Sporting Kansas City opens its 2015 MLS road campaign against F.C. Dallas at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The match will be televised locally on KMCI-TV 38 The Spot and across the Midwest on SKCTV with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes prior to kickoff. Radio broadcasts will also be available on 102.9 FM (English) and La Gran D 1340 AM (Spanish).
Saturday’s match is the first for Sporting KC against a Western Conference opponent since Sporting KC re-joined the West for the 2015 season. Sporting KC finished the 2014 regular season with a 5-2-2 record against Western Conference opponents.
The Western Conference battle features the team with the most road wins from the 2014 season visiting the team with the most home wins a year ago.
Sporting KC has recorded eight road wins in each of the last three regular seasons — double the league average — and leads MLS with 24 road victories since the beginning of 2012. FC Dallas finished the 2014 season with a 12-4-1 record at home and the club is 11-1-2 in its last 14 home games in all competitions.
Sporting KC and FC Dallas will meet three times this season after playing to draws in their last two matches in the series. In 2013, the two sides played to a 2-2 draw in Frisco, Texas and again split the points in 2014 following a 1-1 result at Sporting Park.
Sporting Kansas City captain and 2014 FIFA World Cup veteran Matt Besler will miss Saturday’s match after receiving a pair of yellow cards in Sporting KC’s season opener against the New York Red Bulls last weekend.
Despite playing shorthanded for the game’s final 20 minutes, Sporting Kansas City secured a point courtesy of Ike Opara’s goal in his return from a season-ending ankle injury suffered in early 2014.
FC Dallas opened the season with a dramatic 1-0 home victory against the San Jose Earthquakes. Blas Perez scored the game-winner, directing his header past David Bingham in the 92nd minute.
Sporting Kansas City will bring more than 800 supporters to this weekend’s match, one of the largest groups of traveling fans in club history.
In-game updates will be available at SportingKC.com/GameOn and by following @SKCGameday on Twitter.
– Story from Sporting KC