- Michael van Gerwen is looking to win his fourth world title 
- Michael Smith is a two-time beaten finalist at the Alexandra Palace
- Recommended bet: Back Michael van Gerwen to win 7-3

Michael van Gerwen has quite simply steamrolled his way to this year's PDC World Darts Championship final and Michael Smith is the man now standing in between him and the Sid Waddell Trophy.

The pair meet at the Alexandra Palace on Tuesday in a repeat of the 2019 final, in which the Dutchman triumphed 7-3.

Van Gerwen unstoppable?

Van Gerwen is chasing his fourth darts world title and has set about ruthlessly achieving the feat, dropping just three sets en route to the final.

Whitewash victories over Lewy Williams, Chris Dobey and Dimitri van den Bergh came either side of a 4-2 win over Mensur Suljovic and a 4-1 victory over fellow Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode.

After winning the Players Championship Final in November, the Green Machine has won 11 matches in a row coming into this clash with Smith, who he has an 8-4 career head-to-head record over.

Smith with newfound confidence

For a long time, Smith was darts' nearly man, reaching seven major finals without winning before he eventually got over the line in this year's Grand Slam of Darts, winning his first major.

Bully Boy demonstrated the new confidence that success has given him when riding the storm to come through a challenging third round game against Martin Schindler, where he fought back from 3-1 down to win 4-3.

Smith also needed to show all of his resolve to get over the line in a tough quarter-final against Stephen Bunting, who pushed him all the way, as well as overcoming the tricky Joe Cullen en route to this point. 

The world number four has been more clinical on his doubles in key situations than in previous years and he will need to do so again when he faces the dominant van Gerwen.

Bully Boy likely to dominate maximums

Smith hit a record 83 180s in his World Championship campaign last year and had been slacking on that front before reaching his usual high standard of maximum-hitting in his semi-final win over Gabriel Clemens, registering 19 in just eight sets.

With Van Gerwen happy to switch away from the treble 20 bed with more regularity than Smith and with the Bully Boy known for his maximum hitting, it seems likely that he will lead the way for 180s in this clash.

Van Gerwen likely to be too strong

Van Gerwen has put in one of the most dominant World Championship tournament campaigns in recent years to reach this point and looks unlikely to stop here.

The Green Machine can comfortably secure his fourth world title, with a repeat of his 7-3 win over Smith in the 2019 final a distinct possibility at 5/1 with LiveScore Bet.

In fact, four of the last six world finals have been decided by that scoreline and with Van Gerwen in such dominant form, it again looks likely that he will win by multiple sets, despite Smith's newfound confidence and doubling prowess.