Luke Humphries heads into Sunday night’s showpiece as the 1.53 favourite, while Michael van Gerwen is as big as 2.5 to reign supreme for the second time on this stage in the space of three years.

While van Gerwen has been below his best in 2024, he has shown glimpses of brilliance in Blackpool this week, particularly when putting Luke Littler to the sword in round one. However, that was arguably the Dutchman’s standout performance en route to the final, with his subsequent victories more solid rather than spectacular.

Humphries, on the other hand, has cruised through to the final with a minimum of fuss, averaging a tournament-high 102.47 in the process. While Sunday night’s blockbuster final with MVG will represent Humphries’ toughest test to date, ‘Cool Hand’ has looked unstoppable at times over the last week of action, and he should prove too strong for ‘The Green Machine’.

The reigning world champion boasts the stronger head-to-head record between the duo, triumphing in 12 of the previous 20 meetings, including each of the last seven. It’s also worth noting that the last time the two players crossed paths Humphries swept van Gerwen aside 10-5 to reach the Premier League final. As such, backing Humphries to prevail here makes plenty of sense, but adding Humphries to land the highest checkout and win the 180-count boosts odds substantially.

Unsurprisingly, Humphries has hit more 180s than any other player in Blackpool this summer (30) and he should rack up a fair few more in a lengthy race to 18 legs. While Humphries hit just eight maximums against James Wade on Saturday night, he banged in 12 when brushing aside Dimitri Van den Bergh at the quarter-finals stage. The Newbury ace nailed five 180s in his aforementioned 10-5 Premier League semi-final win over van Gerwen in May and given that their latest showdown could quite easily produce double the amount of those 15 legs, nine or more maximums from Humphries should be well within range.

Both Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen are rapid-fire rhythm throwers so a really fast-paced final is anticipated at the Winter Gardens on Sunday night. As tends to be the case with these two heavy-scoring contenders, expect to see the pair work their way down to potential three-figure checkouts in extremely swift fashion and to be breathing down each other’s necks as a result. Consequently, the bull will likely come into play during a number of legs in this blockbuster Blackpool battle, making two or more bull finishes an appealing prospect.

Both players delivered on the bullseye during their respective semi-final successes and backing the pair to finish on bull at least once each looks a nice bet at 4.0.