The 2019 PDC World Championships is approximately bugger all days away from beginning, so I’m going to do a preview or two. It all starts here, with the best player in the world’s route to glory.

Michael van Gerwen is the best darts player on the planet. Of the 7.53 billion human beings that inhabit planet Earth, nobody throws darts in a competitive environment better than the 29 year old from Boxtel. Simply put, if MVG is at full strength, MVG is winning.

Which makes it all the more perplexing that Mighty Michael is but a two-time world champion as we hurtle towards the end of 2018. Why is that? Well, the answer is surprisingly simple. MVG is only beaten at the worlds by players playing above themselves, but history tells us that Ally Pally encourages people to play out of their skin when facing MVG.

This is even true in defeat. The stock of Gerwyn Price rose exponentially after the Welshman’s spunky loss last year. Rene Eidams became the doyenne of the darting world after taking the bald bugger to the limit in 2016. Cristo Reyes flirted with the mainstream with a 106.07 losing average in 2017. Since making his first final in 2013, van Gerwen hasn’t lost at Ally Pally to anyone averaging below a ton. You need to beat him, he isn’t going to lose to you.

All of this makes MVG’s 2019 PDC World Championships all that more interesting. The Gherk is the best player in the world, but it could be argued that no player has a more difficult hypothetical run to the final than the one in front of the two-time world champ. Darts is an intensely competitive sport in the modern age, but MVG’s run is plagued with pitfalls from the get-go.

Well, not entirely the get-go, as he should deal with Alan Tabern or Raymond Smith easily enough. But who awaits in round three? Van Gerwen will either have to contend with the number 32 seed Max Hopp, a rising star in the world of darts who certainly won’t be seeded as low in a year’s time, a winner on the European Tour in 2018 and a legitimate banana skin. If not Hopp, then MVG will likely face Danny Noppert, a former Lakeside finalist, and one of the most impressive players on the PDC tour in 2018. It’s a rough start.

So say MVG gets past Hopp or Noppert (or Royden Lam, sorry buddy), who awaits in round four? Anything can happen, but the likelihood is that that the two-time world champ will either have to face a resurgent two-time champ or a five-time champ on his way out. Adrian Lewis is one big TV performance away from a total resurgence, and we all know how Raymond van Barneveled fares against MVG at Ally Pally.

So what of MVG’s potential quarter finals? It doesn’t get any easier. It might get easier in the eyes of casual fans, but those who pay attention to the PDC tour week in week out will know better. Simon Whitlock and James Wade have played some fantastic darts over the last couple of months, and it can be argued that neither man is the biggest potential obstacle for MVG. ‘The Polish Eagle’ Krzysztof Ratajski is a player on the up and up, with the game to disturb anyone on the planet. MVG’s options are the tour’s most consistent performer, a form player, or the dictionary definition of banana skin.

And the semis? Gary Anderson. The best player on TV in 2018. The man who has beaten MVG in Ally Pally semis, in TV finals. The only man the pundits think can trouble MVG. The third best player of all time, if we’re being honest.

Anyone can beat anyone on any given day, this is one of the truths of sport. You can’t win a world championship without paying your dues, without deserving it. It is clear that if MVG wishes to add to his two titles on new year’s day, he’ll have to go that extra mile.

I write books about Eastern Europe. The books are funny, they are informative, they are funny and informative. Seriously, they are bloody brilliant. They aren’t going to stop either, there are more to come. You can pick them up at www.poshlostbooks.com.