For the first time since late 2021,
Michael van Gerwen will lock horns with his fellow Dutch trailblazer, Raymond van Barneveld in darts' answer to El Clasico on Saturday evening at the
European Darts Open.
Van Gerwen comes off the back of a thumping from
Gerwyn Price in the Premier League and usually that comes with a caveat of a statement from the Green Machine on his return. But will it be his former rival that receives such a statement?
Gerwyn Price starts off the session against a resurgent Krzysztof Ratajski, while
Michael Smith who has struggled recently with injury and illness faces Rene Eidams.
Peter Wright too has struggled with form and his darts using Van Gerwen's setup on Thursday and will face an in-form German in Ricardo Pietreczko.
Dimitri van den Bergh facing James Wade follows the MVG-Barney titanic tussle with Martin Schindler then taking on William O'Connor before Josh Rock ends the session against a resurgent Ian White.
Luke Humphries has withdrawn from the tournament due to medical reasons and as a result, Brendan Dolan receives a bye and he moves straight through.
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 GMT)
Gerwyn Price v Krzysztof Ratajski
Michael Smith v Rene Eidams
Peter Wright v Ricardo Pietreczko
Michael van Gerwen v Raymond van Barneveld
Dimitri Van den Bergh v James Wade
Martin Schindler v William O'Connor
Josh Rock v Ian White
Luke Humphries v Brendan Dolan (Withdrawal for Humphries, bye for Dolan)