Raphinha in contention for Leeds debut

Posted Saturday, October 17, 2020 by PA

Leeds’ latest signing Raphinha could make his first appearance for the club in Monday’s home game against Wolves.

Raphinha, a £17million deadline-day signing from Rennes, is expected to be included in Marcelo Bielsa’s squad but skipper Liam Cooper could miss out.

Cooper and fellow centre-half Diego Llorente sustained groin injuries while on international duty for Scotland and Spain respectively and the latter will definitely not feature.

Wolves could be boosted by the return of Marcal for the trip to Elland Road.

The Brazilian full-back has missed Wanderers’ last two matches due to a calf injury but the international break has given him time to recover and he resumed training with his team-mates this week.

Marcal’s return to fitness is good news for manager Nuno Espirito Santo, with Jonny Castro Otto expected to be out until the new year following knee surgery.

Leeds provisional squad: Meslier, Ayling, Koch, Cooper, Dallas, Phillips, Klich, Alioski, Costa, Bamford, Rodrigo, Poveda, Roberts, Raphinha, Caprile, Struijk, Shackleton, Davis.

Wolves provisional squad: Patricio, Ruddy, Buur, Semedo, Kilman, Marcal, Coady, Hoever, Boly, Saiss, Vinagre, Moutinho, Neves, Vitinha, Dendoncker, Traore, Podence, Neto, Jimenez, Silva.