Sporting Kansas City v St. Louis City: Visitors want to show fight during ´test of character´

St. Louis City interim head coach John Hackworth says their recent struggles have been a “test of character” as they look to bounce back against Sporting Kansas City.

St. Louis have lost their last three games by an aggregate score of 10-2, leaving them 13th in the Western Conference, eight points off a playoffs place.

With only one win in their last 13 MLS matches, Hackworth is keen to snap their current losing streak and says he saw positives in their 2-0 defeat to Seattle Sounders in midweek.

“The players made a huge step [against Seattle], played much better than we did previously,” Hackworth said.

“[We] gave ourselves a chance to be in that game, had some unfortunate things again happen to us, but it wasn’t for lack of trying to play with a lot of heart and soul, being collective, having each other’s backs, so those are positives we can build on for sure.

“We have had all season to deal with a lot of hardships, it’s a test of our character.”

Meanwhile, Kansas City sit one place and one point ahead of their opponents but lost their most recent match 2-1 against Vancouver Whitecaps after back-to-back wins.

Head coach Peter Vermes expressed his disappointment with the defeat in Vancouver and is eyeing a quick improvement on Saturday.

“We’re slow with the ball in situations that catch us out with fast transitions, and we need to be better there,” Vermes said.

“We need as much energy and as many players as we possibly can for this weekend, so hopefully, we’ll be there.”

Touchdown #AllForCITY pic.twitter.com/n8ywgcCQ1M

— St Louis CITY SC (@stlCITYsc) July 19, 2024

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Sporting Kansas City – William Agada

William Agada scored on Wednesday, bringing his total up to four goals in his last four matches in all competitions.

Prior to his recent form, Agada had notched just two goals in his previous 17 matches.

St. Louis City – Nokkvi Thorisson

Nokkvi Thorisson attempted two shots in the loss to the Sounders on Wednesday, tying him with Eduard Lowen for the most by any St. Louis player in the match.

It was the fifth consecutive match in which Thorisson had either the most or joint-most shots for the team.

MATCH PREDICTION: SPORTING KANSAS CITY WIN

Sporting are unbeaten in three straight meetings with St. Louis (winning two, drawing one), including winning both matches in the 2023 playoffs after St. Louis won two of the first three meetings between the sides.

Kansas City are also on a three-match home winning streak in all competitions, the most recent of which was a 2-1 extra-time victory over FC Dallas in the U.S. Open Cup. This is the ‘longest home winning streak since winning four straight in May-June 2023.

Meanwhile, St. Louis lost 2-0 at Seattle Sounders on Wednesday, their third straight defeat, all by at least two goals. City are looking to avoid becoming the first team to lose four straight MLS matches, all by multiple goals, since Inter Miami did so in March 2022.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Sporting Kansas City – 50.1%

Draw – 25.2%

St. Louis City – 24.7%