2019 European Championship: Top ten analysis

Ian White (Lawrence Lustig, PDC)

We continue the countdown to the 2019 Unibet European Championship by taking a closer look at the top ten seeds in the 32-player field.

The European Championship will be held from October 24-27 at the Lokhalle in Göttingen, Germany, with the top 32-players from the 2019 European Tour Order of Merit in action - full schedule in Event Information tab.

Six sessions of action will be broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK, on PDCTV-HD for Rest of the World Subscribers and through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7.

Tickets can be purchased from PDC Europe at this link.

Michael Van Gerwen (Lawrence Lustig, PDC)

Michael van Gerwen (1)
Best 2019 European Tour result: Winner x4
Previous best at European Championship: Winner (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
Unibet Outright Winner odds: 11/8
First round opponent: Ross Smith
Verdict: Fresh from winning the World Grand Prix and Champions League across back-to-back weekends, MvG will undoubtedly be the player to beat this weekend. Steve West scuppered his plans for a fifth European Championship title in 2018, and this time the world number one will be determined to avoid a slip-up.

Ian White (2)
Best 2019 European Tour result: Winner x2
Previous best at European Championship: Last 16 (2012, 2014, 2016, 2017)
Unibet Outright Winner odds: 22/1
First round opponent: Michael Smith
Verdict: The Diamond sparkled on the European Tour in 2019, reaching four successive finals of which he won two, including a stunning 8-7 win against Van Gerwen in Zwolle. Having fallen once again at the quarter-final stage at the World Grand Prix, White will be looking to finally reach his first TV semi-final but faces a tough opening game against practice partner Michael Smith.

Gerwyn Price (Lawrence Lustig, PDC)

Gerwyn Price (3)
Best 2019 European Tour result: Winner x1
Previous best at European Championship: Quarter-Finals (2018)
Unibet Outright Winner odds: 12/1
First round opponent: Ted Evetts
Verdict: A consistent year on the European Tour for Price was capped with the retention of his International Open title in Riesa. Having suffered first round exits at the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix, the fiery Welshman will be keen to translate his ProTour form onto TV before the World Championship.

Daryl Gurney (4)
Best 2019 European Tour result: Winner x1
Previous best at European Championship: Semi-Finals (2017)
Unibet Outright Winner odds: 18/1
First round opponent: William O'Connor
Verdict: A strong start to the year saw Gurney claim his first ever European Tour title at the German Championship in Hildesheim. Gurney, who then reached the semi-finals of the Premier League and World Matchplay later in 2019, will be looking to bounce back from disappointing displays at the World Grand Prix and Champions League.

Dave Chisnall (Lawrence Lustig, PDC)

Dave Chisnall (5)
Best 2019 European Tour result: Winner x1
Previous best at European Championship: Quarter-Finals (2014, 2015)
Unibet Outright Winner odds: 22/1
First round opponent: Dimitri Van den Bergh
Verdict: Chisnall has enjoyed a return to form in 2019, picking up two floor titles before winning his first European Tour title in six years in Copenhagen at the Danish Open. Crowd favourite Chizzy continued his resurgence by reaching the final of the World Grand Prix earlier this month.

Mensur Suljovic (6)
Best 2019 European Tour result: Winner x1
Previous best at European Championship: Runner-up (2016)
Unibet Outright Winner odds: 16/1
First round opponent: Vincent van der Voort
Verdict: Despite enduring patchier form in 2019 compared with previous years, Suljovic made history on the European Tour in September as he became the first Austrian player to win a PDC event in his home country. Having failed to make it past the last 16 of a televised ranking event in almost a year, Suljovic will want to end that run sooner rather than later.

Peter Wright (Lawrence Lustig, PDC)

Peter Wright (7)
Best 2019 European Tour result: Runner-up x1
Previous best at European Championship: Semi-Finals (2015, 2016)
Unibet Outright Winner odds: 9/1
First round opponent: Jeffrey de Zwaan
Verdict: With the heart-break of another defeat to Van Gerwen in a TV final still raw after Sunday's Champions League final, Wright has an immediate chance to make amends this weekend. Despite not lifting a European Tour title for a second successive year, the World Cup winner consistently made it to the latter stages of events.

Joe Cullen (8)
Best 2019 European Tour result: Winner x1
Previous best at European Championship: Semi-Finals (2018)
Unibet Outright Winner odds: 80/1
First round opponent: Mervyn King
Verdict: It was another case of 'close but no cigar' for Cullen at last year's European Championship as he surrendered a 10-7 lead and missed a match dart in his agonising 11-10 defeat to Simon Whitlock in the semi-finals. A less consistent year on the European Tour was saved at the European Matchplay in Mannheim in September as the 30-year-old lifted his first PDC stage title.

Rob Cross (Lawrence Lustig, PDC)

Rob Cross (9)
Best 2019 European Tour result: Runner-up x2
Previous best at European Championship: Runner-up (2017)
Unibet Outright Winner odds: 10/1
First round opponent: Darren Webster
Verdict: The wait for a European Tour title goes on for Cross, who twice came up just short in finals in 2019. The former World Champion silenced the doubters by winning the World Matchplay in July, and is always a live contender for the biggest prizes in the sport.

Jamie Hughes (10)
Best 2019 European Tour result: Winner x1
Previous best at European Championship: Debut
Unibet Outright Winner odds: 80/1
First round opponent: Jermaine Wattimena
Verdict: In just his first year as a PDC Tour Card Holder, Hughes has made quite the impression on the circuit in 2019. A winner of the PDC's first ever event in the Czech Republic in June, Hughes' European Tour success will see him star in his third televised PDC event in four months this weekend.