Sporting Kansas City welcomes its second opponent, the San Jose Earthquakes, to Livestrong Sporting Park. And, with the pressure of the home opener off their backs and riding the high of a 4-1 victory in Dallas, maybe KC can see the locals pick up its first home win of the year.
A few goals and far less bottles on the field would also be nice. Both teams are riding unbeaten streaks -- KC with 4 games and San Jose with 6. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. at Livestrong Park and will be the debut for the stadium (and both clubs) on "Soccer Night in America" on Fox Soccer Channel. Here's everything you need to know but where afraid to Google for yourself.LAST FIVE GAMES
Kansas City: L-T-T-T-W (7 points)San Jose: W-W-T-W-W (13 points)
THREE QUESTIONS
1. Does Peter Vermes mess with success?After struggling to score for four weeks, Sporting used a reserve-heavy lineup against Dallas. The result was a four-goal explosion and a starting lineup that didn’t have Omar Bravo, Kei Kamara, Teal Bunbury or Ryan Smith. Will Vermes look to the same lineup against San Jose? Will he ride the hot hands and keep his key attacking players rooted to the bench? For the sake of consistency, Vermes will likely avoid sweeping changes tonight. The only change I see taking place is replacing the suspended Milos Stojcev. 2. Why were KC so successful against Dallas anyway?
It was the first time Sporting outplayed an opponent in every area of the field. Aurelien Collin and Matt Besler wrapped up Dallas’ attackers for much of the game; Luke Sassano, Davy Arnaud and Birahim Diop controlled the midfield, choked the passing lanes and created turnovers; and CJ Sapong and Graham Zusi worked well playing off each other to poke holes in Dallas’ backline. 3. How will KC's defense cope with Steven Lenhart?
The Earthquakes haven’t missed a beat without their best attacker, Chris Wondolowski. Against D.C. United, Lenhart bagged a hat trick and earned MLS player of the week honors. He poses a threat that KC haven’t dealt with of late -- he’s an old-school target forward. If he’s not scoring, he is helping create for others. Will Kansas City press Lenhart when he receives the ball like they pressed the smaller, speedy forwards on Chicago, Dallas and Toronto? It will likely be up to Aurelien Collin to keep an eye on Lenhart and keep him away from dangerous areas. And, an interesting sub-question: Can Collin avoid picking up a yellow card? One more and he misses the next game.
TODAY'S REFEREE
Paul Ward With 29 career MLS games under his whistle, Ward has issued 23.4 fouls per game and 3.7 yellow cards while showing 10 total red cards and awarding 6 penalties. REFEREE: Paul Ward. SAR (bench): Darren Clark; JAR (opposite): Philippe Briere; 4th: Tyler Ploeger MLS Career: 29 games; FC/gm: 23.4; Y/gm: 3.7; R: 10; pens: 6INJURY REPORT
Kansas City OUT: FW Konrad Warzycha (R knee surgery); MF Craig Rocastle (R knee sprain); QUESTIONABLE: FW Omar Bravo (lower back contusion); PROBABLE: MF Ryan Smith (L groin strain) San Jose OUT: MF Andre Luiz (L knee injury); DOUBTFUL: DF Ike Opara (L foot injury)SUSPENSIONS/INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES
Kansas City Roger Espinoza (Honduras) and Shavar Thomas (Jamaica) … Milos Stojcev (red card, suspended through June 18)San Jose Ryan Johnson (Jamaica) and Chris Wondolowski (USA)
