For the first time since 2018, New York City FC will pay a visit Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday for a rare MLS encounter against Sporting Kansas City.

Last weekend, Sporting dropped down to 12th in the Western Conference with a narrow 3-2 defeat at home to the Seattle Sounders, while the Pigeons pulled out a dramatic 2-1 victory over Orlando City to climb up to seventh in the East.

Match preview

Sporting Kansas City made another valiant second-half comeback last weekend, but ultimately their 3-0 half-time deficit was too much for them to overcome.

That ended a three-game unbeaten run for them in league play and put Kerry Zavagnin’s men six points below the San Jose Earthquakes for the final playoff spot out West.

Zavagnin has unlocked this team’s attacking potential over the past few months, with SKC netting 29 goals in 16 matches since April 1, the fourth-most in the Western Conference over that stretch.

Their next five matches in this competition will be against sides currently boasting winning records, and Sporting have claimed just one regular-season triumph in 2025 at home versus teams currently in a playoff position, edging Charlotte FC 2-1 last month.

With Zavagnin at the helm, this team have shown plenty of resilience, coming from behind to earn a result in five of their previous 10 encounters since May 14.

Sporting have claimed just one victory in their last five league contests at Children’s Mercy Park (2-1 over Charlotte FC) but have not lost a home game in this competition to an Eastern Conference opponent since April 2024 (3-2 versus Inter Miami).

Resilience was the name of the game for New York City in midweek, as they scored twice in the latter stages at Orlando City, enabling them to hold down the final opening round post-season berth for the moment.

It was the third time in 2025 that Pascal Jansen’s men had gone on to win a league fixture when conceding the opening goal, while they also ended a four-match domestic winless run away from home in the process.

More often than not this year, the Pigeons’ matches have gone down to the wire, as they are the only side in the league with at least five wins (six) and five defeats (five) by a single goal.

While they have come from behind to earn their share of points in MLS this year, the Boys in Blue are also a perfect 4-0-0 in the competition when leading at the interval.

NYCFC have scored the fewest goals domestically in the opening half this year (seven), but usually start the second half well, scoring 12 times within those first 15 minutes of play.

After losing their first two meetings with Sporting, New York City enter this weekend on a four-match unbeaten run against them, winning their previous visit to Children’s Mercy Park in 2018 (2-0).

Sporting Kansas City Major League Soccer form:

New York City FC Major League Soccer form:

Team News

In their defeat last weekend, SKC were missing Daniel Rosero, who had a sore ankle, while Robert Voloder was sidelined, as he is dealing with a broken collarbone.

Dejan Joveljic and Santiago Munoz each converted second-half penalties for them against the Rave Green last week, but it was not enough to earn them a point.

Leg injuries kept Keaton Parks and Malachi Jones out of the New York City FC lineup once again this week, and neither are expected to feature on Saturday.

Kyle Smith levelled their match with the Lions with an own goal on Wednesday, while Alonso Martinez netted the winner in stoppage time, drawing even with Hannes Wolf for the most on the team this year (nine).

Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:

Pulskamp; Shelton, Miller, J. Fernandez, Ndenbe; Radoja, Bassong; Suleymanov, Garcia, Salloi; Joveljic

New York City FC possible starting lineup:

Freese; Gray, Martins, Haak, O’Toole; O’Neill, Perea; Ojeda, Moralez, Wolf; Martinez

We say: Sporting Kansas City 2-1 New York City FC

Five of the eight NYCFC defeats in MLS this year have come against teams currently outside of the playoff places, and we expect the attacking depth of Kansas City will get them back on track this weekend.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Joel Lefevre

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