GERWYN PRICE is confident of defeating Michael van Gerwen and maintaining his unbeaten start to the 2019 Unibet Premier League in Nottingham on Thursday.
The highly-anticipated match-up at the Motorpoint Arena will see fourth-placed Price look to preserve his record as the only player yet to taste defeat in this year's competition against third-placed Van Gerwen, who is without a win in his last two Premier League outings.
The pair have enjoyed similar starts to 2019, both winning two ProTour titles, and both taking seven points from their opening five matches in this year's tightly-grouped Premier League.
"Obviously Michael is the number one player in the world and the reigning World Champion, but I know I can give him a good run and I'm confident I can beat him," said Price, who is yet to beat Van Gerwen in 13 attempts.
"Every time in the past when I've played the likes of Michael I've thought 'can I do it?' but now I'm in a position where I know I can.
"I knew I needed to win last week against Mensur [Suljovic] ahead of this week's tough game against Michael and even though I wasn't at my best I managed to keep my good run going.
"I'm not afraid of him or anybody and I know if I play my a game I can beat him. You always know he's going to play well but if his 'A game' comes out then I'll have to bring my 'A+ game' out."
After claiming his maiden televised title at the Grand Slam of Darts last November, Price suffered a miserable run of early exits at the Players Championship Finals, World Championship and The Masters.
However, since getting his second Premier League campaign underway the Welshman has enjoyed a purple patch which saw him come close to doubling his televised title tally at the UK Open at the start of March.
"At the moment I'm probably the best player in the world in terms of form but that can change in the space of 24 hours or even two minutes," Price added.
"I was very disappointed not to win the UK Open, but take nothing away from Nathan [Aspinall], he did the right things at the right moments and I was pleased for him that he went on to win it.
"At the time I was gutted, but I've got over it now and moved on with the Premier League, and I'm happy with where I am at the moment."
Night Six of the Unibet Premier League in Nottingham will be shown live on Sky Sports, worldwide through the PDC's broadcast partners, and through PDCTV-HD for Rest of the World Subscribers.
Night Six - Thursday March 14
Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
Nathan Aspinall v Michael Smith
James Wade v Mensur Suljovic
Rob Cross v Raymond van Barneveld
Gerwyn Price v Michael van Gerwen
Peter Wright v Daryl Gurney
Tickets: 0843 373 3000 or click here