Sporting KC possess heavy hearts as they battle Revolution

The 250th MLS match in the history of Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan., will feature two of the league's original clubs as the New England Revolution face Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.

Both clubs sit outside the current playoff line, but the Revolution (5-4-3, 18 points) are closer than Sporting KC (3-8-3, 12 points). Both clubs also are looking to improve from back-to-back draws in MLS play.

New England overcame a 2-0 deficit to draw with Orlando City 3-3, prior to a scoreless tie against the league's highest-scoring team in the San Jose Earthquakes. That stretched New England's undefeated streak to six matches (4-0-2).

The Revolution have been depending on their defense all season, allowing 10 goals (0.83 per game), tied with Vancouver for the league low. Now the Revs can pick up valuable road points, as they play the first of three road matches in eight days.

"We knew going into this stretch we would have to be road warriors," New England head coach Caleb Porter said. "It's probably going to be the toughest week of the year in that regard."

Sporting KC's recent run of improvement has come after an 0-5-1 start to the season. They're 3-3-2 since.

The latest matches included a 2-2 draw in St. Louis after falling behind 2-0 by halftime. Sporting KC followed that up with a 0-0 draw in San Diego, the first road shutout in more than a year for SKC.

Sporting KC will be playing its first game since mourning the loss of former teammate Gadi Kinda, who passed away Tuesday at age 31 from an undisclosed condition. Kinda played with the club from 2020-23.

"I think the team has been exceptional," interim head coach Kerry Zavagnin said. "Everyone's had their own ways of handling the moment. I think having the space for everyone to grieve in their own way has been healthy.

"As we approach the game on the weekend, we're still heavy. But it's a step forward every day, hopefully, to feeling good again."

Dejan Joveljic leads Kansas City with six goals this season. Carles Gil has six to pace New England.

--Field Level Media