Photo by Denny Medley/USA TODAY Sports

 

By RYAN TOLMICH

Sporting KC head into Thursday’s CONCACAF Champions League action in a very advantageous position.

Sitting atop Group 2, Sporting KC pay visit to the CCL’s most successful non-Mexican club, Costa Rica’s Saprissa, who has won the competition three times. However, for all of Saprissa’s past successes, Sporting KC enters Thursday as the heavy favorites to advance.

A win or a draw would see the MLS side through, as well as any two-goal loss that would see Sporting KC score two or more goals. There is an option for a potential stalemate, as a 3-1 Saprissa victory would send the group into a coin-flip scenario due to equal tiebreakers.

The visitors will enter Thursday’s action a bit shorthanded, as midfielder Graham Zusi will be suspended due to yellow card accumulation. In addition, defender Matt Besler and goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum were left in Kansas City ahead of Saturday’s clash with the New York Red Bulls.

However, Sporting KC will benefit from the presence their standout CCL performers thus far, as Claudio Bieler and Antonio Dovale have contributed four combined goals through group play thus far.

In addition, Thursday’s action also sees a meeting between Mexico’s Club Leon and El Salvador’s Metapan in a matchup of two sides who have previously been eliminated by Costa Rica’s Herediano, who finished the group stage with 10 points.

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What do you expect from tonight’s action? Which MLS side do you think is in the best position to make a run?

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