Chris Dobey and Michael van Gerwen will contest the first of Thursday night’s semi-final ties at the World Darts Championships. Dobey reached the final four for the first time in his career with a thrilling 5-3 win over Gerwyn Price. As for van Gerwen, he came through a pulsating quarter-final tie of his own by overcoming Callan Rydz 5-3.

‘Mighty Mike’ is the firm favourite to book his place in Friday night’s final and it’s hard to look past the Dutchman. MVG’s level of performance has improved as he has moved through the rounds at this year’s showpiece.

After averaging a shade under 102 in his fourth round win over Jeffrey de Graaf , van Gerwen posted a mighty impressive average of 103.10 against Rydz. If the Dutch destroyer can replicate those efforts against Dobey, he will take some stopping in his quest to reach yet another Ally Pally final.

While ‘Hollywood’ is more than capable of holding his own here, he will need to produce an almighty performance to get past the ‘Green Machine’ in a race to 6. Dobey capitalised on Price’s wastefulness with his doubles but he is unlikely to be afforded the same opportunities against van Gerwen.

Luke Littler dominated proceedings during the early stages of his quarter-final tie with Nathan Aspinall. ‘The Nuke’ wrapped up the first set in swift fashion, winning all 3 legs without reply. The Warrington wonder-kid will look to replicate that fast start against Stephen Bunting and he looks worth backing to claim the opening set of this semi-final tie.

Despite not being at his brilliant best during the early rounds of this year’s World Darts Championships, Littler has still made a habit of coming out of the blocks fast. In fact, he has won the opening set of the game in each of his 4 victories en-route to the final four.

Now just one win away from reaching back-to-back finals, the teenage trailblazer will be desperate to ease himself into this semi-final showdown with another fast start, and to put fan favourite Bunting under some early pressure in the process. It’s also worth noting that Littler took top honours in the opening set of the game in 5 of his 6 wins on his way to last year’s grand finale.