Football injury expert Ben Dinnery, who contributes on Sky Sports, has given his thoughts on Raphinha and his current injury situation at Leeds United.
Raphinha has arguably been Leeds United’s best player this season, as best demonstrated by the fact he leads the team in a number of statistical categories. Most importantly he leads them in goals with nine, but also leads them in shots, key passes, dribbles and crosses per game (as per WhoScored).
And even though their chances of going down aren’t exactly alarming, with statistical data site FiveThirtyEight putting their chances at just 23%, the sooner that they can be mathematically safe, the better.
The 25-year-old missed Leeds’ last game against Wolves through illness, and it appears as though he has recovered in time to face Southampton this weekend.
Speaking on his YouTube channel (7:16), Dinnery explained what the situation was with regards to the Brazilian, and claimed that the time off between games could well be a pretty significant boost for Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch as he prepares for the game:
“Raphinha, he did not travel during the international break for Brazil. He missed out on game week 30, that win at Molineux because of [illness], that means we should have a fully refreshed winger, which would be good news for Leeds fans and I’m sure Jesse Marsch will be pretty happy with that. So he’s absolutely fine.”
TIF Thoughts on Ben Dinnery’s comments about Raphinha at Leeds United…
Will Raphinha leave this summer?
Yes!
No!
‘Pretty happy’ as Dinnery sums it up would be the perfect way to describe this situation regarding Raphinha. With the days of the ‘Bielsa burnout’ gone, combined with the time off without there being any games due to the internationals, this has come at the perfect time for Raphinha to get some rest in.
Whilst relegation isn’t an eminent danger right now, as Leeds United have shown at points this season, they are susceptible to going on bad run of form, so they need all their players to be at their best, and if he can be on top form for these next few games, starting this weekend, then there will be a good chance that safety can be secured all the sooner.
Which will Marsch a chance to start looking ahead to next season rather than worrying about this campaign for much longer.
In other news: ‘Important’ – Fabrizio Romano reveals big ‘information’ he’s ‘received’ about Leeds