With the Premier League kicking off tomorrow, I thought I’d do my usual preview of the season and how I rate the various teams’ chances as we go into it.

I will start with Champions Chelsea.

It has been an unusual Summer for Chelsea as there has arguably been a weakening of the squad with Joe Cole, Carvalho and Deco all leaving although midfielder Ramires looks certain to be joining and Benayoun has also been brought in. I certainly see nothing about this to suggest that they are going to come on leaps and bounds from last season although they will clearly be right up there next May again.

Pre-season has also been pretty disappointing for Chelsea having lost several of their games including a pretty convincing 3-1 defeat to United last weekend in the Community Shield. Ashley Cole doesn’t look a happy man to me and was probably at fault for at least two of the United goals and given how big a player he is for Chelsea, I would suggest that if he doesn’t sort himself out, they will struggle a bit at the back, especially with Carvalho (who I consider their best defender over recent years) leaving.

Still, they have been there or thereabouts for the last six years and certainly know what it takes to win the League and cannot be discounted lightly but I don’t think they will retain their title this season and could even finish third.

Then we come to Manchester United. I’m obviously biased but I think we were unlucky last season with injuries that ultimately cost us dearly. To be fair, the best team probably did win the League in the end but despite our horrendous injury problems, we still kept the title race alive until the very last day and I see no reason why we can’t do something similar this season.

A massive weight was placed on Rooney’s shoulders last season but I don’t think he will have to match his goal-scoring feats of last season again and something around 25 goals in all competitions looks more likely this season because I just can’t see him having the same amount of game time this season.

The signing of Hernandez took a lot of people by surprise but it looks like a typical masterstroke from Fergie already. We still have to see how he does in the rough and tumble of the Premier League but, despite appearances, this is a strong lad who is not afraid to mix it himself and I think he will do fine. Depending on the number of games he gets, I can certainly see 15-20 goals from him this season.

And then we have Berbatov who has been mostly disappointing in his two seasons at United but I sense a change in him this summer. He has looked much more at ease with himself and the old Berbatov confidence looks to be back. What this will mean in terms of game time remains to be seen but Fergie clearly likes the Berby/Hernandez partnership and so I am sure it will be used when the situation demands it. I would expect Berbatov to enjoy a better goal return than usual this season but I still think 10-15 goals is about the most we can expect.

The area that we haven’t strengthened is the one area that most fans believe we need to strengthen the most – the midfield. Rumours about Ozil won’t go away but I still can’t see that happening and I believe Fergie is going to be giving Cleverley and Obertan a decent number of games this season. With backup from the oldies Giggs and Scholes, it will also be hoped that Carrick can rediscover his form and that Fletcher can continue to be the man for the big occasion. Anderson is unlikely to feature until October, I would suspect but if he can come back determined to make up for lost time then we will have a player on our hands again.

Valencia and Nani will also be expected to kick on from where they left off last season and Valencia in particular just seems to be getting better and better now that he is fully integrated into the team.

At the back, the re-signing of Vidic was obviously a major boost for us and the signing of Smalling has provided added cover for Rio who is clearly becoming a big injury concern for Fergie so I expect the Vidic/Evans partnership to be used far more often this season with Smalling getting a fair few chances and Rio playing his usual 1 in 3!

What all this means is that I can only see that we have got stronger this season. I do believe that the improvements to some of the younger players more than makes up for any decline we might see from the likes of Giggs and Scholes.

Given the disappointment of last season, the players will be as hungry as ever and I see no reason why we won’t be up there come next May. I believe we’ll win the League this season.

Behind these two, we have a real tussle involving more teams than ever. The days of the so-called “Big Four” are well and truly over. Arsenal, Man City, Tottenham, Liverpool, Everton and Aston Villa will all be contesting the next six places although I am inclined to believe that the order I have just given is the order in which they will finish.

Arsenal just wouldn’t go away last season despite the fact that I must have written them off at least three times and I expect them to be stronger this season due to some of their players maturing and learning from the experience of last season. Whether this will be enough to take them to the title remains to be seen and I see them in a tussle with Manchester City.

Manchester City are, as always these days, something of an unknown quantity coming into this season. With the signings of Jerome Boateng, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Aleksandar Kolarov, Mario Ballotelli and likely signing of James Milner, they will have taken their spending to well over £100million this summer alone. Given that that is basically half a team, it is going to be interesting to see how well and how quickly Mancini can get them functioning together. Keeping them all happy is also going to present a challenge for Mancini as he will undoubtedly have to rotate the personnel regularly.

If he can pull it off then clearly Manchester City are going to be a big danger but I just can’t see them winning the title. A Champions League spot looks likely though and I suspect it will be considered a failure if they don’t achieve that status at the very least.

Next up is Spurs who had a terrific season under Harry Redknap last year and clinched that Champions League spot. The challenge for them now is to maintain or improve on that position whilst actually competing in the Champions League itself (assuming they overcome Young Boys) – something a few teams have found difficult in the past. Personally, I think they will find it difficult to emulate what they achieved last season and a fifth placed finish looks likely.

Next up are Liverpool who, of course, had the season from hell last year and there has been all kinds of upheaval there over the summer with Benitez leaving for Inter and the ownership situation in something of a mess. I really did think at the end of last season that there could be something of an exodus from Anfield this summer but Roy Hodgson appears to have done a great job of convincing the high profile players that Liverpool remains a place to be to achieve their ambitions. The arrival of Joe Cole on a free from Chelsea was a good bit of business (especially when it was effectively a swap with Benayoun and a few million quid on top) but I just can’t see it being enough. They will be hoping Torres can stay clear of injury this season and if that is possible then they have a much better chance because he is possibly the best striker in the League when fit and on form but it’s not be the kind of thing I would like to rely on. I just don’t think they have what it takes to get back into the Top Four this season. They could push Spurs down into sixth but I can’t see any better than that to be honest. I think they’ll finish sixth.

Next up is Everton who also had a season from hell last season due to the most awful injury situation at the beginning of the season. Once they got their players back, they started to look like a very, very good side again and I can only believe that they will have a bit more luck with them in terms of injuries this season and that we’ll see the real Everton from start to finish. This could actually be good enough to finish above Liverpool and Spurs although I just feel that seventh is their limit.

Next up is Aston Villa who have shown that they can mix it with the big boys up to a point but always seem to collapse towards the end of the season. The fact that they have just lost their Manager, Martin O’Neill, is not good – especially so close to the start of the season. I still believe they’re a cut above most of the teams who finished below them last season but I cannot possibly see them improving on last season’s sixth place and I feel they’ll drop down to eighth this season.

Beyond this, the other teams are much of a muchness. There could be one who breaks out and rides high for a while but in the end, it is likely to be the usual suspects in mid-division.

The relegation battle, as usual, is likely to be interesting but unfortunately (for the neutrals), I don’t think it will involve quite as many teams as it did last season because the teams coming up (Newcastle, Blackpool and West Brom) are not particularly strong.

I think Blackpool are going to find themselves completely out of their depth and will be the first team to be relegated. Newcastle were woeful when they were in the Premier League a couple of seasons ago but Hughton did a brilliant job with them last season and they took the Championship title by storm, winning it by eleven points. Whether this confidence can be carried into a new Premier League season remains to be seen. Personally, I think they will do enough to stay up.

West Brom could go either way but I just have a feeling that they’re going to be in and around the relegation zone for much of the season and could eventually and up straight back down.

If Newcastle do stay up then I think Wolves or Wigan could be vulnerable. I expect West Ham to have a much better season than they did last year and will finish nearer to mid-division.

I think I will go for Blackpool, West Brom and one from Wolves or Wigan.