St Louis City will play four of their next five matches of the MLS campaign at CityPark, beginning on Saturday when they take on Sporting Kansas City.
The newest club to Major League Soccer have fallen on hard times, losing 1-0 to the Chicago Fire last weekend, their third league fixture without a win, while SKC have points in three straight domestic outings, drawing Los Angeles FC 1-1 on Wednesday.
Match preview
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Perhaps it was the unknown that comes with being an expansion club which made St Louis such a force in the early portion of the campaign, but at the moment, no one seems to be intimidated by this team.
In the first five matches of the season, they recorded 14 shots and three goals from high press turnovers, but other teams are starting to figure them out it seems as St Louis have only produced six shots and no goals in their last six matches from high press turnovers.
Bradley Carnell has lost some significant creativity and quality during their slump, and this group right now do not look like themselves, netting just twice on their current winless run after scoring five in a lopsided victory over FC Cincinnati (5-1).
Their potency in the attacking third has shone through when playing in front of their fans, where this group have won three of their five matches this year and found the back of the net 12 times.
More than a quarter of the season has been completed, and although a lot can still happen, there is a feeling that the next few weeks could define whether they make the playoffs as they play three home games over the next three weeks, while their next five league fixtures are against Western Conference opponents.
Drawing first blood has proven to be make or break for this team, unbeaten when taking a 1-0 lead, while all four of their defeats have come when the opposite has occurred.
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A situation that appeared dire for Peter Vermes and his side has taken a turn for the better, with SKC earning seven points in their last three domestic affairs.
What has to be equally encouraging is the fact that after failing to win any of their first 10 regular season fixtures in 2023, they have now defeated the Western Conference-leading Seattle Sounders and earned a draw against the reigning MLS Cup champions.
In seasons past, they have been far too reliant on their attacking trio to put the ball in the back of the net, but they have managed to share the wealth lately, as seven different players have scored for them in league play since March 25.
Wednesday was the first time over this campaign that they collected a point when falling behind, as they are currently four points out of a playoff spot.
So far in 2023, six of their 10 points have come away from home, with Kansas City posting two clean sheets, though they have only scored in four road contests this year.
KC have scored the second-fewest goals in MLS to this point of the campaign (nine), with four of their nine strikes coming before the 12th minute and seven before the 32nd, with only Atlanta United (five) netting more in the first 15 minutes of their MLS matches this year.
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Team News
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Klauss missed the previous St Louis fixture with a quad strain, Rasmus Alm was sidelined with an abdominal issue, Joakim Nilsson sat out because of a knee injury, while John Nelson will be suspended for this encounter following his expulsion last weekend in the Windy City.
Caden Glover made his MLS debut in that encounter replacing Eduard Lowen late in the second half, becoming the first player born in 2007 to feature in a league game, while last weekend was the first time that he and Miguel Perez, the two St Louis home-growns, had played in the same match.
Nicholas Gioacchini, their second-leading scorer (three), is without a goal in his previous three MLS fixtures, while the last goal they scored in this competition came from Celio Pompeu in a 2-1 loss to the Portland Timbers.
Sporting were without Khiry Shelton for their previous encounter due to an adductor strain, Willy Agada is still dealing with a tibia stress fracture, Kayden Pierre has a sore hamstring, Kortne Ford continues to recover from Achilles surgery and Tim Melia has an injured quad.
Johnny Russell scored the equaliser in their draw versus the Black and Gold this week, his 50th for SKC in the regular season, Remi Walter made his 55th straight regular-season start, while Gadi Kinda has a goal and an assist in two of his last three games.
Daniel Salloi ranks third in the league regarding progressive carries, Alan Pulido has a total of 24 goal contributions in 32 career regular season starts, while Erik Thommy has a goal and two assists in his last three games.
St Louis City possible starting lineup:
Burki; Nerwinski, Bartlett, Hiebert, Pidro; Lowen, Blom; Ostrak, Vassilev, Gioacchini; Glover
Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup:
McIntosh; Davis, Rosero, Fontas, Ndenbe; Kinda, Espinoza, Walter; Russell, Pulido, Salloi
We say: St Louis City 1-2 Sporting Kansas City
They still have a long way to go, but with the SKC core group getting healthier, their experience against adversity has temporarily turned around their season, and for now, it does not appear as though St Louis know how to fix their woeful form.
How to watch
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Joel Lefevre
