Premier League season to kick off

Manchester United will have to try to seal a fourth title in a row without Ronaldo

The new Premier League season gets under way on Saturday, with champions Manchester United aiming for a record 19th league title. Challengers Chelsea kick off the action at 1245 BST at home to Hull. United, targeting a fourth successive Premier League crown, welcome Birmingham back to the top flight at Old Trafford on Sunday. The two other promoted teams, Wolves and Burnley, open against West Ham and Stoke respectively. Liverpool begin their latest quest for an elusive first Premier League title on Sunday away to Tottenham, with the coming season marking 20 years since they were last crowned domestic champions.

Arsenal are away to Everton in Saturday's evening game, while big-spending Manchester City will look to get their challenge off to a positive start against Blackburn as they attempt to dislodge one of the traditional top four clubs. The summer has seen lots of attention focused on Spain after Barcelona's convincing Champions League final victory over Manchester United, who then lost star player Ronaldo after he left to join a host of other "galacticos" at Real Madrid. But Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says he believes the English top flight is still the "toughest in Europe". "Over the years the Premier League has become the most competitive in Europe, I have no doubt in my mind about that," he said. "Barcelona deservedly won the European Cup last season but if you look over the last four or five years, the English teams have shared the real glory of Europe." Ferguson has also dismissed Manchester City's prospects of breaking into the top four, despite his local rivals spending more than £90m on new signings over the summer. Can Mark Hughes' big-money signings crash the top-four party? But City manager Mark Hughes will be hoping the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and Gareth Barry can help his expensive side make a mark on the league this season. Chelsea begin a second consecutive campaign under a new boss, with Carlo Ancelotti hoping he can get the most out of the star-studded squad he has inherited. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger starts another season without having made any big-name summer signings, but insists he has enough to mount a title bid with the players he has, despite selling Adebayor and Kolo Toure to City.