Gary Anderson will open his defence of the Paddy Power Champions League of Darts against Michael Smith when the BBC-televised tournament begins on Saturday October 19.

The £250,000 Champions League of Darts, to be held at the Morningside Arena in Leicester on October 19-20, sees the world's top eight players competing across two days.

The eight stars are split into two groups of four for the round-robin phase over the opening three sessions, before the top two from each group progress to compete in the semi-finals and final.

A tasty Group A sees reigning champion Anderson joined by World Champion Michael van Gerwen, World Championship finalist Michael Smith and reigning European Champion James Wade.

The opening ties, in the afternoon session on Saturday October 19, include Anderson's clash with Smith as the reigning champion comes up against his former protégé.

Van Gerwen will meet Wade in another high-profile clash, in a repeat of the 2019 Masters final earlier this year which the Dutchman won in Milton Keynes.

Group B also features a mouth-watering line-up, with the tournament's opening fixture seeing former World Grand Prix winner Daryl Gurney take on 2018 Champions League finalist Peter Wright.

World Matchplay champion Rob Cross then plays 2018 Grand Slam of Darts winner Gerwyn Price in the second Group B tie, with that pair having also met in last weekend's International Darts Open final in Germany as the Welshman took European Tour glory.

Saturday night's second group games see the afternoon session's winning players face each other and the losing players battle to stay in the event, before the group stage concludes with the remaining fixtures on Sunday afternoon.

The BBC-televised Champions League has proven hugely popular since being introduced in 2016, with Phil Taylor and Mensur Suljovic winning the title in the opening two years before Anderson's success 12 months ago.

Tickets for the 2019 Champions League of Darts are available from SeeTickets and the Morningside Arena.

2019 Paddy Power Champions League of Darts
Schedule of Play
Saturday October 19
Afternoon Session (1230 BST Start)
4x Group Matches
Daryl Gurney v Peter Wright (Group B)
Rob Cross v Gerwyn Price (Group B)
Michael Smith v Gary Anderson (Group A)
Michael van Gerwen v James Wade (Group A)
Table Seat Tickets £26
Tiered Seat Tickets £21

Evening Session (1830 BST Start)
4x Group Matches
Afternoon session's winning players face each other, and losing players face each other.
Table Seat Tickets £31
Tiered Seat Tickets £26

Sunday October 20
Afternoon Session (1230 BST Start)
4x Group Matches
Remaining group matches.
Table Seat Tickets £26
Tiered Seat Tickets £21

Evening Session (1830 BST Start)
Semi-Finals
Final
Table Seat Tickets £31
Tiered Seat Tickets £26

Tickets are sold subject to standard PDC Terms & Conditions as displayed at www.pdc.tv/tickets.