Who will win this season’s Premier League?

Only 380 games until we have the answer…

The new Premier League season kicks off on Saturday lunchtime when Liverpool take on Stoke City at Anfield.

By the time it ends 379 games later, we will have had high drama, controversy, magnificent goals and a smattering of managerial sackings.

But the big question is: Will we have new Champions?

Manchester United won last season’s title at a canter. Their relentless consistency was just too good for neighbours Manchester City and European Champions Chelsea.

But it’s all change at the top for the three clubs going into the new term.

Sir Alex Ferguson bowed out after securing the trophy for the 13th time, Roberto Mancini was sacked after City came second in both league and cup, and Chelsea called time on interim boss Rafa Benitez, who had replaced Roberto Di Matteo mid-season.

Former Everton manager David Moyes was Sir Alex’s chosen successor, even though he never managed to win a trophy in 11 years at Goodsion Park.

The new face at City is Chilean Manuel Pellegrini, who impressed as boss of Malaga last season, while Chelsea welcome back “The Special One” Jose Mourinho after his spells at Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

The bookies see Mourinho’s influence as a telling factor and have Chelsea installed as slight favourites to finish top.

Pre-season has seen several will-he, won’t-he transfer sagas involving some of the biggest names in the game Wayne Rooney, Gareth Bale, Luis Suarez and Cesc Fabregas.

By the time the transfer window shuts tight on September 2, everything will be much clearer, but as things stand, it’s looking like the most open title race in years.

Much of that is due to the absence of Ferguson, who has towered over this competition since it came to be 21 seasons ago.

There’s no question he gave every Manchester United team he constructed an added “X Factor” summed up by the ability to win matches deep into what became known as Fergie Time.

Moyes is a very experienced manager, but whether he can collect all those extra points that Ferguson amassed over a season must be questionable.

They do have goal machine Robin van Persie, though!

All the title-winning know-how is with Mourinho, who won the Premier League twice at Stamford Bridge and has also won leagues in Portugal, Italy and Spain.

City have been the Premier League’s biggest spenders over the summer, splashing out over £90 million on Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho, Spanish forwards Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo and Croatian striker Stevan Jovetic.

There’s a perception that Pellegrini has stolen a march on rivals such as Moyes and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger, who have got bogged down in their pursuit of a particular target.

Mancini was extremely popular at City and few supporters demanded his dismissal. However, they have been impressed with the way the new man has handled himself and hopes are high that they can reclaim their crown.

Behind the three big guns, Arsenal have been quietly plotting to make an impact of their own.

The Gunners have made qualifying for the Champions League their priority over the last few years but there’s a sense that this must be the season they re-assert themselves as genuine title contenders, particularly in view of the managerial state of flux at their three biggest rivals.

The form and fitness of Jack Wilshere will be the key as Wenger looks to reap the benefit of putting his faith in a core of young British players like Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The hardest job in the Premier League is to break into that top four, simply because Champions League cash, commercial clout and rich owners make the success of the group self-perpetuating.

The most likely clubs to shake up the big boys will once again be Tottenham, Everton and Liverpool. All three have faced a balancing act when it comes to whether or not to cash in on their star players.

Brendan Rodgers and Andre Villas-Boas are both in their second seasons at Liverpool and Spurs respectively. Both had good starts to their tenures but each step forward becomes progressively difficult.

Roberto Martinez won the FA Cup at Wigan but couldn’t keep them in the Premier League.

However, his stylish brand of football saw him chosen as Moyes’ successor at Goodison and they are big boots to fill.

Last season, Swansea were the surprise packets under Michael Laudrup.

They were competitive in the league and won the Capital One Cup. However, that success means they have to negotiate the rigours of Europa League football with all the strains that puts on a relatively small squad.

They only have to look at what happened to Newcastle last season to see the dangers.

Alan Pardew’s team simply didn’t have the numbers to cope with the extra matches and as a result almost got themselves relegated.

The Magpies have had a difficult summer off the field. Owner Mike Ashley brought in former boss Joe Kinnear as Director of Football and Pardew is likely to feel undermined and under pressure. Of all the Premier League’s 20 bosses, he’s the one who needs a good start.

Down the road at Sunderland, Paolo Di Canio has restructured his squad. The Italian has very particular training and fitness requirements from his players and the wholesale changes are geared towards getting players in who will buy into his culture.

Paul Lambert also has his own way of doing things and after unloading almost all the high earners from Aston Villa’s wage bill, the Scot is left with a group of hungry, relatively-unknown players to whom he has entrusted the club’s medium-term future.

They looked just a little too green at times last season but the big plus is that they’ve kept striker Christian Benteke.

Norwich City have suddenly undone the purse strings and managed to attract players like ex-Celtic striker Gary Hopper and Dutch forward Ricky van Wolfswinkel. They should steer clear of trouble.

Southampton looked good in the second half of last season under Argentinian manager Mauricio Pochettino and it would be a surprise if they regressed this time.

West Brom benefited from having Chelsea youngster Romelu Lukaku on loan last season. They have brought in Nicola Anelka, though, and another mid-table finish is expected.

West Ham did well in their first season back in the Premier League last year and under the wily Sam Allardyce, they should be at least as good again.

As for the rest promoted clubs Cardiff, Hull and Crystal Palace, plus Fulham and Stoke it’s going to be all about staying out of that bottom three.

The Welshmen look strong enough to survive under the highly-rated Malky Mackay, but Ian Holloway’s Palace and Steve Bruce’s Hull will do well to finish fourth bottom.

Mark Hughes has a big job restoring his managerial reputation at Stoke and Fulham manager Martin Jol will have to prove to new owners that he’s the man to take the club forward.