Sporting KC vs. DC United: Match Preview and Predictions

Sporting KC vs D.C. United

When: Sat., March 8, 2025, at 6:30 PM CT

Where: Audi Field

How to Watch/Stream: Apple MLS Season Pass

Sporting Kansas City continues their start to the 2025 season, this time on the road, taking on former rival DC United, who defeated them in the 2004 MLS Cup. Let’s dive into what this could mean for both teams, how they may line up, and what else we may want to watch for.

Early 2025 Season Results

Sporting Kansas City have so far picked up right where they left off in 2024, which is not a good thing. After finishing 13^th in the West in 2024 with a record of 8-19-7, they have started the 2025 season with a 1-0 loss on the road to Austin FC, a 4-1 aggregate loss to Inter Miami in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, and a 2-1 defeat to the San Jose Earthquakes home opener. They find themselves in a hole already, sitting near the bottom of the Western Conference with zero points and a -2 goal differential in league play. Four straight losses across competitions will be concerning to all who follow.

DC United, on the other hand, have had a somewhat more balanced start to the season. Following a 10th-place finish in the Eastern Conference in 2024, they began 2025 with a 2-2 draw at home against Toronto FC and another 2-2 draw on the road against the Chicago Fire. They currently sit in 9th place in the Eastern Conference with two points.

DC United holds a very slight historical edge over Sporting Kansas City, with DC winning 23 and Kansas City winning 22, with 12 drawn matches. The head-to-head series very much favors the home side for these teams, and both teams tend to struggle at the other’s venue. However, since conference realignments, the two sides have clashed less often. The last meeting was a 3-0 Sporting Kansas City win at home in September 2022.

Tactical Approaches

Sporting Kansas City, under the long tenure of Peter Vermes, has developed a possession-based, high pressing style of play. Swift passing combinations and off the ball runs have been the name of the game when it comes to creating scoring chances. Although there have not been many goals to celebrate, at times the new additions have shown some real danger in the attacking third.

DC often favors a slower build, playing out of a dense midfield, looking to work transitions and keep possession in advanced areas. Look for Kansas City to try to exploit the midfield a bit, disrupting possession and striking fast. On paper, newcomers Manu Garcia and Dejan Joveljic working off of Daniel Salloi and Erik Thommy is a very exciting prospect for this match.

Interesting Matchups

• Erik Thommy (SKC) vs. Boris Enow (DC): The midfield battle between Thommy and Enow could be crazy. Thommy will seek to control the tempo and create opportunities for Sporting Kansas City, with Enow focused on disrupting their play and winning possession back for DC United.
• Manu Garcia (SKC) vs. Gabriel Pirani (DC): We’re going to see two creative midfielders vying for supremacy. Garcia will be looking to orchestrate Sporting Kansas City’s attacks, while Pirani will aim to do the same for DC United.
• Dejan Joveljic (SKC) vs. Kye Rowles (DC): This matchup pits two new signings against each other. Joveljic will be eager to follow up his PK goal from last week with a flurry of offense against DC United, while Rowles will be tasked with neutralizing the threat.

Insights and Concerns

With significant roster turnover in the offseason, Sporting Kansas City has one of the lowest returning player minute percentages in MLS, at just 67 percent. This lack of continuity could affect their ability to gel as a team and perform consistently. DC United is in a similar place, with just over 50 percent of their 2024 minutes were played by players signed for 2025. Both sides will be looking at building cohesion and chemistry quickly, for this match and the rest of the season.

Sporting Kansas City’s defense has been a cause for concern for a minute now, and we don’t need advanced analytics to prove that. One stat that stood out was opponents have been able to create scoring opportunities with relative ease, averaging fewer than 60 passes per expected goal, the second worst in the league. This suggests that their defense is simply not preventing opponents from progressing the ball into dangerous areas.

DC’s direct style of play could exploit this weakness. DC United often uses hopeful crosses and long balls to take advantage of Christian Benteke’s aerial prowess. This could well be effective against Sporting Kansas City, who have shown vulnerability in defending aerial balls.

While Christian Benteke is a prolific goal scorer, DC United needs to find other avenues to goal as well if they want to show that they’re a more rounded attacking unit. Relying solely on Benteke could make them predictable and easier to defend against.

Thoughts and Predictions

This match presents an important early-season clash between two teams with contrasting styles and areas of strength and weakness. Sporting Kansas City will likely look to try control possession and dictate tempo while away from home, and create chances through their passing game, while DC United will probably look to disrupt Kansas City’s rhythm with high pressing and hit them on the counterattack. Both teams have key areas to address early if they want to start accumulating points. Sporting Kansas City needs to improve defensively and find more goals from their midfield, while DC United needs to reduce their reliance on Benteke and shore up their defense.

Given all this, it could be a tough one to predict, but we’re going to try anyway. DC United’s historical home advantage against Sporting Kansas City and their effective high-pressing system might give them a slight edge. That said, if Sporting Kansas City can tighten up defensively for this one and their new signings can gel quickly, there’s real upset potential here. My prediction? Two teams with shaky defenses but potent attacks and contrasting styles could mean another relatively high scoring affair, and I hate to predict a loss, so I’m going with a 2-2 draw.

What do you think? Weigh in below in the comments.