With Chelsea's men scattered to the four winds on international duty, the spotlight is properly on Chelsea Women this weekend as they face arch rivals Arsenal at The Emirates on Sunday afternoon.
If the women in blue manage to turn in a performance half as good as the men achieved a fortnight ago, it should be quite a spectacle.
Defender Aniek Nouwen made her first appearance as a second-half sub in Chelsea Women's pre-season friendly against Villa at a Kingsmeadow which was throbbing again after the fans returned.
The Blues managed a 1-0 win, with Beth England scoring the only goal, guiding the ball off her head in a graceful arc over the keeper and into the net.
Within moments of Nouwen's appearance, Chelsea's resourceful fans had begun chanting the name of their new Dutch centre back, signed in the summer from PSV.
She came on for Millie Bright – one of nine simultaneous subs which left the poor fourth official hopelessly waving numbers in the air like a crazed bingo caller, and which utterly flummoxed the stadium announcer, who gave up Tannoying the changes.
"I'm happy with my debut for the Blues," said Nouwen afterwards. Meanwhile, striker Lauren James's debut has been delayed. "She had a lot of injury last year, so we're trying to take care of her," manager Emma Hayes said. "We're taking our time with Lauren."
After Sunday's match at Arsenal, Chelsea Women play their first home game of the new Women's Super League season against Everton at Kingsmeadow on Sunday 12 September.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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