Gary Devonport, the host of the Leeds United themed Talking Shutt podcast, was joined by the panel on their most recent show to discuss a variety of topics regarding Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
One of which, was whether or not Raphinha, the Brazilian winger should start the Whites’ upcoming Premier League fixture versus Arsenal following the international break. Leeds signed the 23-year-old from the French side Stade Rennais in the summer for a reported fee of £16.72m (as per Transfermarkt).
However, he is yet to start a Premier League fixture, making three substitute appearances to date in the games versus Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa and most recently, Crystal Palace.
Devonport, during the podcast, predicted we may see the player start when Bielsa’s team take on Mikel Arteta’s Gunners and he identified who may be the man left out in order to accommodate him. Here is what he had to say:
“I reckon against Arsenal, Raphinha starts instead of [Helder] Costa. I just think that he possibly just gives us a little bit more than Costa in terms of his passing ability.
“I’ve got a funny feeling he might start, he looks a bit more physical than Costa as well, he looks to have a little more about him. He looks to put himself about a little bit more, he looks to give people something to think about because he’s not just going to fall on the floor if they touch him.”
Would you start Raphinha over Helder Costa versus Arsenal?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on the possibility of Raphinha starting ahead of Helder Costa…
Helder Costa has started 100% of Leeds’ Premier League fixtures so far this season, contributing two goals and two assists to date (as per Transfermarkt). Three of his four direct goal contributions came in the first two weekends of the season and so it could perhaps be argued that in terms of his outputs, the Portuguese winger has been less effective of late.
According to WhoScored, his average performance rating since the start of the campaign stands at 6.61/10 which in our view, suggests he isn’t exactly undroppable at the moment and so you can understand why Devonport feels Raphinha may get his first start for Leeds.