Will Price and Van Gerwen Clash in the World Championship Final?
Price has featured at the business end of every major tournament in which he's been involved this season. However, the Iceman hasn't been in the winners' enclosure since winning the 2021 World Championship, with the player regularly falling short at the business end of various competitions.
The former professional rugby player reached the final of the World Grand Prix before losing to Jonny Clayton and the man known as the Ferret could spring out of the pack again. As for Michael van Gerwen, he has already enjoyed an astonishing career in a short space of time, with the Dutchman having always reached the last eight in eight of the past nine renewals.
Jonny Clayton Hammered in the Betting to Win First World Title
Jonny Clayton has enjoyed an astonishing 2021. The Welshman has been on the professional circuit for a number of years, although the Ferret has enjoyed more than a breakthrough season considering that he's looking like the best player in the world right now.
Clayton lost to Joe Cullen in the third round of the last World Darts Championship although things have changed a great deal since then and the Welshman is currently trading at odds of 6/1 to claim a maiden World Championship victory.
Clayton has won the World Grand Prix, Masters, Premier League Darts and World Series of Darts Finals. It's an impressive array of titles and it now begs the question as to whether the 47-year-old can land the spoils in the competition that they all want to win.
Wright and Van Den Bergh Next in the Betting
Peter Wright has claimed recently that he's not playing well enough to win major tournaments, although Snakebite was victorious two seasons ago and he has won the World Matchplay and World Cup of Darts this year. The Scot is also going deep in the Grand Slam of Darts and could go close at Ally Pally.
Dimitri Van den Bergh is another interesting runner who reached the final of the World Matchplay and the World Series of Darts finals, although the Belgian's form has been streaky and the youngster with all the moves has never been beyond the last eight stage in this tournament.
2021 World Championship Darts Tips
For the past few years, Michael van Gerwen has traded as the outright favourite to win the World Darts Championship and it's therefore no surprise to find the Dutchman operating as the 13/8 jolly with Paddy Power for the 2021 renewal.
Van Gerwen remains the world number one darts player and is generally the one to beat at Alexandra Palace, although it should be noted that the 31-year-old has fallen short in two of the previous three renewals.
Indeed, while Mighty Mike has been crowned world champions on three different occasions, that still only represents a trio of successes in the previous seven attempts, with MVG enjoying a breakthrough 2012/13 when reaching the final and losing to Phil Taylor in the final.
Van Gerwen reached the 2020 final although his form during the Ally Pally tournament was far from convincing and it wasn't a huge surprise that he was toppled by Peter Wright in the final, while Rob Cross was able to produce the goods in the 2018 World Championship and beat the Dutchman in the semis.
There are certainly a variety of alternatives to consider and Van Gerwen has lost a couple of matches in the 2020 Premier League already, with reigning world champion Wright certainly one to consider and it might be a good deal easier for the Scottish international to return to Ally Pally knowing that he's already a world champion.
At the age of 50, it's clear that Snakebite is something of a late bloomer and he actually lost to MVG in the first round of the 2010 World Championship before losing to him again in the second round in 2013. However, he really announced himself as a leading player twelve months later when reaching the final.
The fact that Wright saw off the highly-fancied Gerwyn Price in the semi finals before being his Dutch adversary in the final last winter means he's definitely one for the shortlist and will hope to avoid Mighty Mike until a potential final.
As for Price, he didn't make a particularly strong start to his Premier League 2020 bow, winning just one of six matches, although his first three games ended in a draw and he's certainly a player with the game to win a world title.
William Hill offer 8/1 about the Iceman and there's surely more to come from a player who has only risen to prominence in the past few years, with the Welshman having won back to back Grand Slam of Darts titles, while he also reached two finals last season.
However, the player that we think represents outstanding value is Glen Durrant who has been a BDO World Champion on three successive occasions in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The man from Middlesbrough only recently joined the PDC although he's taken to professional life like a duck to water and the 49-year-old reached the quarter final of the PDC World Championship in 2019.
Duzza got a hammering at the hands of Price in that last eight encounter although it wasn't a bad marker for what could be achieved next and a promising start in the 2020 Premier League suggests that he could potentially go deep again in the tournament.
Another player we can back at big odds is Nathan Aspinall and he's another Premier League debutant who looks as though he's been among the big boys for several years, with the Stockport-born player having reached consecutive World Championship semi-finals.
The Asp is trading at odds of 22/1 and we recommend you consider him from an antepost point-of-view considering he will be trading at a much shorter price when we get closer to the action.
For every darts player, the biggest tournament takes place at Alexandra Palace every Christmas, with the PDC World Darts Championship providing entertaining between 13 December 2019 - 1 January 2020.
There is an enormous prize fund available of £2,500,000 and the winner walks away with a cool £500,000, with Michael van Gerwen the favourite to land yet another world title.
However, MVG doesn't always have things his own way at Ally Pally and there are plenty of other players who can feasibly claim a world title, including Gerwyn Price.
We look ahead to the most popular betting market for the 2020 World Championship...
Winner Outright Betting
Michael van Gerwen is the 5/4 favourite with Paddy Power to claim a fourth World Championship title, with the Dutchman having previously enjoyed successes in 2014, 2017 and 2019. On the one hand, you could say that he's only won two of the previous five renewals, although another perspective is that he's claimed two of the past three.
MVG has clearly set a new benchmark when it comes to the sport of darts and the 30-year-old has had a typically successful season, with the man from Boxtel claiming the spoils in the Masters, Premier League, World Grand Prix, Champions League of Darts and Players Championship Finals.
There have been a few hiccups including a first round exit against Ross Smith in the 2019 European Championship, although many regard him as the one to beat.
Gerwyn Price is the third seed in the competition although the bookies regard him as the player most likely to topple MVG and the Welshman is a 5/1 chance after a breakthrough year which has seen him perform well on the big stage several times.
The 34-year-old has gone from someone who would regularly be knocked out of major tournaments at the early stages to a player who has won the Grand Slam of Darts on consecutive years, while the Iceman also reached the final of the European Championship and Players Championship Finals.
The big negative is that Price has never been beyond the third round stage of the World Championship and, while the idea of him meeting Van Gerwen in the final is a nice one, it's far from certain that the former will make it there.
After Price, there is then a big jump to the next player when it comes to the betting odds, with Peter Wright trading at 14/1 and the seventh seed has had some highlight moments this season including a victory in the PDC World Cup of Darts.
He also reached the final of the Grand Slam of Darts and Champions League of Darts, although Snakebite has bowed out at the second round stage of the worlds for the past two years.
Rob Cross knows what it takes to win a World Championship after winning the 2018 title and the man known as Voltage could be an interesting price at 16/1 to get the better of the other players this time around.
Cross has had a decent enough year considering he's landed the World Matchplay and also the European Championship, while he reached the final of the UK Open and Premier League, although his latest form has been far from special.
Michael Smith reached the final last year and is trading at 22/1 with Unibet to go one better this time around, with Bully Boy having a brilliant A game although he often flatters to deceive on the big stage.
As for Gary Anderson, it would appear as though his better days are behind him, although Nathan Aspinall and Glen Durrant are worth considering at bigger prices and the pair have the ability to outrun their current odds.
