It seems odd that Daryl Gurney is included in this list given he’s a former winner of this event back in 2018, but he really shouldn’t be available at the odds he is. There’s been some encouraging signs from ‘Superchin’ this season and he’s a dangerous opponent for anyone on his day.

He begins his campaign with a match against Peter Wright in round one, but ‘Snakebite’ has been in terrible form of late. He’s won just two of his last 12 matches and has averaged mid-80s in his last four games. It’s no surprise that Gurney starts favourite in that one.

Next up could be Michael Smith, but he too isn’t in the best form having suffered a group stage exit at the Grand Slam of Darts. It’s a guessing game from thereon in as to who he could potentially face, but he’s avoided all the relatively big guns in his quarter of the draw so the opportunity for a deep run is definitely there.

He’s a Masters and World Series of Darts quarter-finalist this year and in his last two televised tournaments he’s defeated both Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price. A second Players Championship Finals success is not outside the realms of possibility this weekend.

He was one of our underdog selections at the Grand Slam of Darts and lived up to our billing in one respect having come through the group at the expense of Michael van Gerwen; he was then firmly put to the sword by Gian Van Veen in the knockouts, losing 10-2 in the last 16.

He’s better than that, however, and was a semi-finalist in this event just 12 months ago before losing to the eventual champion, Luke Humphries. In that event he beat Joe Cullen, Jermaine Wattimena and Damon Heta so is certainly not one to dismiss readily.

Joyce has reached a final on the floor this year when he was runner-up to Michael Smith in Players Championship 9. He also followed this up with some further impressive runs, namely a semi-final and two quarter-finals.

An opener against Karel Sedlacek could have been a lot worse and then he has Cameron Menzies or Jim Williams in the second round should he advance. If he can get through those two short format stages, a good run could be on the cards yet again for a player who readily upsets the odds as his recent semi-final run in the World Grand Prix demonstrates.