Preview:San Diego vs. Sporting Kansas City - prediction, team news, lineups

San Diego play host to Sporting Kansas City at the Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday, as they look to further strengthen their playoff position in the MLS Western Conference.

The hosts are second in the standings and will be aiming to extend their winning streak to four games in all competitions, while the visitors are currently 13th in the table and will go in search of their first win in three fixtures.

Match preview

Barely halfway into the season, San Diego have already made an impression in their inaugural season of Major League Soccer.

Mikey Varas's charges showed signs of what was to come, going unbeaten in their first four matches, with two victories and two draws.

However, the hosts experienced a decline in April, managing only one win and three consecutive losses and conceding three goals apiece in the last three games of the month.

Nevertheless, May brought some much-needed reprieve with three triumphs on the bounce, starting with a dominant 5-0 demolition of Dallas - a feat which is their biggest MLS victory yet - followed up by a 2-1 win over St Louis City and a 2-0 dismissal of Colorado Rapids in their last outing.

Their recent run has seen them solidify their second position in the table with 23 points from 13 matches, four adrift of Vancouver Whitecaps, who are setting the pace in the Western Conference.

With four wins in their last five matches in front of their fans, SDFC could claim yet another victory in front of their teeming fans.

Indeed, playing away from home has not yielded the expected results for Kerry Zavagnin's men.

In seven fixtures on the road in 2025, the Wizards have managed to claim a solitary win, a goal-laden week nine fixture against San Jose Earthquakes, which ended 5-3 in favour of Zavagnin's team.

Their struggles on the road are not exactly surprising, as the visiting side won only one of their last seven away fixtures in 2024. While they have fared well in terms of goals scored (19), a porous defence, which has seen them ship 24 goals - a tally which is the second-worst defensive record in the West - is central to their travails.

Although they did earn a 2-2 draw against St Louis City in their last league exertion, the Kansas-based outfit have it all to do when they travel to California this weekend.

San Diego form (all competitions):

Sporting Kansas City form (all competitions):

Team News

San Diego will be without Marcus Ingvartsen, who is still on the mend from a leg injury which has sidelined him for most of the season. Andres Reyes is battling a hip injury, which has kept him out of action for the hosts in the last few weeks.

Similarly, Hamady Diop is also struggling with hip issues of his own, meaning he will not be in contention for Sunday's fixture.

As for the visitors, Joaquin Fernandez remains confined to the treatment room with a muscle injury.

American Memo Rodriguez is close to a return from a muscle injury, but his participation in this encounter is up in the air, as he faces a late fitness test to ascertain his readiness for the contest.

San Diego possible starting lineup: Dos Santos; McNair, McVey, Bombino, Kumado; De la Torre, Godoy, Tverskov; Lozano, Dreyer, Mighten

Sporting Kansas City possible starting lineup: Pulskamp; Brody, Voloder, Miller, Bassong; Davis, Bartlett, Garcia; Thommy, Joveljic, Salloi

We say: San Diego 2-0 Sporting Kansas City

Considering the struggles of the visiting side and the consistency and quality of San Diego, the hosts are primed for another routine win, and we predict a 2-0 victory for SDFC.

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