Major League Soccer · 2026Sun, 23 Aug 2026, 23:00 UTCScheduledPre-match analysis

Atlanta United

LDLLD

vsPre-match analysis

Sporting Kansas City

WWLLW

30-second read

What the record shows

The clearest recorded pattern is: Sporting Kansas City's last-five goals scored average is above their season average. A second useful context is: Atlanta United's shot volume and the opposing shot-allowance context sit above their competition baselines. Limitation: At least one team lacks a recent completed match near this fixture cutoff.

Sporting Kansas City's recent record differs from the season

moderate

Sporting Kansas City's last-five goals scored average is above their season average.

2 goals/match▲Goals forLast 5 · Season1.13 goals/match

Evidence and caveat

Comparison: An unweighted last-five average is compared with the unweighted season average.

Window: last_5 versus season

Metric	Last 5	Season	Baseline
Goals for	2 goals/match	1.13 goals/match	1.63 goals/match

Caveat: Five matches are sensitive to opponent mix and isolated match states.

Atlanta United show a distinct attacking-volume record

moderate

Atlanta United's shot volume and the opposing shot-allowance context sit above their competition baselines.

13 shots/match▲ShotsAtlanta United · Sporting Kansas City9.56 shots/match

Evidence and caveat

Comparison: Team shot volume is paired with the opponent's recorded shot allowance.

Window: season

Metric	Atlanta United	Sporting Kansas City	Baseline
Shots	13 shots/match	9.56 shots/match	13 shots/match
Shots against	11.6 shots/match	16.6 shots/match	12.3 shots/match

Caveat: Shot volume describes activity; it does not establish finishing quality or a match outcome.

The teams have contrasting possession records

moderate

Atlanta United have recorded the higher season possession share.

52.7%▲PossessionAtlanta United · Sporting Kansas City44.3%

Evidence and caveat

Comparison: The recorded possession gap is 8.4 percentage points.

Window: season

Metric	Atlanta United	Sporting Kansas City	Baseline
Possession	52.7%	44.3%	49.9%

Caveat: Possession share does not show where possession occurred or how chances were created.

Metric comparison

Values, percentiles and samples

Where the edge is

Atlanta United favored in 8 of 14 directional metrics · Sporting Kansas City in 2 · 4 too close

1 goals/matchGoals scoredseason · 16/16▲1.13 goals/match

1.63 goals/match▲Goals allowedseason · 16/162.5 goals/match

1.35 xG/match▲Expected goalsseason · 13/130.95 xG/match

1.45 xG/match▲Expected goals allowedseason · 13/131.98 xG/match

13 shots/match▲Shotsseason · 16/169.56 shots/match

11.6 shots/match▲Shots allowedseason · 16/1616.6 shots/match

4.19 shots/matchShots on targetseason · 16/164.13 shots/match

4.38 shots/match▲Shots on target allowedseason · 16/166.06 shots/match

52.7%Possessionseason · 16/1644.3%

4.88 corners/matchCornersseason · 16/163.81 corners/match

4.81 corners/match▲Corners allowedseason · 16/165.94 corners/match

2.5 cards/matchCardsseason · 4/31.33 cards/match

11.6 fouls/matchFoulsseason · 16/1613.5 fouls/match

—Passesseason · 0/0—

—Pass accuracyseason · 0/0—

—Shots inside boxseason · 0/0—

—Blocked shotsseason · 0/0—

—Goalkeeper savesseason · 0/0—

—Offsidesseason · 0/0—

6%▲Clean-sheet frequencyseason · 16/160%

56%Scoring frequencyseason · 16/16▲69%

Style profile

How the teams compare

Competition percentiles describe recorded style; they do not rank likely outcomes.

Possession control

Relative share of recorded possession within the competition.

Atlanta United65

Sporting Kansas City8.3

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Attacking volume

Recorded shot and scoring volume, expressed as competition percentiles.

Atlanta United25.6

Sporting Kansas City7.8

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Defensive resistance

Lower recorded scoring and shot allowance produces a higher descriptive percentile.

Atlanta United62.2

Sporting Kansas City10

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Directness proxy

Shots per possession point; a descriptive transition/directness proxy, not an outcome score.

Atlanta United38.3

Sporting Kansas City25

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Physicality

Recorded fouls and cards relative to competition peers.

Atlanta United45.8

Sporting Kansas City43.3

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 59%

Set-piece relevance

Corner volume relative to competition peers.

Atlanta United55

Sporting Kansas City8.3

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Tempo and pressure proxy

Combined event-volume percentiles for shots, corners and fouls.

Atlanta United42.1

Sporting Kansas City26.2

0–100 competition percentile · coverage 100%

Recent form

Season, last 10 and last 5

Window

Last 5

5 / 5 matches

0.8 goals/matchGoals scored5/5▲2 goals/match

1.6 goals/matchGoals allowed5/51.6 goals/match

1.44 xG/matchExpected goals5/51.49 xG/match

14.8 shots/matchShots5/514.6 shots/match

4.2 shots/matchShots on target5/5▲6.6 shots/match

50.2%Possession5/547.4%

4.8 corners/matchCorners5/55.2 corners/match

—Cards0/0—

10.2 fouls/matchFouls5/514.6 fouls/match

Window

Last 10

10 / 10 matches

1 goals/matchGoals scored10/10▲1.2 goals/match

1.5 goals/match▲Goals allowed10/102.6 goals/match

1.33 xG/match▲Expected goals10/101.04 xG/match

15.1 shots/match▲Shots10/1011.3 shots/match

4.7 shots/matchShots on target10/104.8 shots/match

51%Possession10/1043.7%

5.7 corners/matchCorners10/104.2 corners/match

—Cards1/0—

10.5 fouls/matchFouls10/1014.4 fouls/match

Window

Season

16 / 16 matches

1 goals/matchGoals scored16/16▲1.13 goals/match

1.63 goals/match▲Goals allowed16/162.5 goals/match

1.35 xG/match▲Expected goals13/130.95 xG/match

13 shots/match▲Shots16/169.56 shots/match

4.19 shots/matchShots on target16/164.13 shots/match

52.7%Possession16/1644.3%

4.88 corners/matchCorners16/163.81 corners/match

2.5 cards/matchCards4/31.33 cards/match

11.6 fouls/matchFouls16/1613.5 fouls/match

Venue split

Home and away samples

Window

Home team at home / away team away

8 / 8 matches

1.38 goals/match▲Goals scored8/80.88 goals/match

1.75 goals/match▲Goals allowed8/83.13 goals/match

1.35 xG/match▲Expected goals7/70.66 xG/match

13.4 shots/match▲Shots8/88.88 shots/match

4.63 shots/match▲Shots on target8/82.88 shots/match

55.1%Possession8/845.4%

4.5 corners/matchCorners8/83.75 corners/match

—Cards2/1—

10.4 fouls/matchFouls8/814.9 fouls/match

Schedule context

Rest and recent workload

32 daysRest before fixtureprevious completed fixtures · 1/131.9 days

0 matchesMatches in previous 14 daysprevious completed fixtures · 1/10 matches

Evidence quality

How much supports this analysis

Grade B · Useful evidencelimited

Season samples16 / 16home / away teams

Recent samples5 / 5last-five windows

Freshness32 daysstale at cutoff

At least one team lacks a recent completed match near this fixture cutoff.

Known unknowns

Lineups, injuries, suspensions and tactical changes are not available in the retained dataset.
The nearest completed-match evidence is stale relative to this fixture cutoff.

Analysis cutoff: Sun, 23 Aug 2026, 23:00 UTC · analysis-v4