MICHAEL VAN GERWEN is aiming to continue his stunning start to 2015 with another victory when he takes on rival Gary Anderson in the Betway Premier League on Thursday.
Van Gerwen has been near-perfect since returning to action in The Unibet Masters at the end of January - having enjoyed a holiday in the Maldives following his semi-final exit to Anderson at the William Hill World Championship.
Van Gerwen won The Masters - twice missing double 12 for a nine-darter - before opening his Premier League campaign with a win over Kim Huybrechts in Leeds.
He then won two of the first three Coral UK Open Qualifiers in Wigan - losing in the final of the other to Adrian Lewis - before following up a Premier League win over Stephen Bunting in Bournemouth with victory in the German Darts Championship last weekend.
The world number one has won 31 out of 32 matches played in the past three weeks, and averaged a stunning 117.94 in Sunday night's defeat of Anderson in the German Darts Championship final.
"I had a great holiday and after that I've started off the season really well, and I hope I can continue this," he said. "I know what I can do when I play well.
"I said to Gary on stage on Sunday that I want to do the same in Liverpool, and I hope that I can. That is the game you want to produce all the time and it's so difficult to do that, but it's brilliant when you do.
"You know when you play Gary Anderson that you need to play well - you can't afford any mistakes and you need to play well in every leg.
"We're both doing really well and are both on four points, so we'll see what happens on Thursday.
"He's a fantastic player and I'll need to play really well to beat him. It's the number one in the world against the World Champion - it's going to be a cracker!"
Michael van Gerwen - form since William Hill World Darts Championship
The Unibet Masters: P4, W4; 10-5 v Wes Newton, 10-9 v Dave Chisnall, 11-6 v Adrian Lewis, 11-6 v Raymond van Barneveld.
Betway Premier League - Leeds: 7-3 v Kim Huybrechts.
Coral UK Open Qualifier 1: P7, W6; 6-4 v Kevin McDine, 6-5 v Jan Dekker, 6-3 v Simon Whitlock, 6-1 v Brian Woods, 6-4 v Mensur Suljovic, 6-5 v Mark Webster, 1-6 v Adrian Lewis.
Coral UK Open Qualifier 2: P7, W7; 6-3 v Michael Barnard, 6-2 v Nick Fullwell, 6-3 v Andy Boulton, 6-1 v Raymond van Barneveld, 6-1 v Adrian Lewis, 6-3 v Michael Smith, 6-1 v Vincent van der Voort.
Coral UK Open Qualifier 3: P7, W7; 6-2 v Luke Woodhouse, 6-1 v Paul Amos, 6-1 v Martyn Turner, 6-1 v Stephen Bunting, 6-3 v Vincent van der Voort, 6-5 v Robert Thornton, 6-1 v James Wade.
Betway Premier League - Bournemouth: 7-3 v Stephen Bunting.
German Darts Championship: P5, W5; 6-3 v Jelle Klaasen, 6-0 v Stephen Bunting, 6-4 v Joe Murnan, 6-1 v Mensur Suljovic, 6-2 v Gary Anderson.