The Blues travel to Villa Park for a lunchtime kick-off and will be hoping to build on the three points earned against Manchester City in our WSL opener.

Thompson was paraded in front of the Stamford Bridge faithful before that 2-1 victory and has spent this week training with her team-mates at Cobham with a protective cast on her left arm.

And while Bompastor is hopeful of having the United States international in her squad, she says approval has yet to be communicated to Chelsea.

'With Alyssa, we are looking for her to be able to play,' explained the Blues head coach. 'We don't have the confirmation yet, but we are hoping for her to be able to play in this game.

'She will bring some variety into our games, so it's really nice. I think she has already shown some good things this week in training, and we can see what she can bring to the team.'

Erin Cuthbert started against Manchester City but was withdrawn after 77 minutes following a heavy collision in midfield. However, Bompastor allayed any concerns over the Scotland international's fitness ahead of the clash with Villa.

'Erin is fine,' the boss confirmed. 'It was just a small knock. She could practice all week, and she's available for selection for the game this weekend.'

Naomi Girma was absent from the squad for the victory over Manchester City, as the coach started with a back three of Millie Bright, Nathalie Bjorn and Niamh Charles. The coach confirmed that the 25-year-old would also miss the clash with Villa.

One player who was included in the match-day squad for our WSL opener was Sam Kerr, who was an unused substitute. The Australian hasn't played for Chelsea since December 2023 due to injury, but Bompastor says the striker is ready when called upon.

'She had a good pre-season, even if she didn't get a lot of minutes,' Bompastor explained. 'It was only my choice not to have Sam come in the game last weekend, but again, she had a good week.

'She's in a good place, mentally, physically, so maybe on Sunday, we'll see. But she's doing everything she can to be available for the squad and available to start. It's a balance between what she has been doing the last weeks and also she's not one or two per cent ready to start again, but not far from that.

'It's been tough. Even if Sam is someone who is really positive, cares about the team, and always puts the team first, it's been tough for her personally. Being away from games, winning trophies, as a competitive person, it's always difficult.

'So the best way for us to support her was to make sure we gave her a lot of support in different ways, by having different conversations with her, but also making sure she could feel our love in more difficult moments.

'The next step for her is to be involved in a short game in the league, and maybe we'll see that on Sunday.'