The newest and most intense rivalry takes place again this weekend in Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park. No matter what name you want to give this derby, it is always a fantastic matchup! Sporting Kansas City takes on St Louis City SC at 7:30 PM CT on Saturday, July 20.
The previous six matchups are all over the place. St Louis has won two of the six in blowout fashion. However, each of those wins came at home in STL. SKC has won three of the six with the most notable win coming in the playoffs in 2023 away at STL. In the 2024 season, the teams have already matched up one time. This game ended with six goals and a 3-3 draw.
All of these scorelines make predictions extremely hard. St Louis was a top team last year and yet SKC still knocked them out in the playoffs as a wild card. SKC and STL are not having stellar seasons this year, so this game provides an even playing field for the two sides. Each team is coming off a midweek loss away from home. SKC lost to Vancouver 2-1 and STL lost to Seattle 2-0. This loss for SKC snapped a little win streak of three games. The loss for STL continued a three-game losing streak for them
Big name for St Louis, João Klaus missed Wednesday’s match in Seattle with a knee injury. This is massive news for SKC fans as he was one of the best strikers in MLS last year. Klaus had not been playing well prior to the Seattle game. Klaus has only scored five goals in 19 matches played. This could be a huge advantage for the SKC backline as they have not looked good all year and it would be convenient to not have to worry about Klaus.
Jake Davis and John Pulskamp will not be available for the game this Saturday as they are in Paris as Alternate Players for the US Olympic National Team. Remi Walter made his return to the team in Vancouver and looked very good. No Ndembe just yet but SKC is starting to become healthier each day.
This rivalry is bigger than soccer. St Louis people do NOT like Kansas City people (Vis Versa of course). Since the Rams of the NFL left STL, the two cities were stuck with the baseball rivalry. But, this new rivalry is something special. The atmospheres of each stadium are top class, and the ease of away fan travel allows for electric crowds each game. This game is a must-watch for any person in Kansas City or St Louis. And if you’re just a soccer fan, you have to tune in as well.
The game kicks off at 7:30 PM in Kansas City, KS. Streaming on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
