AS the Premier League season prepares to kick off on Saturday, here are my predictions for the new campaign:

* Manchester United will win the Premier League in a close race with Manchester City.

This is the year City could and maybe should win the league, so don’t rule them out.

But their ability to score enough goals could be completely reliant on new boy Kun Aguero.

* Among the best signings this season will be Demba Ba and Roger Johnson.

Ba looks like he will get goals at Newcastle. Johnson could rectify Wolves’ slapstick defending, spoiling the fun for everyone else.

* The worst signing could be Jordan Henderson, left, at Liverpool.

I’m loath to argue with the judgement of the astute Kenny Dalglish, but is Henderson really worth £16m?

* Neil Warnock will be the first Premier League manager to leave his job this season. QPR may stay up but their owners have hiked ticket prices – it now costs £45 or £50 to sit in Loftus Road’s cramped away end – and might have unrealistic expectations.

* Chelsea will discover that in fact they cannot play Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Romelu Lukaku, Daniel Sturridge and Salomon Kalou all at once. Andre Villas-Boas proposes playing rock paper scissors to decide who starts, but it backfires when Drogba is left in agony by a paper cut.

* Joey Barton continues his bizarre Twitter rants, comparing himself to Mahatma Gandhi, Christopher Columbus, Ken Barlow and Howard from the Halifax ads as his future at Newcastle takes several more twists and turns.

* Norwich, Swansea and Wigan will be relegated, with the race to stay up a little less frantic than last season.

Expect Norwich and Swansea to already be out of it by the time ‘Survival Sunday’ comes around. Blackburn Rovers should be well clear of trouble.