Michael van Gerwen will be looking to defend his Poland Darts Masters title this weekend as the World Series of Darts rolls continues.

The tournament, in only its second edition, has moved from the Polish capital of Warsaw to the southern city of Gliwice and its PreZero Arena.

Gerwen Price won last weekend's World Series event at the Nordic Masters, but he will not be in attendance in Poland as part of a pre-planned break.

Price was somewhat aided by the absence of both MVG and Luke Littler in Copenhagen, but both return to the stage in Poland.

After the US Darts Masters, Van Gerwen stayed Stateside and went on holiday to Las Vegas, although his return has not got off to the best start with a loss in the opening round of the Players Championship 11.

Speaking of the Players Championship, Luke Humphries has opted to skip this week's editions to rest up ahead of Poland. He reached the semis last week in Denmark, maintaining a good average. Having not yet picked up a World Series title this year, expect him to perform strongly.

With Price not playing, Stephen Bunting steps in for the second week in a row. He will relish his spot on stage and was knocked out only in the quarter-finals last week by an impressive Rob Cross, so expect Bunting to give a good push towards the semis this time.

As for Cross, 'Voltage' will fancy himself in Poland and is quickly becoming the 2024 World Series' main man – he triumphed in the US before storming to the final in the Nordic competition, averaging well until a poor final performance. Nonetheless, he seems to have found a rhythm that makes him a leading contender this weekend.

Results in round one are often the best-priced options in these World Series events.

The two 'best' first round performers would be Humphries and Van Gerwen – Humphries has cleaned out all his first-round opponents in the World Series and will look to do so again, while Michael Van Gerwen tends to give up just one leg.

Others are more inconsistent. Littler, for example, is more than capable of blowing opponents away but it's no secret he can often need a little time to warm up, his performances tending to improve over the course of a competition.

Keep an eye on Peter Wright – he has lost two of his World Series round one matches and he only scraped through the others 6-5. Odds on his opponent or a 6-5 win should be intriguing.