The game at Sporting Park (7:00 p.m. ET), where Toronto have never won, may see the return of Jozy Altidore, who missed the opening two games with a hamstring injury.
The Reds came back from a two-goal deficit last time out against New York City FC, thanks to a Damien Perquis header and another star turn from Sebastian Giovinco. The Atomic Ant’s late equalizer took him to two goals and two assists for the season.
More concerning to Vanney though, will be signs that his off-season defensive renovations may yet reveal cracks reminiscent of seasons gone by. Toronto’s backline looked shaky for large parts of the first half at Yankee Stadium but is likely to remain unchanged for the game Sunday.
If Altidore is fit to return to the starting line-up, the main call will be whether Tsubasa Endoh will drop to the bench despite his impressive start to the season or if he will continue in a rejigged formation.
Vanney has used a variant of 4-2-3-1 so far but could switch back to the 4-3-3 from last season which often saw Giovinco play left with Altidore through the middle or in more of a diamond with both hitmen up top.
The Toronto coach could be tempted to bring in Benoit Cheyrou, who steadied the ship off the bench against NYCFC, and play him alongside captain Michael Bradley with Will Johnson at the base of the diamond. Daniel Lovitz remains sidelined with injury picked up against the Red Bulls.
Whatever the lineup, TFC’s unbeaten record will be under threat against a Kansas City team who have started well off the blocks.
Dom Dwyer grabbed the headlines in a 2-1 win at home to the Vancouver Whitecaps last weekend with a beautiful top corner thunderbolt in a double-goal game for the Englishman.
The result backed up Sporting’s impressive one-nil victory away at Seattle Sounders on opening day. The Western Conference outfit have a balanced attack and have yet to concede from open play this season so the Reds will have their work cut out.
2015 MVP nominee Benny Feilhaber is back in training but is unlikely to recover from the abdomen strain that has kept him out thus far in time for Sunday’s matchup.
Projected Line-ups
Toronto: C.Irwin, D.Moor, D.Perquis, S.Beitashour, J.Morrow, B.Cheyrou, M.Bradley, W.Johnson, J.Osorio, S.Giovinco, J.Altidore
Sporting Kansas City: T.Melia, M.Besler, N.Coelho, A.Dia, C.Myers, S.Mustivar, R.Espinoza, J.Quintilla, G. Zusi, Hallisey, D.Dwyer
Referee: Baldomero Toledo
Broadcast: FS1, TSN2