 20 assists in 97 starts. SKC knows the physical problem he poses — he’s second in MLS in duels won (222), behind only Alphonso Davies (245) — and is second in aerials won (154).
While his 14 goals lead Vancouver by six — the high-flying striker has scored in five of his last seven starts — his six game-winning goals is third-most in MLS.
“Kei, obviously is a great player, it’s no surprise to me that he’s going well over there,” said Espinoza, who’s spent all nine MLS seasons with Kansas, including those encompassing the Kamara years.
“He’s done well at every team he’s gone to.”
2
Start on the front foot Russell Teibert scored five minutes in against Toronto FC, and guess what? The Caps won. Vancouver is undefeated (10-02) when scoring first this season, including 6-0-0 when leading at the half.
The problem is, they don’t score early very often. They ’ve found the net twice in the opening 15 minutes of games this year, a leaguelow. And when the opposition scores first, the Caps are 2-12-4.
Their propensity for late-game scoring — their 16 goals in the final 15 minutes is third-most in MLS — is off-set by their porous late-game concessions They’ve given up the second-most (16 goals) in the final 15 minutes this year.
3
Blankey-blanks
The Whitecaps have given up a team-record 60 goals this year, more even than their expansion season that saw them concede 55 and go 6-18-10.
Vancouver, which led the league in shutouts in 2014 and 2015, has just two blank sheets this year — second-fewest in MLS — and have never had fewer than five shutouts in their previous seven MLS seasons.
How bad are the optics on that? SKC’s keeper Tim Melia has 12 shutouts this year. 4
Sporting not short-handed While the Whitecaps will likely be missing six players to international duties, including the Canadian trio of Doneil Henry, Russell Teibert and Davies, who played Dominica Tuesday, SKC should be near full strength.
Krisztian Nemeth (Hungary) and Johnny Russell (Scotland) have returned from across the pond after playing last Friday and should be available, but Felipe Gutierrez is doubtful to return in time as Chile played Mexico Tuesday. Russell tormented the Caps in the last game, scoring a hat trick in the 6-0 victory and earning himself a special place in SKC’s Tifo lore. 5
By the numbers
It’s no secret Kansas likes to have the ball, ranking second in possession (58 per cent) and first in passing accuracy (84.5 per cent). That’s almost the polar opposite over Vancouver, which ranks last in possession (43.6) and 20th out of 23 teams in passing (78.7).
The way they measure up on paper, there should be plenty of goals scored. SKC has 24 away goals this year, second-most in team history and fifth-highest in MLS, and are the only team in the West with a positive away goal differential. Vancouver, meanwhile, has the third-lowest home wins in the West (6-4-5) and have conceded at least two goals in five of their last six home games.