Chelsea midfielder Guro Reiten is expecting another closely contested title race as The Blues prepare to kick-off the new Barclays FA Women’s Super League season at Arsenal on Sunday.
Emma Hayes’ side were put under severe pressure from title rivals Manchester City last season with Chelsea having to wait until the final day to confirm their status as 2020/2021 champions.
Speaking in a recent FAWSL media session in which FAWSL Full-Time were present, Reiten said that she again expects the title race to be keenly fought with Sunday’s opponents Arsenal potentially being much tougher than they were last season.
“It’s the English league, it’s going to be tight;” Reiten said. “Arsenal are going to be stronger this year. Obviously, starting with them is a tough start for us.
“We have had a lot of players playing in the Olympics and they were a bit late in returning but at the same time, we have an unbelievable squad so we are going to make sure that we are ready for the opening game because every point is going to count in the end.”
For the first month or so of pre-season, Chelsea had a significantly reduced number of players on the training ground as a result of the Olympics. Reiten went on to say that player absences as a result of international duty did not impact life on the training ground too much whilst adding that the team are well-gelled both on and off the pitch.
She added “It has been a really good pre-season. We have had 11 players in maybe but we have brought in some boys to make sure that we can play 11 v 11.
“The quality has been really good so we have been doing everything that we could to prepare well for the new season.
“You need to be better at everything if you want to win. You need to develop strong relationships with your teammates and always aim to know each other better both on and off the pitch. Last year, we were in for three hours (at training) then we sat in our apartment.
“We had some new players in last season who had never been to London. You have to get to know each other and that helps to bring the best out of everyone.”
Chelsea’s opening Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture at Arsenal kicks-off at 12.30pm on Sunday afternoon.
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