YouTuber Conor McGilligan has claimed that Leeds United captain Liam Cooper don't have a good on-pitch relationship with Junior Firpo.

What's the latest on Junior Firpo and Leeds?

The Whites' left-back has enjoyed a good fun of form in the team of late, starting the last seven games in a row. As a result, this spell has seen him dubbed by LeedsLive as the "biggest winner" since Javi Gracia took over.

Incidentally, in this same period, January transfer signing Maximilian Wober has also started every game alongside him in the middle of the Leeds defence.

Sadly, however, this partnership will be broken up as the Austrian picked up a hamstring injury while away with his country on international duty.

And so, while Firpo will likely play against Arsenal, he will likely line up alongside captain Cooper and McGilligan has explained why this could be an issue.

While speaking on the One Leeds Fan Channel, the host said (8:33): “I think, you know, Max Wober is of a very, very much higher level. So I think that's going to be problematic.

"I think with Coops and Firpo, as well, we've seen in the past, there's been problems there. You know, even under Marcelo Bielsa.

"I know Firpo‘s come out recently and said that on the Jesse Marsch, it was difficult because he wasn't able to play with a lot of width.

"And that is right. And Firpo‘s has been brilliant for Leeds United [recently]. But I think once again, that is a lot of credit to Max Wober. You know when Firpo goes forward Wober is able to really cover him in an efficient way.

"In a way where his football IQ is beyond anything Liam Cooper can ever deliver. So I think that's going to be a massive miss."

Does Junior Firpo play worse when Liam Cooper starts for Leeds?

Captain Cooper hasn't really been able to show his quality in recent times, and has yet to play for Gracia with just two outings in 2023 so far and only 13 across the entire Premier League season.

Last season, he played a bit more regularly with 22 appearances across all competitions. Seeing as Firpo really struggled in his debut season – with the player himself even admitting he had a "difficult time" – perhaps his relationship with Cooper was partly to blame for this.

As per WhoScored, only three Leeds players have a better average match rating (6.77) than Wober this season, so his quality will likely be missed. However, £25,000-per-week defender Cooper is just three places below him at 6.67 – so could in theory be an able deputy – while Firpo is down in 12th on 6.57.

No doubt it's a big blow for Leeds to lose Wober, but it's up to the players around him to step up and make a difference. After all, they'll potentially need the quality of the whole squad to avoid the drop this term.