Davis excited to see Sporting KC’s response to heavy Nashville loss

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Jake Davis expects to see a strong reaction from his team when they host struggling Real Salt Lake in MLS on Saturday.

Sporting KC continue to prop up the Western Conference table with five games to play, and their 4-0 loss to Nashville SC ended their slim hopes of reaching the playoffs.

They are winless in their last three outings (D1 L2), while they have also failed to win their last two matches on home soil, with their last such victory coming on September 12.

But Sporting are determined to finish the season on a high, and Davis is looking forward to seeing the team’s reaction on the pitch.

“Right now, I’m thinking about beating Salt Lake,” he said. “I think we need to focus on everything we can give this weekend.

“I sit here, and I see the quality the group has had in the last couple weeks, and I’m excited for Saturday.

“I think we’re going to go out, be strong, bring our quality and put on a good performance for our fans and beat Salt Lake.”

— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) October 15, 2026

Unlike their opponents, RSL are still chasing a place in the postseason, as they sit 11th in the West, just five points behind ninth-place Colorado Rapids.

However, they have won just one of their last 16 games (D5 L10), with that victory coming on home soil – they have only registered one road victory in 2026, against Atlanta United in March.

They conceded a stoppage-time equaliser in a 1-1 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes last time out, but were dealt an injury blow as goal scorer Luc De Fougerolles went off injured shortly after hitting the back of the net.

“We don’t know the extent of De Fougerolles’ injury,” head coach Pablo Mastroeni said after that game.

“It doesn’t look good… I don’t want to overreact to this moment, but he needed help getting to the locker room.

“What he’s brought to this team in just a short time has been transformational. Fingers crossed he recovers quick, and it’s just a cramp, but we’ll see.”

Sporting Kansas City – Stefan Cleveland

Sporting KC’s 4-0 defeat to Nashville was the 14th time this season that they have allowed three or more goals in a match, the most in a single season in MLS history.

Sporting and Stefan Cleveland have allowed three or more goals in five of their last eight league matches, a run he will be desperate to turn around.

Real Salt Lake – Luc De Fougerolles

De Fougerolles scored Real Salt Lake’s lone goal in their draw with San Jose, though he was substituted off injured shortly after, meaning it remains to be seen if he will feature on Saturday.

It was just the second goal scored by an RSL defender in this year’s regular season after Lukas Engel scored against Los Angeles FC on July 22.

What a night for Luc https://t.co/pWOr1LuTyF

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) October 16, 2026

Real Salt Lake are unbeaten in five straight meetings with Sporting KC (W4 D1), including winning each of the last two meetings.

Dating back to the start of the 2015 season, RSL have 15 wins in 26 regular-season meetings with Sporting (D6 L5).

Sporting KC suffered their fourth four-goal defeat of the season on Wednesday when they lost to league-leading Nashville. Prior to this season, Sporting had just four losses by four or more goals in regular-season play over the previous six seasons dating back to 2020.

RSL, meanwhile, conceded in the fourth minute of stoppage time in their draw with San Jose, the 12th time they have failed to win in their last 13 matches in all competitions (D3 L9).

They have managed one clean sheet over the 13 matches, doing so in their only win (3-0 vs. New England Revolution).

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