Sporting Kansas City (4-4-0, 12 points) closes out its three-game road swing on Wednesday at BC Place, where manager Peter Vermes’ men take on Vancouver Whitecaps FC (3-4-1, 10 points) for the second time this season.
The match kicks off at 9:30 p.m. with three hours of live television coverage on 38 The Spot and SKCTV beginning at 9 p.m. The game will also be broadcast on local radio stations 99.3 FM and La Grande 1340 AM.
After three consecutive losses, Sporting KC has fallen from the top of the West to squarely in the middle of the conference at sixth place – only one spot ahead of seventh place Vancouver.
Kansas City hopes to repeat its success against Vancouver from earlier this season with another three points Wednesday. In the clubs’ last meeting on March 12, Sporting KC bested Vancouver 2-1 with a first-half brace from Dom Dwyer.
Kansas City holds the upper hand, with a 5-1-2 overall record and a 2-1-1 mark on the Whitecaps’ home turf. Vancouver currently owns just one victory in the series, which came on Aug. 10, 2014, at BC Place. This was also Sporting KC’s most recent regular season defeat to a Cascadia club, having gone 6-0-4 with seven shutouts ever since.
Sporting KC captain Matt Besler is in contention to make his 200th career MLS appearance (including playoffs) on Wednesday. He leads the Sporting KC back line against a Vancouver side that has scored just one goal from the run of play in 2016, but is coming off a 3-0 home win over first-place FC Dallas on Saturday.
Injuries
• Out for Sporting KC: Defender Kevin Ellis (groin), Midfielder Soni Mustivar (hamstring)
• Questionable for Sporting KC: Defender Chance Myers (thigh), Midfielders Paulo Nagamura (calf) and Justin Mapp (toe)
• Out for Vancouver: Defender Christian Dean (foot), Midfielder Deybi Flores (hip adductor)
• Questionable for Vancouver: Midfielder Pedro Morales (hip flexor)
– Story from Sporting KC