Leeds United correspondent Beren Cross was not left impressed by the display of Raphinha in their draw on Wednesday night at Elland Road.
The Whites were able to secure a point against Aston Villa have found themselves 3-1 down after 43 minutes thanks to a brace from Daniel James and a second-half goal from Diego Llorente.
Was this Raphinha's worst Leeds display?
Yes
No
And it was apparent their Brazilian playmaker did not hit his usual heights in the draw at Elland Road with the Leeds Live reporter awarding him a mere 5/10 rating.
“One of the poorest nights we have seen from him based on his high standards. Never looked like threatening anything and his errors in the Leeds third almost dug his side a deeper hole at points,” wrote Cross after the game.
Raphinha has been in scintillating form this season with eight goals and two assists in his 20 Premier League appearances this season amid Patrick Bamford’s injury issues (via Transfermarkt).
But he really did struggle on Wednesday night against Steven Gerrard’s side as he lost the ball 25 times and ended the game with a 63% successful pass percentage (via SofaScored).
TIF Thoughts on Raphinha’s display…
It was undoubtedly an uncharacteristically poor display from the 25-year-old winger, but unlike the other Leeds players, he did not have a two-week break from action.
The winger has spent the last two weeks away on international duty in South America with Brazil so it is probably fair for fans to give him a pass on the performance against Villa.
However, Marcelo Bielsa’s men have a huge game coming up on the weekend against the struggling Everton which fans will be hoping Raphinha can return to his best form with the relegation battle heating up.
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