The 2019 European Championship takes place between 24-27 October, with the leading players from the thirteen European tour events converging on Gottingen to compete for this prestigious title.
Thirty-two players will head to Germany in search of glory and it’s little surprise to find Michael van Gerwen trading as the 13/8 favourite to win the European Championship, with the Dutchman having won this tournament on four consecutive occasions between 2014-2017.
MVG did get beaten in the second round last year and he has endured a couple of exits from major tournaments this year, most notably when losing in the second round of the World Matchplay when being defeated by Glen Durrant.
However, there was the World Championship triumph at the beginning of the year and a Masters victory, while the Premier League and World Grand Prix triumph illustrate that he’s the one they all have to beat.
The seedings are a little strange considering they are based on performance at European tour events and that means Ian White is second seed, although the Stoke thrower is a 20/1 chance with William Hill.
Rob Cross is considered to be the biggest danger man to Van Gerwen and it’s clear that “Voltage” has the A-game to trouble his Dutch rival, although the former world champion has found it difficult to find his rhythm during 2019.
There was a victory in the World Matchplay and two runner-up performances in the UK Open and Premier League, although there was an early exit in the World Grand Prix and he’s scheduled to meet Van Gerwen in the last eight.
Nathan Aspinall is in the bottom half of the draw and could go deep, with The Asp having really broken through in 2019 and the 28-year-old’s victory in the UK Open indicated that he has the character to go all the way in a big tournament.
It all started for him by reaching the World Championship semi-final and he’ll now be focused on earning a spot in the Premier League next year.
Peter Wright is a 10/1 chance to win this tournament, with Snakebite having had a mixed bag of things in 2019 and we don’t really fancy Gerwyn Price at a similar price, with the Welshman having had a difficult time of things during the calendar year.
Dave Chisnall is coming back into form after reaching the final of the World Grand Prix recently and the St Helens man is a 25/1 shot to claim a victory in this tournament, while Glen Durrant is a steady thrower and the Middlesbrough man is a 20/1 shot.