PDC World Darts Championships Tips: Price to get the better of van Gerwen at Ally Pally

Christmas time in the world of darts means the PDC World Darts Championship will take centre stage as the best players from across the world congregate at the Alexandra Palace, London to do battle in a quest to claim world glory. Here at BettingOdds.com we focus on the main contenders for the event, which kicks off on Thursday 15th December...

Favourites

Dutch darting superstar Michael van Gerwen will be a red-hot favourite for the 2023 Worlds and 'Mighty Mike' is the current 5/2 market leader with bet365, and having recaptured his best form of late he will be extremely tough to beat. A three-times winner of this title (2014, 2017, 2019) van Gerwen has struggled to produce his best darts at the Ally Pally in recent years, but wins in the Players Championships Final, World Grand Prix and World Matchplay this year has shown him at his best and he has to be a major contender.

A player that can excel at the longer format of the game, van Gerwen can blow opponents away in the blink of an eye and while he will have the likes of former winners Gary Anderson (50/1) and Rob Cross (33/1) in his quarter of the draw the Dutch dynamo should comfortably dispatch of them and have no real issues making to the last-four.

The Iceman Gerwyn Price is the 6/1 second favourite with Paddy Power and the 2021 champion is another that has stormed to the top of the darting tree over the last couple of years and he heads into the tournament as the world number one. He has struggled at times to claims victory in the big TV tournaments this season, but he is dynamite in the Worlds. He's sure to have a tough time against a crowd that are sure to be against him, but providing the audience doesn't get in his head then he could well be the toughest test for van Gerwen late on. He's another that should serenely make it through to the closing stages and if he can find his A game then he is arguably the best around and could be the value play against van Gerwen.

A superb winner of the Grand Slam Of Darts, Michael Smith is looking to break his Worlds hoodoo as the twice beaten finalist is looking to reign supreme in 2023. Beaten last year by Peter Wright in the final, that pair will be prominent figures again here, but Smith (15/2) has been a lot more consistent than Wright (10/1), who on his day is superb and he's blossomed under the pressure of this event, but both may struggle to deal with Messrs Price and van Gerwen.

Outsiders

Some young pretenders that could figure significantly in this year's Worlds are the likes of Luke Humphries and Josh Rock. The former has rocketed up to world number five this season, but still has limited silverware at the highest level. The 2019 PDC World Youth Champion is a 14/1 chance to claim the win here, but could ultimately falter once again as he may just struggle to maintain a high standard throughout the tournament.

21-year-old Josh Rock has made a phenomenal rise up the PDC ladder and his ranking of 47 in the world doesn't give him justice as since making his way on to the circuit he has become a real phenomenon beating big names left right and centre. Starting in the first round here, the 16/1 shot could ruffle some notable feathers throughout the event and is a fascinating contender.

Of the others, Jonny Clayton (18/1) and Nathan Aspinall (33/1) are another pair that have shone in front of the lights of the Sky cameras in recent years, with the latter having a great recent record in the World Championships, so they have to be given respect, with the triumvirate of Dimitri van den Bergh, Dave Chisnall and the legendary multiple winner Raymond van Barneveld adding significant depth to the event.