Michael van Gerwen: I want to knock Anderson out, he’d do the same to me

Michael van Gerwen seemed like a man on a mission when he raced out into a 5-0 lead in his second Champions League of Darts tie with Daryl Gurney, but he quickly found himself in a scrap.

The world number one’s Northern Irish opponent wasn’t giving up without a fight and reeled off four legs on the spin to get Van Gerwen a little worried.

However, Mighty Mike pushed on and ground out a 10-7 victory and he now has Gary Anderson in his crossfires.

Reflecting on his game with Gurney, MVG was keen to look at the importance of the win rather than focus on a spotty performance.

“A win is a win I suppose at the end of the day. It doesn’t matter how you get one,” said Van Gerwen.

“I’m still in a comfortable position, so I’m not moaning. It was a strange game for both Daryl and me, it was a bit windy in the beginning and you need to be even more concentrated then to deal with that.

“I did the right things at the key moments and I believe I deserved to win this one.”

Gary Anderson must beat van Gerwen if he wants to advance to the semi-final, but the world number one is not in a charitable mood.

“If I get the chance, of course I want to knock Gary Anderson out of the tournament,” said MVG.

He would do exactly the same to me and we’re going to see what happens on Sunday.

“I’m looking forward to it, we always have a good game and we very rarely make mistakes against each other. It’s going to be a cracker especially for the crowd who bought a ticket to see it.”