Sporting Kansas City is set to play hosts to Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup Final in Kansas.
The two teams have emerged as the leaders of their respective conferences and will square off for the MLS Cup. Real Salt Lake (16-10-8) beat the Portland Timbers and Kansas (17-10-7) beat out the Houston Dynamo for a spot in the finals.
But how do these two sides compare to one another? Is there a statistical advantage for one team? Let's take a look at the numbers from the regular season and from the playoffs so far and see which side has the edge!
Gauging the Goalscorers
Putting the ball into the back of the net is the basic...ahem...goal...of football, and these two sides certainly know how to score.
Both sides feature one Designated Player forward who has managed to score in the double digits this season. Kansas' Claudio Bieler scored 10 goals, but Real Salt Lake's Alvaro Saborio beat him by two, with 12 goals at season's end.
Kansas finished the season 10 goals shy of RSL's 57 with 47 of its own, giving Salt Lake the edge in overall goals scored. There's a good reason for that, too; RSL converts goals at a much higher rate than Sporting Kansas City.
Real Salt Lake took 449 shots in total this year; 168 of those shots were on goal. That's a ratio of one shot on goal for every 2.7 attempts. With 57 goals in the season, that's a goalscoring ratio of one goal for every 3 shots on goal. Six of the goals came from the pentalty spot, with RSL missing just the one in seven it won throughout the season.
Kansas, on the other hand, took 501 shots, of which 155 were on target - a ratio of 1 shot on goal for every 3.2 shots; 47 goals gives them a goal for every 3.4 shots on target. Four of those goals came from penalties, which Kansas converted 100 per cent of the time.
That's a whole lot of numbers, but basically all it says is that when it comes to capitalizing on chances, Real Salt Lake has a slight edge. Though RSL shoots less, the team is more efficient in its shot-to-goal conversion. That could be the determining factor between the two on the day of the finals!
So where did those 10 extra goals come from in the regular season? Real Salt Lake's bench.
Kansas' goalscorers come from up top with Bieler (10), Kei Kamara (7) and C.J. Sapong (4), the team also scored plenty of goals from midfield and from the back line. Graham Zusi popped in six by himself, and Soony Saad (4), Benny Feilhaber (3) and Dom Dwyer (2) helped from midfield. Aurelien Collin and Ike Opara managed to score three a piece from corners and other set pieces, too.
That's all good and well, but Real Salt Lake managed to score most of their goals using a rotation of starters and substitutes. Saborio (12) and Javier Morales (8) led the way for RSL, but Robbie Findley (6) and Olmes Garcia (5) helped on the offensive side, too. In midfield, Ned Grabavoy and Luis Gil scored five each, Joao Plata and Kyle Beckerman scored four a piece, and Devon Sandoval scored three of his own, too. The rest of the goals were shared amongst Nat Borchers, Khari Stephenson and Yordany Alvarez.
Gauging the two side's goalscoring ability, it's clear that Real Salt Lake has a better long-term product, but in a one-off encounter, there's not much separating the two sides. RSL has the edge going into the final but Kansas isn't incompetent in front of goal, either.
It should be an interesting match for both sets of players, that's for sure!
Playing the Pass
It's not just the goalscorers who get the credit; goal creators are just as important. In this regard, the two teams boast some impressive playmakers.
Sporting Kansas City's assist leader, Graham Zusi, and RSL's assist leader, Javier Morales, are two of the best creative attacking midfielders in the league.
Zusi assisted eight goals this season, to Morales' 10. That, by itself, suggests that Morales is a better option, but Zusi has five game-winning assists to his name, while Morales has just the one.
Now, there's a few ways to interpret this stat; Zusi has shown that he is more impactful when it counts, and is a clutch performer because of it. Or, Real Salt Lake scores more goals to win games by larger margins than 1-0.
In either case, one thing is clear - the two players are vital for their respective teams. Evenly matched? Not quite!
See, while Zusi has eight assists, so too does RSL's diminutive winger Joao Plata. The Ecuadorian international also has three game-winning assists. Besides Plata, Beckerman has accounted for six assists and Grabavoy has five of his own.
In Kansas' end, Feilhaber, Bieler and Saad all contribute to the team's assist tally, but each have recorded four a piece.
Both teams share similar passing stats, neither players in a long-ball fashion, so in that regard, the final should be evenly contested. But, once again, RSL has the edge here, with more efficiency in passing and assists than Kansas.
Backline Boost
We've talked a lot about the offensive side of the game, but how did the two sides fare defensively?
Let's run through it really quickly. Kansas had 13 clean sheets this year, to RSL's 11. Jimmy Nielsen, the keeper for Kansas City, made 68 saves on 100 shots, but conceded 30 goals; that's a 68 per cent goal saved ratio.
RSL keeper Nick Rimando made 82 saves on 112 shots, conceding 28 goals, for a save percentage of 73 per cent. So, more shots on goal for RSL's keeper, but a higher save percentage gives Rimando the advantage.
Real Salt Lake conceded 41 goals in league play this year; Kansas only conceded 30. That equalizes the 10 goals more that RSL has scored, bringing these two teams level by the numbers.
Red Cards Rumblers
A red card can change a final and flip the result completely on its head.
But both sides share parallel fates when it comes to discipline when it counts; Kansas only picked up one red card all year, C.J. Sapong being sent off. Yet, with 13 yellow cards to his name, Aurelien Collin never had to hit the showers early; nor did Oriol Rossell or Peterson Joseph, who earned 10 and seven yellow cards respectively. Kansas had 67 yellow cards by the end of the year.
Real Salt Lake is the exact opposite. The team is a red card magnet; Alvarez picked up a pair of red cards throughout the season, and Abdoulie Mansally, Chris Wingert, Lovel Palmer and Tony Beltran all got one each, too. That's six red cards in the season. Chalk it up to trying hard or taking more risks but that is a big gap in discipline between the two. Beckerman leads the team in yellow cards with seven of his own, Wingerts has six, Morales, Grabavoy and Garcia have five each, and the rest of the team isn't much better; 21 players picked up yellow cards this year, but for a grand total of 60 yellow cards!
So, expect RSL to play a more physical game against Kansas, and maybe see another red card, too.
Previous Performances
You're only as good as your last game.
But for these two teams, the precedent set in the season isn't exactly abundant. The two met once in the season, on July 20 at Rio Tinto Stadium. In that match, Sporting Kansas City beat Real Salt Lake 2-1. Findley opened the scoring in the 56th minute, but Soony Saad equalized 10 minutes later. Then, in the 97th minute (seven minutes of added time!), Opara scored to win the game - Zusi provided the assist, a perfect demonstration of his game-winning assist ability and Kansas' defenders socring.
Verdict
We've taken a look at a lot of numbers but numbers do not make a football game. The players and their performances do. The MLS Cup Final is on December 7th at Sporting Park. The two teams will be well rested going into the game.
Who will take the title? The safe bet is Real Salt Lake - the goals, saves and raw figures give them an advantage. But, playing at home in front of a crowd of supporters will certainly give Kansas a boost. Real Salt Lake has the experience of having won the title already, and will be hoping to leave Jason Kreis with another, too. It should be a great final match, with some of the league's best players on display.
Now, to December, where these two league titans will battle it out for the trophy! En Garde!