The Blues begin the defence of their WSL title this evening when we host Aston Villa at Kingsmeadow.

In the maiden competitive outing of the new campaign, our Swedish international hopes, will see her carry on the form that she showed throughout pre-season.

Picking up where she left off on the final day of our title-winning season – where she scored in our 6-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford – the 27-year-old found the back of the net twice this summer.

Both of those goals came in Chelsea’s 3-1 win over NJ/NY Gotham, and it was also in that match when Rytting Kaneryd bagged an assist, teeing up Aggie Beever-Jones.

Other than scoring and setting up goals, Rytting Kaneryd has impressed with her performances down the wing during pre-season, which has left her feeling good going into the encounter with Villa.

‘Definitely,’ Rytting Kaneryd answers assuredly when asked if she is aiming to bring the momentum already gained into the competitive campaign.

‘Last year, it was about me developing and getting playing time. This season, it is about scoring and getting assists. I got a few assists last season, but now it’s about adding scoring to my game.

‘I’m not satisfied though. I always want to develop and do more. I’m looking forward to the season because I feel like I’m in good shape.

‘You need that confidence going into the new season. I feel good and have a had good summer, so of course it is going to give me that boost to keep on working and building on that.’

Rytting Kaneryd believes her form going into the new season has been helped by the support of new head coach Sonia Bompastor, who will take charge of the Blues in a competitive match for the first time against Villa.

‘My aims are always to help the team,’ our Swede said. ‘For me, I hope to do that this season with scoring more and getting more assists.

‘It’s about those two things for sure. I feel like I’m developing all the time and I’m getting better and better. I want to reach new levels again.

‘Sonia wants players to risks and express themselves, so it is good to have her backing to be able to play my game. To play the way that I want to and to perform, I need to have a coach that believes in me.

‘Sonia and her staff have been very clear with what they want from us as a team and as players, and I want the same thing.’

With two WSL seasons under her belt and two titles to show for it, Rytting Kaneryd knows how it vital it is to get our league campaign off to a good start and set the tone from matchday one.

‘It’s super important,’ Rytting Kaneryd said. ‘The first game is always a difficult one because you don’t know what to expect, but it is also special for the same reasons.

‘It’s important that we don’t look back now and we look forward. Even though we had a good pre-season, we need to have our focus on the game against Villa and focus on how we want to perform in that match.’

‘During pre-season, you can afford to make the mistakes. It is not the same when it comes to competitive games.

‘Now, it’s the time to really step things up a level. Sonia has been very clear with the way she wants us to play and if you play for Chelsea you know what is expected of you – we want to win.’

Like Chelsea, Aston Villa begin their season with a new manager with Dutchman Robert de Pauw now at the helm after he joined from Bayer Leverkusen this summer.

‘Villa have been looking sharp this pre-season,’ Rytting Kaneryd added. ‘You never know what to expect when a team has a new coach and they will be thinking the same about us.

‘We just have to focus on ourselves and what we can do. We have the confidence amongst the group that when we play at our best level than we are a hard team to beat.’