For the home team, Lucy Bronze and Sandy Baltimore make debuts, while Mayra Ramirez starts up top for Chelsea. Missy Bo Kearns and Sabrina D’Angelo make their Villa debuts, too.
And a profile of Sonia Bompastor, from the time of her appointment.
And the respective teams’ season previews.
Before we get started, there’s still time to read Suzanne Wrack’s preview of the season.
Chelsea: Hampton, Bronze, Bright, Buchanan, Lawrence, Cuthbert, Nusken, Reiten, Baltimore, Kaneryd, Ramirez. Subs: Musovic, Macario, James, Bjorn, Perisset, Kaptein, Mpome, Beever-Jones.
Aston Villa team: D’Angelo, Maritz, Patten, Parker, Tomas, Nobbs, Staniforth, Grant, Kearns, Dali, Daly. Subs: Poor, Mayling, Corsie, Turner, Pacheco, Leon, Robinson, Hanson, Salmon.
So this is Chelsea without Emma Hayes. And Emma being Emma she’s already made waves with an Olympic gold. So no pressure, Sonia Bompastor, once of Lyon, takes charge at Kingsmeadow – no roll-out at Stamford Bridge – after a promising summer tour. The expectation, this being Chelsea, is that they win the WSL. Such are the standards. It won’t be the same without Fran Kirby and Jess Carter, among others but Lucy Bronze is among the summer arrivals.
As for Villa, Robert de Pauw has taken over after Carla Ward’s surprise exit, and there’s been plenty of change. Rachel Daly remains, and without her England duties to consider, and Chelsea know she is still one of the best stikers in the game.
Kick-off is at 7pm. Join me.
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