The traditional drama and excitement on the oche is expected from Alexandra Palace in London with the very best in the business turning up to fling the tungsten.
The PDC Tour shifts from it’s temporary home at the Ricoh Arena to the Mecca of darts for the biggest and most important tournament of the season, with a monster £500,000 up for grabs as well as the coveted Sid Waddell Trophy.
Mighty Mike Coming Right?
An emotional Michael van Gerwen landed the £100,000 Players Championship last month, making a timely return to both form and the winners’ enclosure following a barren spell by his lofty standards.
The Dutchman’s success at the 64-man event was just his second televised win this season after some serious struggles on the stage.
Compared to MVG’s seven televised wins last year, 2020 has been a year to forget so far for the world number one but could he be ready to finish with a flourish?
Chasing a fourth world title, he rightly heads the betting at 9/4.
Van Gerwen has been a finalist in three of the last four years, winning twice, and lines up as the number one seed and the man to beat.
The 31-year-old has produced some of his best career performances on the Ally Pally stage and he is a player who will certainly be buoyed by the return of fans with up to 1,000 spectators expected for each session.
Price Primed to Perform
Another player who will certainly benefit from the return of a crowd will be the boisterous world number three Gerwyn Price.
The Welshman is one of the most animated players on the stage when in action and noticeably struggled earlier on this year in the Premier League.
However, ‘The Iceman’ eventually adjusted to surroundings and circumstances, emerging as one of the best players of the season with three televised wins as well as finishing runner-up in the UK Open.
Price, who is second favorite and available to back at 9/2, will need to be at his best early on from a tricky draw in the fourth quarter.
Snakebite Back for More
Defending champion Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright has endured an indifferent year, but has still landed a couple of televised tournaments.
At times he has shown the flashes of brilliance which took him to his maiden world title 12 months ago and is expected to go well again from a favourable draw.
The 50-year-old noticeably struggled for consistency in the early stages of the Premier League when play resumed after lockdown, but still reached the semi-finals and has since won the European Championship as well as making the final four in the Players Championship finals last month.
Wright is 6/1 to successfully defend his crown but for a dark horse consider 20/1 Dimitri van den Bergh.
The Belgian won the Matchplay this year and has reached the quarter-finals in two of the last three years at Ally Pally.
Nine-Dart Finish?
There have been nine nine-dart finishes at the PDC World Championships, dating back to Raymond van Barneveld’s sublime effort against fellow countryman Jelle Klaasen in 2009.
Gary Anderson landed the most recent perfect leg, also against Klaasen, in 2016 and there have been some near misses since.
There have already been five televised nine-darters this year and it’s 1/1 that we see another, while another year without one is priced up at 4/5.
*All odds correct at time of writing