Sporting Kansas City vs Los Angeles FC

Sporting Kansas City take on Los Angeles FC in round 25 of the 2026 Major League Soccer regular season on September 13. With the visitors pushing for a strong playoff seeding and the hosts enduring a difficult campaign at the foot of the table, this fixture presents contrasting priorities.

Team News and Injury Latest

Both teams enter this MLS encounter dealing with significant absences. Sporting Kansas City head coach Raphael Wicky will be without midfield duo Jake Davis and Owen Wolff due to knee and ankle injuries respectively, while Zorhan Bassong is sidelined with a calf issue. Calvin Harris and Ian James are also marked as questionable. To bolster their squad, SKC recently acquired 19-year-old forward Ruben Ramos Jr. on loan from LA Galaxy and 18-year-old Seymour Reid from New York City FC, and both could feature.

For Los Angeles FC, several central figures are missing. Igor Jesus and Timothy Tillman are ruled out with leg injuries, and backup goalkeeper Thomas Hasal remains unavailable due to an arm problem. Scottish defender Ryan Porteous is listed as a doubt, also dealing with a leg issue.

Sporting Kansas City Form Guide

It has been a gruelling 2026 campaign for Sporting Kansas City. They sit 15th and last in the Western Conference with just 15 points from 22 matches, having suffered 15 defeats. Their form heading into this fixture reads a bleak two draws and three losses from their last five outings. Defensive frailties have been glaring; Wicky's side have conceded 54 goals already this term, leaving them with a minus-34 goal difference.

LAFC Stuttering Momentum

Despite sitting third in the Western Conference with 36 points, Los Angeles FC have hit a rocky patch of form. The Californian outfit are winless in their last five league matches, recording three draws and two defeats. However, they boast a solid defensive record of just 22 goals conceded, the best mark among the West's top five. They will also draw confidence from a recent 2-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City, a game in which Denis Bouanga found the back of the net.

A victory for LAFC is vital to arrest their slide and cement their playoff positioning in the upper echelons of the Western Conference. For Sporting Kansas City, avoiding another heavy defeat and integrating their new teenage loanees will be the immediate focus as they attempt to salvage some pride in the closing weeks of the season.