What Leeds fans can expect from Melvin Bard with debut expected vs Chelsea

Melvin Bard could make his first appearance as a Leeds United player when they take on Chelsea in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.

Bard, 25, joined the Whites on loan from OGC Nice on transfer deadline day, with the Yorkshire giants holding the option to make his stay permanent next summer.

He started both of Nice's first two Ligue 1 games before making the move to Elland Road, before being an unused substitute in the 1-1 draw away at Brighton on Saturday.

Although Gabriel Gudmundsson is expected to remain as Leeds' first-choice left-back this season, there's a lot of anticipation about how Bard will perform when given the chance to impress.

His first opportunity to do so is potentially going to be against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the third round of the Carabao Cup this week.

But what can Leeds fans expect from the French flyer?

Why Melvin Bard might be more than a back-up option

Gudmundsson's been a fairly solid left-back for Leeds but he's by no means an undroppable player.

If Bard takes his chances against teams like Chelsea, there's every opportunity he could oust the Sweden international and make the full-back spot his own.

It won't be simple, but this is a player who's 25, has 168 Ligue 1 appearances to his name, has tasted Champions League and Europa League football and has also been capped by France.

He's definitely going to add some competition as a proper left-footed, left-back option.

The Frenchman is comfortable going forward with the ball at his feet, can play in a wing-back role and does his defensive duties well.

As per stats by Sofascore, Bard ranked joint-10th among defenders in Ligue 1 for tackles completed (52) and joint-ninth for successful dribbles (16) last season.

He came in at sixth place among Ligue 1 defenders for interceptions (40), joint-10th for big chances created (5) and joint-11th for accurate crosses (15).

Bard's 25-26 stats compared to Gabriel Gudmundsson

Looking at their league stats last season, Bard scored two goals to Gudmundsson's zero despite the Swede (1.10) have a higher xG than his new French teammate (1.07).

Bard also supplied one assist, while Gudmundsson didn't provide any, despite an xA of 2.75.

Gudmudsson won more tackles per game (2.0) to Bard's 1.8, but Bard was dribbled past fewer times, blocked more shots and made more interceptions on average.

Bard probably had a better season, and did so while trying to keep Nice from being relegated to Ligue 2.

Both left-backs had relegation battles to contend with and Leeds did actually have it better in the end last term, as Nice only stayed up due to a relegation play-off they won against Saint-Etienne.

If Bard impresses against Chelsea, Gudmudsson might find himself needing to step aside and relinquish his stranglehold on that left-back spot.

But that might only be a good thing for him and for Leeds, to have two top players competing with one another for a single spot in Daniel Farke's XI.