The European Darts Open, the 10th of 15 events which make up the European Tour, takes place this weekend with a star-studded line-up chasing down a £35,000 winner's prize and the title at the Ostermann-Arena in Leverkusen.
World finalist Gian van Veen is the number one seed in a field featuring Premier League stars Michael van Gerwen, Jonny Clayton and Stephen Bunting.
Wessel Nijman, the only man to win twice on the European Tour this year, is also part of a high-class field, while the absence of Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price means the event has a wide-open look about it.
European Darts OpenTips Summary
Best Bet - Luke Woodhouse to Win Outright each-way @ 33/1
Alternative Bet - Rob Cross to Win Outright each-way @ 20/1
Alternative Bet - Maik Kuivenhoven to Win Outright each-way @ 250/1
European Darts Open Prediction
Best Bet: Luke Woodhouse to Win @ 33/1
Littler and Humphries may be among the headline absentees from this weekend's European Darts Open but that just opens the door for another Luke, world number 18 Woodhouse.
Seeded 14 in Leverkusen, Woodhouse is playing the best darts of his career right now, going deep into big tournaments, and he can easily outrun his price.
Woody started the year slowly but has flourished over the past few months, reaching the quarter-finals of the Austrian Open and semis of a Players Championship heat in April.
In May, it all clicked for the 37-year-old Englishman. He reached a Players Championship final in Hilversum and two weeks later won his first title, beating Jonny Clayton and Andrew Gilding in PC18 for his breakthrough success.
And 12 days later he bettered that success at the Baltic Sea Open, beating Ryan Joyce 8-4 in the final for his first European Tour triumph.
He kicked off June with another run to a PC semi and made the final of PC24 this month, beating Gian van Veen on his way to being touched off by Gabriel Clemens in the showpiece.
Alternative Bet: Rob Cross to Win Outright each-way @ 20/1
If Woodhouse is the call to come through the bottom half of the draw then take Rob Cross to emerge from the top.
Unseeded because of a recent dip in form, it means the former world champion has to enter at the first-round stage with a game against Max Hopp to look forward to.
But Voltage can see off Hopp and ease into the tournament as he shows encouraging signs of coming back to form.
A UK Open quarter-finalist in the spring, Cross has been playing as well as anyone over the past month or so with runs to the semis of the Austrian Open and International Open in May followed by a run to the final of the Slovak Open three weeks ago, beating Van Veen, Kevin Doets and Nathan Aspinall among others.
And then on 17th June he won PC22, a first win of any note for 18 months and long overdue.
Given those stats, like Woodhouse he seems favourably priced at 20/1.
Alternative Bet: Maik Kuivenhoven to Win Outright each-way @ 250/1
If you are mulling over a spectacular summer success, then don't dismiss Dutchman Maik Kuivenhoven.
He had to qualify to earn the right to play in Leverkusen and beat three good players to do just that.
And buoyed by that he went on to reach the final of PC22, a quarter-final triumph over Van Veen the highlight of a good day's work.
In an event missing the likes of Littler, Humphries, Price, Josh Rock and one or two others, this is an opportunity for someone like Kuivenhoven and he cannot be ruled out given he is clearly playing well.
Key European Darts Open Stats
The European Darts Open is the 10th of 15 events being staged across mainland Europe in 2026, with the top 32 going on to contest the European Championship in Dortmund at the end of October
This is the 13th running of the European Darts Open which Michael van Gerwen has won a record five times
The Ostermann-Arena in Leverkusen has staged the previous seven runnings of the European Darts Open and former winners there taking part this week are Van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall
Aspinall is the defending champion, the English star having beaten Australia's Damon Heta 8-6 in last year's final
The top seed this weekend is Gian van Veen, the Dutch world number one who has yet to win an event in 2026
Dutch star Wessel Nijman is the only multiple winner on the European Tour in 2026, having won the European Trophy in March and last month's Slovak Open
Michael van Gerwen has won 38 European Tour titles - that's 28 more than the next best, Gerwyn Price
Read more darts betting tips and predictions on site.
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
