World Darts Championship final: Michael van Gerwen v Peter Wright predictions, odds, betting tips, statistics & Sky Sports TV start time

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So after three weeks of drama, shocks, Fallon Sherrock's history-making exploits and a damp squib retirement of a legend, it all ends with a 10th major final between Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright on New Year's Day.

The three-time champion, who is hoping to retain the Sid Waddell Trophy for the first time in his career, has won all the previous nine, including the climax of the 2014 edition, but he hasn't hit top gear yet and there'll be plenty of fans expecting Snakebite to run him close.

Here, you can find a whole host of stats, head-to-head records, routes to the final and my match verdict, while you can also look back on the tournament results and previous finals.

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World Darts Championship final: Wednesday January 1

Click on the odds for more Sky Bet match markets

• TV Coverage: Sky Sports (1900 BST)
• Final: Best of 13 sets

Michael van Gerwen (4/11) v Peter Wright (9/4)

HEAD-TO-HEAD

• Overall H2H: 59-17, 2 draws
• All Finals: 16-2
• Televised Meetings: 29-5 (2 draws)
• Televised Finals: 10-0
• Major Televised Finals: 9-0
  Champions League 2019 (11-10)
  World Grand Prix 2018 (5-2)
  Grand Slam of Darts 2017 (16-12)
  Premier League 2017 (11-10)
  World Series of Darts Finals 2016 (11-9)
  UK Open 2016 (11-6)
  World Series of Darts Finals 2015 (11-10)
  UK Open 2015 (11-5)
  World Championship 2014 (7-4)
• 2019 Meetings: 6-2 (TV: 4-0, including Champs League final)
• Career PDC titles: 133-27 (TV: 53-5)
• Majors PDC Titles/Finals: 39/49 - 1/14
• Titles this season: 14-4 (TV: 8-1)

If Peter Wright is to finally win the biggest prize in darts then he'll have to do something else he's never done before - beat Michael van Gerwen in a major final.

The 2017 UK Open champion has lost all nine of their previous battles with a prestigious title on the line, dating back to their first in the 2014 Ally Pally final, and he's also suffered heartache in three of his other four to Gary Anderson, Phil Taylor and most recently Gerwyn Price at the Grand Slam of Darts.

Precious few darts fans - if any - would therefore begrudge Snakebite reaching the pinnacle of the sport at the age of 49 but you just have to wonder if all the battle scars he's suffered at the hands of MVG will be too much to overcome.

Especially given the manner of many of the nine.

The climax of the Premier League in 2017 was particularly galling after missing six match darts while he'd also marginally lost back-to-back World Series of Darts Finals 11-10 (2015) and 11-10 (2016).

History then repeated itself in this year's Champions League of Darts final when he blew a 10-7 lead and also spurned three title darts to lose 11-10.

That meant MVG completed the 'Green Sweep' of major PDC titles at the age of just 30 and there's just no stopping his desire to win even more.

However, Wright can at least draw some confidence from the fact he has won two European Tour finals against MVG - albeit both in 2017 - and he has enjoyed a superb last six months as a whole by landing four titles and also setting the highest average for a broadcast match.

Van Gerwen has obviously fared better this season and his recent triumph over Gerwyn Price at the Players Championship Finals notched up his 51st individual career TV title.

It was also his fourth TV crown in just over a month having also triumphed in the World Grand Prix, Champions League and World Series of Darts Finals while it's was also his eighth of 2019 following his successes at the Masters, Premier League, Melbourne Masters and New Zealand Masters.

ROUTES TO THE FINAL & TOURNAMENT STATS

Michael van Gerwen

• Rd 2: 3-1 v Jelle Klaasen (Av: 96.28, 180s: 1, Doubles: 11/25)
• Rd 3: 4-0 v Ricky Evans (Av: 96.75, 180s: 10, Doubles: 12/28)
• Rd 4: 4-0 v Stephen Bunting (Av: 104.09, 180s: 7, Doubles: 12/25)
• QF: 5-2 v Darius Labanauskas (Av: 99.5, 180s: 6, Doubles: 18/40)
• SF: 6-3 v Nathan Aspinall (Av: 96.34, 180s: 3, Doubles: 21/52)

Peter Wright

• Rd 2: 3-2 v Noel Malicdem (Av: 96.53, 180s: 9, Doubles: 16/33)
• Rd 3: 4-2 v Seigo Asada (Av: 94.42, 180s: 8, Doubles: 16/37)
• Rd 4: 4-3 v Jeffrey de Zwaan (Av: 96.39, 180s: 12, Doubles: 19/37)
• QF: 5-3 v Luke Humphries (Av: 105.86, 180s: 12, Doubles: 18/37)
• SF: 6-3 v Gerwyn Price (Av: 98.39, 180s: 16, Doubles: 22/61)

TOURNAMENT STATS (MVG first)

• Average: 98.14 - 98.29
• Best Ave: 104.09 (v Bunting) - 105.86 (v Humphries)
• 180s: 27 - 57
• 100+ checkouts: 9 - 15
• Highest checkout: 170 - 170
• Doubles: 74/170 (43.53%) - 91/205 (44.39%)
• Legs won/lost: 74/47 - 91/70

If Peter Wright goes on to win this title, he'll no doubt point to his remarkable recovery against Noel Malicdem in his first match that made it all possible.

Starring defeat in the face he needed to take out 302 in six darts and completed the job with a stunning 140 checkout with his opponent waiting on 42 for the match.

Fate? Destiny? Sporting Gods? Who knows, but he's had to make the most of that brilliance - not least in the remainder of that game - to get this far.

He was absolutely fantastic with a PB world championship average of 105.86 against Luke Humphries and threw four more 100+ checkouts, including a 170 and a 161, to take his tally to 13 for the tournament.

He added another two during a heated 6-3 victory over Gerwyn Price in which the post-match debate was dominated by the lack of a handshake and the Iceman's "OTT" reaction (his words) to Snakebite attempting to engage in some light-hearted banter after winning the first set.

Thankfully the pair have now made up, with Price apologising for his behaviour and also sharing a genuinely comical exchange they've had on WhatsApp so hopefully we can all move on and focus on this final.

As far as MVG is concerned, you may have forgotten but he threw the first of the tournament's eight 170 checkouts on opening night and that's about as dramatic as it's got for him.

After losing the opening set against Jelle Klaasen, he won 11 on the trot before the dogged Darius Labanauskas gave him some cause for frustration en route to the semi-finals.

Another below-par display followed against Nathan Aspinall but the rising star failed to punish him with a disappointing performance of his own and now MVG stands on the cusp of yet another world title.

MVG v WRIGHT: MATCH PREDICTION & BEST BET

Well, to sum it up, the head-to-head record and the resulting phycological dominance all points to Michael van Gerwen but the tournament stats points to Peter Wright.

You can of course says the amount of 180s that Snakebite has hit compared to MVG as well as the astounding number of 100+ checkouts is partly down to him playing more legs of darts but on the flip side, that obviously makes the higher average even more impressive.

Wright has also shown tremendous character along the way and even though some of those occasions in which he's been forced to dig deep have come against 'lesser' opponents, I think it's fair to say they mostly upped their game to a greater extent than those who hardly troubled MVG.

The 49-year-old, who will break Gary Anderson's record of the oldest ever first-time winner of the PDC World Darts Championship by five years if he can beat MVG, is never short of confidence and even after every final defeat to the Dutchman he often utters the words "I'll get him next time".

In the wake of his impressive triumph over Luke Humphries, Wright also bullishly claimed that he'd already text Red Dragon to thank them for "making me a set of darts that will win me the World Championship" so maybe he believes the more you tell yourself something will happen, it will.

I'm going to side with Snakebite to claim a highly-emotional victory and you can get 10/1 on the 7-5 and 7-6 scorelines which I feel are worth a play. If you're not convinced about Wright having the bottle to get over the line, then how about over 12.5 sets at 9/2 as this does have all the makings of a final that goes the distance.

A pair of Wright specials I like the look of his evens about him making three or more 100+ checkouts and also the 3/1 available for him to hit most 180s and most 100+ checkouts at 3/1, which still pays out even if he loses of course.

Finally, if you are completely disagreeing with this and think MVG will come out all guns blazing and destroy his opponent then you may fancy the audacious 20/1 on Wright firing less than 6.5 180s. Van Gerwen himself only managed three in nine sets against Nathan Aspinall so even the very best can struggle for the maximums on an off day.

Prediction: MVG 5-7 Wright

PDC World Darts Championship 2020: Round-by-round results

FINAL

• Michael van Gerwen (1) v Peter Wright (7)

SEMI-FINALS

• (1) Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Nathan Aspinall (12)
• (7) Peter Wright 6-3 Gerwyn Price (3)

QUARTER-FINALS

• (1) Michael van Gerwen 5-2 Darius Labanauskas
• (12) Nathan Aspinall 5-3 Dimitri Van den Bergh (29)
• Luke Humphries 3-5 Peter Wright (7)
• (27) Glen Durrant 1-5 Gerwyn Price (3)

FOURTH ROUND

Quarter One

• (1) Michael van Gerwen 4-0 Stephen Bunting (17)
• (25) Steve Beaton 2-4 Darius Labanauskas

Quarter Two

• (5) Gary Anderson 2-4 Nathan Aspinall (12)
• (29) Dimitri Van den Bergh 4-3 Adrian Lewis (13)

Quarter Three

• Kim Huybrechts 1-4 Luke Humphries
• (7) Peter Wright 4-3 Jeffrey de Zwaan (23)

Quarter Four

• (27) Glen Durrant 4-3 Chris Dobey (22)
• (3) Gerwyn Price 4-2 Simon Whitlock (14)

THIRD ROUND

Quarter One

• (1) Michael van Gerwen 4-0 Ricky Evans (32)
• (16) Jonny Clayton 0-4 Stephen Bunting (17)
• (8) James Wade 2-4 Steve Beaton (25)
• Darius Labanauskas 4-2 Max Hopp (24)

Quarter Two

• (5) Gary Anderson 4-3 Ryan Searle
• (12) Nathan Aspinall 4-3 Krzysztof Ratajski (21)
• Luke Woodhouse 2-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh (29)
• (13) Adrian Lewis 4-3 Darren Webster (20)

Quarter Three

• Kim Huybrechts 4-2 Danny Noppert (31)
• Nico Kurz 2-4 Luke Humphries
• (7) Peter Wright 4-2 Seigo Asada
• (10) Dave Chisnall 3-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan (23)

Quarter Four

• (6) Daryl Gurney 2-4 Glen Durrant (27)
• Fallon Sherrock 2-4 Chris Dobey (22)
• (3) Gerwyn Price 4-0 John Henderson (30)
• (14) Simon Whitlock 4-1 Mervyn King (19)

SECOND ROUND

• Seeded players entered at this stage

Quarter One

• (1) Michael van Gerwen 3-1 Jelle Klaasen (bt Kevin Burness 3-1)
• (32) Ricky Evans 3-1 Mark McGeeney (bt Matt Campbell 3-1)
• (16) Jonny Clayton 3-0 Jan Dekker (bt Ryan Joyce 3-2)
• (17) Stephen Bunting 3-2 Jose Justicia (bt Arron Monk 3-0)
• (8) James Wade 3-0 Ritchie Edhouse (bt Boris Koltsov 3-1)
• (25) Steve Beaton 3-1 Kyle Anderson (bt Xiaochen Zong 3-2)
• (9) Ian White 1-3 Darius Labanauskas (bt Matthew Edgar 3-0)
• (24) Max Hopp 3-2 Benito van de Pas (bt Gabriel Clemens 3-2)

Quarter Two

• (5) Gary Anderson 3-0 Brendan Dolan (bt Nitin Kumar 3-0)
• (28) Steve West 0-3 Ryan Searle (bt Robbie King 3-2)
• (12) Nathan Aspinall 3-1 Danny Baggish (bt Andy Boulton 3-2)
• (21) Krzysztof Ratajski 3-1 Zoran Lerchbacher (bt Jamie Hughes 3-2)
• (4) Michael Smith 1-3 Luke Woodhouse (bt Paul Lim 3-0)
• (29) Dimitri Van den Bergh 3-0 Josh Payne (bt Diogo Portela 3-0)
• (13) Adrian Lewis 3-2 Cristo Reyes (bt Lourence Ilagan 3-2)
• (20) Darren Webster 3-0 Yuki Yamada (bt Ryan Meikle 3-1)

Quarter Three

• (2) Rob Cross 0-3 Kim Huybrechts (bt Geert Nentjes 3-2)
• (31) Danny Noppert 3-2 Callan Rydz (bt Steve Lennon 3-2)
• (15) Joe Cullen 1-3 Nico Kurz (bt James Wilson 3-1)
• (18) Jermaine Wattimena 2-3 Luke Humphries (bt Devon Petersen 3-1)
• (7) Peter Wright 3-2 Noel Malicdem (bt Rowby-John Rodriguez 3-0)
• (26) Keegan Brown 3-2 Seigo Asada (bt Mickey Mansell 3-0)
• (10) Dave Chisnall 3-1 Vincent van der Voort (bt Keane Barry 3-0)
• (23) Jeffrey de Zwaan 3-2 Darin Young (bt Raymond van Barneveld 3-1)

Quarter Four

• (6) Daryl Gurney 3-0 Justin Pipe (bt Benjamin Pratnemer 3-2)
• (27) Glen Durrant 3-0 Damon Heta (bt Jose De Sousa 3-0)
• (11) Mensur Suljovic 1-3 Fallon Sherrock (bt Ted Evetts 3-2)
• (22) Chris Dobey 3-2 Ron Meulenkamp (bt Ben Robb 3-0)
• (3) Gerwyn Price 3-2 William O'Connor (bt Marko Kantele 3-0)
• (30) John Henderson 3-0 James Richardson (bt Mikuru Suzuki 3-2)
• (14) Simon Whitlock 3-0 Harry Ward (bt Madars Razma 3-2)
• (19) Mervyn King 3-2 Ciaran Teehan (bt Ross Smith 3-0)

PDC World Darts Championship Finals

Final scores in sets

• 1994 - Dennis Priestley 6-1 Phil Taylor
• 1995 - Phil Taylor 6-2 Rod Harrington
• 1996 - Phil Taylor 6-4 Dennis Priestley
• 1997 - Phil Taylor 6-3 Dennis Priestley
• 1998 - Phil Taylor 6-0 Dennis Priestley
• 1999 - Phil Taylor 6-2 Peter Manley
• 2000 - Phil Taylor 7-3 Dennis Priestley
• 2001 - Phil Taylor 7-0 John Part
• 2002 - Phil Taylor 7-0 Peter Manley
• 2003 - John Part 7-6 Phil Taylor
• 2004 - Phil Taylor 7-6 Kevin Painter
• 2005 - Phil Taylor 7-4 Mark Dudbridge
• 2006 - Phil Taylor 7-0 Peter Manley
• 2007 - Raymond van Barneveld 7-6 Phil Taylor
• 2008 - John Part 7-2 Kirk Shepherd
• 2009 - Phil Taylor 7-1 Raymond van Barneveld
• 2010 - Phil Taylor 7-3 Simon Whitlock
• 2011 - Adrian Lewis 7-5 Gary Anderson
• 2012 - Adrian Lewis 7-3 Andy Hamilton
• 2013 - Phil Taylor 7-4 Michael van Gerwen
• 2014 - Michael van Gerwen 7-4 Peter Wright
• 2015 - Gary Anderson 7-6 Phil Taylor
• 2016 - Gary Anderson 7-5 Adrian Lewis
• 2017 - Michael van Gerwen 7-3 Gary Anderson
• 2018 - Rob Cross 7-2 Phil Taylor
• 2019 - Michael van Gerwen 7-3 Michael Smith

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