Reigning champion Gerwyn Price and four-time winner Michael van Gerwen headline the field for the World Series of Darts Finals held at AFAS Live in Amsterdam.

Van Gerwen, who won the last of his four World Series crowns four years ago, is 7/2 with Price, himself a two-time champion, 4/1.

They are two of eight seeds in the 24-man, three-day invitational tournament which boasts a winner's cheque of £70,000.

What	World Series of Darts Finals
Where	AFAS Live, Amsterdam
When	Friday 17th – Sunday 19th September, 2023
How to watch	ITV3 & ITV 4
Odds	Michael van Gerwen 7/2, Gerwyn Price 4/1, Michael Smith 11/2, Luke Humphries 8/1, Nathan Aspinall 11/1, Jonny Clayton 16/1, Rob Cross 16/1, Peter Wright 16/1

Cross top seed for World Series finale

Twenty-four players will take to the stage at AFAS Live in Amsterdam for the ninth World Series of Darts Finals.

The eight seeds - based on performances at the six World Series events held all across the globe during 2023 and headed by Rob Cross - come into the tournament in round two on Saturday.

Eight invited players, including Raymond van Barneveld and Jonny Clayton, and eight qualifiers, headed by last year's runner-up, Dirk van Duijvenbode, do battle in round one on Friday.

The first two rounds are best-of-11 leg affairs, with Sunday's quarter-finals best-of-19 before the semis and final, both a best-of-21.
 

Van Gerwen hoping to banish Barnsley blip

Most of the big-hitters will be in Amsterdam for an intriguing three days of action for the first big title of the darting autumn.

And there are several unanswered questions over some of the top stars which will give bettors much to mull over.

"The season starts here," posted Michael van Gerwen, for example, as he headed to Barnsley at the start of the month for a Players Championship triple-header following a long summer break. 

And over three days at the Metrodome he won just one match!

The Green Machine will now be hoping the season starts in Amsterdam after that false dawn and punters may rightly be wary of getting too embroiled at 7/2.

Peter Wright, the fallen world champ, continues to suffer - he is currently ranked 97th on the Pro Tour averages, while Jonny Clayton also returned after a lay-off at Barnsley and didn't win a single game over three days, failing to average over 90 in any of his losses. 

Both Wright and Clayton are 16/1 shots and hard to fancy.
 

Price primed as Aspinall braces for second-round humdinger

Gerwyn Price, in contrast, reckons he's going to be peaking for the autumn onslaught, when so many of the PDC's big prizes are up for grabs.

And the Welshman is in blistering form having won three Pro Tour titles in the last month.

He has also won the World Series twice in the last three years and will be happy enough to take on the winner of the first-round dust-up between Keegan Brown and Simon Whitlock.

One man who definitely will not be happy with his draw is 11/1 chance Nathan Aspinall.

The World Matchplay winner is enjoying a renaissance in 2023 but he knows he will have to be n the very top of his game to win his opening game, against either Danny Noppert or Dirk Van Duijvenbode.

And should he come through that he'll more than likely be taking on Price in the quarter-finals. World champion Michael Smith, a 4/1 chance, is also in the same half of the draw.
 

Ratajski's German joy makes the Pole a threat

The top seed in Amsterdam is Rob Cross courtesy of his performances in the six World Series qualifiers - he won the last two, in New Zealand and Australia.

That's four titles this year for Voltage who is showing some of the consistency of old, though there will no easy ride at the AFAS Live with Cross drawn to face either Jonny Clayton or Martin Schindler in round two. 

He'll expect it to be Clayton - the Welshman is a 4/7 shot - but Schindler is playing well.

And lying in wait in the quarters - according to the seedings - will be the ever-dangerous and ever-improving Luke Humphries, who is 8/1 for the outright win.

He, though, also has a guaranteed tough second-round tie against emerging German star Daniel Klose or Krzyzstof Ratajski, winner of last week's German Open.

Fourth seed Van Gerwen will play either Gabriel Clemens or William O'Connor in round two and would take neither man for granted, while Dimitri van den Bergh, seeded five, will be expecting to meet dangerous Damon Heta on Saturday. 

Heta takes on Ricky Evans in round one on Friday and is 2/5 to win that.